All Things Furry
After the kids are in bed each night, Will and I usually end up flipping on the TV and snuggling on the couch. I make the snack and open all of the windows, the double doors and the garage to let a breeze through the house. It really is heavenly. Well, my world has been partially shattered this last week…twice…due to some unexpected visitors.
Take 1…Will is sitting on the couch and I am walking over with popcorn. I get about 5 feet from the door ready to sit down when I see this huge looking rat thing turn from the french doors and scurry away. I only got a good look at the back so the thick, naked tail hinted that it wasnt a cat. It looked to be about 10lbs. so the logical part of my brain told me it wasn’t a rat, while the illogical part of my brain wigged out and started doing a heeby geeby dance on the ottoman long after it had left.
After making Will google rats, moles(to his chagrin) and other rodents I identified it as an opposum(I know they are supposed to be mostly in the south, but I would swear that was what I saw…and no I haven’t seen any UFOs lately). Classifying it felt good, but didn’t make the heeby geeby feeling go away. I kept the doors shut for several days.
Take 2… Two days later, after I get brave enough to open the doors again…Will is sitting on the couch and I am walking over with tortillas and honey. We have a repeat. This time, I can identify it right away. I notice the bushy black tail with the white stripe. Logical part of my brain says, “Jessica don’t spook the skunk!” (Actually, I recall Will telling me those exact words at the time). Illogical part of my brain kicks into geer overriding the other parts and I actually scream. Lucky for me, he didn’t think I was that great to look at either. He took off and didn’t even leave us a perfume sample. Afterward, the consequences of having a skunk spray the livingroom registered in my mind and I made a decision. Note to self: Don’t scream at a skunk.
That would freak me out and I have to admit that I too would have screamed. We had a mother opposum in our backyard last spring with 3 tiny babies. Easton was roaming around while O and Ryan built a pirate fort. Luckily I was the one who spotted it and yes, screamed. They are horribly ugly little rodents…well, not so little rodents!!
October 25th, 2008 at 9:15 amthats funny haha ur funny ok plz stop ur turn is up (i asked my bro what to say and this is what he told me so sorry if it doesnt make sense)
October 25th, 2008 at 12:58 pmWelcome to San Diego!!! ha! My mom lives in a tiny little town and tells me all the time that we have more wild life than she’s ever seen. It’s like having pets and not having to feed them. Ha!
October 25th, 2008 at 2:49 pmSome folk won’t eat a skunk,
October 25th, 2008 at 6:22 pmBut then again some folk’ll,
Like Will and Jessica the San Diego Yokels.
Just in case:
October 25th, 2008 at 11:56 pmrecipe for skunk
We open all the windows in the evening too. We’ve had opossums and raccoons sit and stare at us through the screen. Those furry peeping toms completely freak me out.
October 26th, 2008 at 10:00 amI’m glad to hear other people are having encounters. I was starting to think that opposums were only in the south and we managed to find the lone stray.
October 26th, 2008 at 10:41 amI grew up in the South, where possums were regular visitors. One died in the bushes underneath my bedroom window! But I’ve never screamed at a skunk, though. I guess you need to live in CA to get that experience.
October 26th, 2008 at 1:54 pmI would have freaked…..
October 26th, 2008 at 7:23 pmActually growing up there were several times we had skunks in our back yard in Arizona….yet, my dad was the only one to see them, thankfully!!!
Every couple of months we have a friendly skunk that wanders around our yard – I screamed the first time, but now I just freak out without screaming. Ah, the oppossum story reminds me of when I lived alone and had an opossum that scared the !@$@ out of me when it wandered past my door.. you can’t give up your fresh air, though
October 26th, 2008 at 9:48 pm