Yikes! Last night at 10 pm when I went out....

[Lyne]

in the dark, to cross my street (small gated community, narrow streets, very safe) to get my mail out of my box...and these two low slung furry THINGS making a scratchy/growly sounds- one was obviously chasing the other... were scurrying down the opposite side of the street (as I stood in my well-lit garage watching-as I always look ALL around before moving out of my garage).... they were two HUGE opossums!! Nasty UGLY CREATURES THEY ARE!!! Their white heads gleaming in the street lights, dark scruffy bodies... one ran into the "tot lot" across from my home and toward the dark back part of it, (a tot lot is a small lot made into a small park, instead of having a house built on it) and the other came back out to the curbside across the street, IGNORING ME and my loud "Get out of here you creepy things!!" and kept scurrying on down the road (we don't really have side walks, just a curb).... HUGE creatures...and I KNOW the teeth they carry in those heads from seeing one close up as a kid "playing possum" on my parent's front lawn.... so I watched as that one went on down the street....they were so huge, they could probably take down a small cat... tho not sure they would... hmmm what do possums eat? I forget (runs to google)...."insects, snails, slugs, eggs, mice, rats, fish, frogs, crayfish, and carrion.".... well ok... we have a lot of snails and small frogs...probably mice.. and ok, would rather have them eat a rat then have rats running around...
WAY back in 1999, I used Beth's "9LivesCat" morph to then brush out my version of one of these critters...in a very very EARLY version of poser and photopaint:

(guess you could say I've come a long way, artistically?!) LOL!!

But oooo shudder, NOT a fun close encounter! Although I live in a huge/vast subdivision of hundreds of homes, the wild life corridor and creek bed do still have a lot of wild animals around!!

 

[seachnasaigh]

I doubt the possum would challenge your cat; they are shy and prefer to avoid fights. They are most likely to look for goodies in your trash can or leftover/dropped snacks in that little playground.

 

[Lyne]

I doubt the possum would challenge your cat; they are shy and prefer to avoid fights. They are most likely to look for goodies in your trash can.

these two were most assuredly NOT SHY... so I stayed well back... they seemed pretty aggressive (but most likely toward each other- maybe two males or something?!)

and MY cat is strictly an indoor cat- cause of all the coyotes that still roam..... it's just that these two possums were so LARGE... !

 

[seachnasaigh]

Coyotes will stalk/attack a cat. They will attack larger game -including people- if the coyote pack has sufficient numbers.

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Years and years ago, we lived in an older neighborhood with a lot of vegetable gardens and fruit and filbert trees. First time I ever saw opossums. Anywhoo ... since we had a dog, there was no keeping our cat inside. But, one evening, she stayed out overnight. In the morning, my neighbor found her cowering at her back door, where a opossum had cornered her. The neighbor managed to scare the opossum off, and Sushi made it home.

She didn't go out wandering much after that. The opossum had definitely put the fear of god in her!

 

[Willowisp]

You named your cat Sushi? I don't think it s the opossums she should worry about

 

[Doodle Designs]

Years ago, when I was living in Ohio, I went into the garage to straighten it up. I found an empty feed sack with a possum with a serious case of mange inside! Yuk! Just took it outside and let it find its own way out of the bag.

When I was living in Colorado Springs, I lived in an apartment building that was along a creek. It wasn't unusual to see a bear, sometimes with cubs. They used the creek as a highway into the residential area. I lived about 4 miles from the mountains. One day someone spotted a bear taking a nap up a tree that overhung the back alley. Everyone in the apartment came out to see it and take pictures . The bear just opened an annoyed eye every now and again due to the (subdued) chatter.

Then, when I was living in a remote region of Colorado with my nearest neighbor a mile away, I came out to find the cutest little creature on the front deck. I didn't know what it was! I had to look it up on-line. It was a type of raccoon known as a ring-tailed cat. I was used to the more well-known type of raccoon I saw in Ohio.

What a cutie-patootie!

Looks rather like a ring-tailed lemur. Which is also a cutie! Not a type of racoon though - it's a type of lemur found in Madagascar. (Anyone see the Madagascar animated movie?)

Ring-tailed cats are much more pleasant to run across than possums and bears! It stuck around for a while - raiding the cat food we kept in our barn for about a month!

 

[Gadget Girl]

and MY cat is strictly an indoor cat- cause of all the coyotes that still roam..... it's just that these two possums were so LARGE... !

When I first got my cat, I was trying to decided if he was going to be an indoor or an outdoor cat. But there was a fox in my neighborhood at the time, so I decided that indoor cat was probably better.

Then, when I was living in a remote region of Colorado with my nearest neighbor a mile away, I came out to find the cutest little creature on the front deck. I didn't know what it was! I had to look it up on-line. It was a type of raccoon known as a ring-tailed cat. I was used to the more well-known type of raccoon I saw in Ohio.

Oh that is cute. I've never seen one of those raccoons, only the more standard junkyard ones, which are cute, but also scary. Most of my wildlife encounters are with deer and rabbits. It's always funny to me how many deer will hang out in the parking lot at my building. I mean I get why they don't go to the near by dog park, but just across the street there used to be a big open field. But no, they like hanging out in the parking lot.

 

[Doodle Designs]

It's always funny to me how many deer will hang out in the parking lot at my building.

Now that I live in a tiny town in Colorado, deer come by almost nightly. This is a picture taken through my front window.

Believe it or not, I've trained my golden doodle, Angel, to not chase them. I put her out without a leash (I don't have a fence) and she'll bark and charge them, especially if they're in the yard, but won't go beyond the borders of my property.

She's also trained to ride in my trike trailer. Sometimes I go on 10-mile rides and she can't run alongside the whole way.

This thread outta be re-named, "My Wildlife Encounters".

 

[seachnasaigh]

@Doodle Designs ,your cargo trike caught my eye, with the step-through frame, wide low ground pressure tires, cargo baskets, and trailer hitch.

I have an old shock-fork mountain bike that I converted into an errand running bike; it has city slick tires with Kevlar belting, cargo racks and panniers, cruiser style sprung saddle, and several marker lights for running on streets. I usually have it in one of the top three gears, because I like going fast.

Now I also have one of the new models, with the suspended rear swingarm; it's much lighter weight.

 

[Faery_Light]

I doubt the possum would challenge your cat; they are shy and prefer to avoid fights. They are most likely to look for goodies in your trash can or leftover/dropped snacks in that little playground.

When we lived in Thayer, MO we had a house with no basement but a small crawl space under it.

that is where our cats stayed and had kittens.
One night mom heard and awful sound of a cat screeching and growling and something making sounds back.
We went to check and a big possum was attacking the cat to get to her kittens.
It then tried to attack mom but she smacked it in the head with a big board and it took off.

Do not be mistaken, they can get mean and they will fight a cat, they will eat kittens.

 

[Lyne]

Very interesting, thanks for all your responses!

 

[Satira Capriccio]

Yes indeed. I named her Sushi. This was before I had ever heard about sushi the food

My son wanted to name her Susie. So, we compromised by changing the spelling and pronunciation. Pretty funny when a few years later, I discovered what she'd been named "after."

 

[Lyne]

ROFL!!