My dog killed a possum last night

[samadriel]

...and left it for my partner and I to find on the couch this morning. With that and the incessant crawling all over us, it appears we have a 4 STONE CAT IN THE HOUSE.

Do you have a sorry excuse for a dog?

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Barbecue it. The possum, not your dog.

What's a possum?

[samadriel]

Much cuter than an American possum, until you find him stiffening on your couch.

[Hand Solo]

What's a possum?

This tit seems to know.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

...and left it for my partner and I to find on the couch this morning. With that and the incessant crawling all over us, it appears we have a 4 STONE CAT IN THE HOUSE.

Do you have a sorry excuse for a dog?

I have an intelligent and majestic German Shepherd who once ate wet cardboard that blew into the yard and horked it up on the landing at 3 am that morning.

[samadriel]

I think I may come to regret pairing the pronoun "him" with the verb "stiffening".

[samadriel]

The cold dead eyes of a killer:

[Dex Sawash]

Much cuter than an American possum, until you find him stiffening on your couch.

This possum also consumes a special type of faeces that is produced during the daytime when it is resting in a nest 

Adorable

[samadriel]

Koalas do that too, the baby koala has to eat it's mum's poo to get its gut bacteria.

Edit: you should know this Dex, isn't that a Mambo avatar? THIS IS AUSTRALIAN CULTURE

Edit: bacterial culture, no less.

[Cerys]

[tag] Ooh arr ooh arr [/tag]

[Kelvin]

Dog killing small animals is often a sign that it will grow up into a serial killer  :(

[salr]

The cold dead eyes of a killer:

I've often wondered what would have happened if my grandparents dog had caught the thing she was chasing.

Walking her in the park she would often cahse after rabbits or foxes she had seen, but they went to ground before she got there, so she would look at us, confused like.

[BlodwynPig]

My possum encounter

[samadriel]

There's a handsome fella. Where'd you run into him?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Our dog caught a rat once. She gave it a violent shaking, which apparently broke its spine but didn't kill it. With the thrill of the chase gone, she got bored and trotted off, leaving me to put the paraplegic rat out of its misery.

I'm not about to shed tears over the fate of one manky little rat, but it was all quite upsetting.

[Dex Sawash]

Had a dog that was mad for killing bees. She would grab them in her mouth and shake her head wildly, fling the stunned bee to the ground and step on it. Didn't really have any antipathy toward other creatures.

[Hand Solo]

My possum encounter

Brown Bread Jenkin

[BlodwynPig]

Brown Bread Jenkin

I was actually going to mention Jenkin!

I was hoping it was merely playing possum as I couldn't see any obvious wounds, but as it was next to a road I suspect not. I did see a live possum in the snow later that year, they get a bit manky when the temperature drops to -20C as they are warm climate animals. Apparently they hitched a ride on a train from the USA and ended up in Canada a few decades ago but are kept in check by the cold weather.

EDIT: christ, I just realised its back legs are severed off.

[BlodwynPig]

There's a handsome fella. Where'd you run into him?

[samadriel]

Ah, a romantic little spot.

[idunnosomename]

My possum encounter

fuck it and eat it

[BlodwynPig]

Ah, a romantic little spot.

To the right and across the road is the marshlands, full of wildlife, coyotes, coywolves, skunk, osprey, eagles, kingfisher. Paradise. Top right is where I had that 5am incident with a strange man in a parked car asking how to find "adult films" on his phone.

Also reckon that clear bit of land bottom right is a 'dogging' spot as when I would come back from a hike and take the short cut through there, there was always some fat sweaty man ambling up some small steps from a shaded area that looks like an ancient Roman ruin.

[Birdie]

Wait, are you in Canada??

[BlodwynPig]

Wait, are you in Canada??

I was for 2 glorious years, but been back here for nearly a year, sadly...it all started to fall apart in Blighty, I feel so flighty.

[Birdie]

I was very confused for a moment!

[samadriel]

Canadian marshlands sound better than Australian marshlands, you're lucky if you get a duck milling around here. Up north you start getting crocodiles, oy vey!

[BlodwynPig]

Canadian marshlands sound better than Australian marshlands, you're lucky if you get a duck milling around here. Up north you start getting crocodiles, oy vey!

Is biodiversity particularly low in Southern Australia? Surely you have kookaburras in your garden, perhaps a platypus in the local park?

[ImmaculateClump]

What's a possum?

It's a sort of corpse head with spider legs in a bag.
I think it's meant to signify the sense of shame and fear that victims of childhood sexual abuse carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Give your doggy a pat on the head.

[samadriel]

I saw a platypus on my uncle's rural pineapple farm once, I don't think they can handle the suburbs. The morning is greeted by many lovely kookaburras though, they're my favourite bird. I think I've just had a bit of a bland inner-city bush experience with low biodiversity. A friend of mine actually swears she saw a deer in the suburbs by the University campus, which absolutely baffles me because you don't get deer in the countryside on this continent, never mind in the middle of the city.
The campus has been colonised by bush turkeys, famous in the Aboriginal tradition for being completely useless, as they don't even taste good. They're quite charming though, tearing up the mulchy flowerbeds to make their nests.

[samadriel]

It's a sort of corpse head with spider legs in a bag.
I think it's meant to signify the sense of shame and fear that victims of childhood sexual abuse carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Give your doggy a pat on the head.

I will gently press the thumbprint-shaped spot on her forehead.