Thursday, February 26, 2009

Rodents of Unusual Size

Picture this: we’re getting ready to take the dogs for a walk the other night and all three of them are leashed up and waiting excitedly at the front door. Oh wait…you don’t have to picture it because I will picture it for you—it happens almost every night and it’s very easy to recreate.

As you look at this picture, take special note of a particular spot just a few feet outside the front door. I’ll zoom in to show you the exact spot that I’m talking about. That little stone edging around the front flower bed plays a big part in this story.




So we were all standing at the door, seconds away from stepping out for our evening stroll, when suddenly this creepy creature came waddling around the corner, using our edging as his own little personal sidewalk through our yard. He wandered right across our front walk towards our garage as all five of us just stood there and stared in shock. As soon as he was out of sight, the dogs went completely nuts. Celtic started baying, Hope (who was bred and possibly trained to chase down similar creatures) started bawling, and Fresco starting crying and barking while he sprinted around the house like an idiot. As you can imagine, it was complete pandemonium.

Now for the record, I generally love almost all animals. However, there's something about an opossum that completely creeps me out. They are so freaky and scary it gives me chills every time I think about them! I’m embarrassed to say that I once screamed in fear and grabbed onto an 8-year-old for support (when I was about 22) at a Raintree camp out when we encountered a possum sitting atop a trash can in our path. They completely give me the willies. I dislike them so much I don’t even feel that sad when I see one smashed in the middle of the road.

Thankfully, my husband is very brave, so he went outside to shoo the wretched creature away while I stayed inside and tried to calm down the pups and assure them that our house wasn’t being attacked by monsters. I don’t blame them for being completely bent out of shape though—that thing was WAY too close to our house and flippin’ creepy as heck! I couldn’t shake the chills up and down my spine the entire time we were out walking. We were definitely all on R.O.U.S.* alert!

*The first person to leave me a comment with the appropriate movie reference will win my utmost respect and admiration. :)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't that from the Princess Bride? If you move out in the country you'll get to see those all the time.

Anonymous said...

My vote probably doesn't count....

but it is The Princess Bride!

Jen said...

I don't know the movie reference. But I agree with you, opposums are disgusting creatures.

amanda warren said...

ewwww... opossum... those beady eyes... ick! There is one at the Prairie Park Nature Center that freaks me out completely!

AmyD said...

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm the first one to comment at 2:00 the day after!

Kim is, of course, referring to the creatures in the Fire Swamp in "The Princess Bride."

Anonymous said...

The Princess Bride. :)

- Danae :)

kjl said...

JoAnna is the winner--the first person to come up with the right answer. I'm impressed, JT! :)

I know it was a dirty trick moderating comments so everyone would think they were first, but I had to do it or no one would comment! It worked--I never get comments out of JoAnna and Amy and Danae! Thanks guys--you made my day! :)