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Nikki was sleeping out on the deck last night. At 4:45 am this morning (Mother's Day), pitch black, we hear her deep "attack" bark like crazy, intermingled with the strangest sound I ever heard. It was like a croaking, stoccato cry... over and over.

This bark from Nikki usually means there is a cat on the other side of the fence or on top of the fence. The neighbor has a cat and lets it run loose at night.

I ran outside in my bathrobe, barefoot, with a flashlight. Nikki had cornered something in the back corner of the yard. I was convinced it was the neighbor's cat. When I got close and shone the flashlight on it, I saw it was an Opossum, snarling and waving its claws at Nikki. I was screaming "NO" at Nikki, because I didn't want her to get hurt, and I didn't know if the possum was rabid (Nikki is current on shots, though, of course). When I got close enough to try to grab Nikki, she must've felt her "prey" was threatened and lunged at the animal. It got dead silent, and she was carrying it around the yard. She dropped it pretty quick and was staring at its unmoving body. It looked dead to me, but I didn't want to get too close, yet I wanted to get Nikki inside.

Again, I was yelling at Nikki in the middle of the night and throwing small rocks at/near her to keep her away. Finally, I got close enough to the possum to keep Nikki away, but she wouldn't go inside through the open basement slider. After a LONG time, she went up the deck steps to get some water. I chased her up and grabbed her, bringing her inside that way.

By this time, my wife (again ... MOTHER'S DAY) and my youngest daughter were up, freaking out. Nikki wouldn't stop staring at us, asking to go outside. After about an hour of this, with the Sun coming up, I decided to get dressed, go outside, and dispose of the body. I thought instead of tossing it in the woods behind our house, I'd put it in a trash bag in case the Vet needed to do a rabies postmortem.

I went outside with a bag and shovel, and the danged thing was gone! I guess it had literally "Played Possum", going into shock when it was grabbed. It was amazing, though, because it was laying wierd (and it really looked dead), even though there was no blood on Nikki. I'd just assumed it had internal injuries.

Oh well, all's well that ends well. We got a few hours more sleep and are now up and ready for lunch...lol!

This just goes to show what great, fearless hunters our cute little Sibes really are!

Happy Mother's Day, all!

Walt

Walt
Sounds like a crazy night!

As far as an Opposum goes I would have been less worried about the dog... if it had been something larger like a racoon, they can do a bit more damage... still wouldn't like my dog going at one though.

Is there a posibility that another animal would have dragged the possum off?
And it very well could have been knocked unconscious when you dog hit it. I'm sure you've notice while playing with your dog that sibes put alot of power behind what they do, even when they are just playing not trying to hurt. Impact force from an animal twice it's size would probably knock the possum out... which would also explain the odd position it was laying in.

Just a thought, but I had that happen with a groundhog once that had got into my pool.

Tim

This thing was the size of a large cat. It was huge!

If I wasn't out there, she might have eaten it. I'm not sure. She's eaten baby rabbits before. She's not shy about that! She has quite the wild streak somewhere beneath the surface!

Thats not really surprising...

Siberians are one of the oldest dog breeds still in existence, so the old prey drive is still quite high, unlike many newer breeds. So if you've gone to all the trouble of killing yourself a meal, might as well eat it.
Or at least eat part of it and bury it for a rainy day(figuratively speaking).

That sounds like quite an experience. She's BEAUTIFUL what a lucky owner you are