Could have done without this evening's excitement

[Mirorgate 0]

The hunters at peace:

They must be so proud of themselves.

Jen, what your shepard mix needs is a showdown with a skunk or porcupine...that'll teach her to stay away from small furry creatures.

Uh--nope. unfortunately that isnt the case.. no matter how many times they get a face full of quills.. or come home smelling to high heaven.... they go right back out there.. a litte more cautious... but just as stupid in the end

[Traviesa 0]

One time when I was living at my parents' house we found a dead possum in the back yard. There was no way to know if our Shih Tzu had been messing with it, so we called animal control to come and remove it-we had to prove that his rabies vaccine had been up to date or we would have had to quarantine him! We still had to keep him away from other dogs until they checked the possum.

[Mirorgate 0]

One time when I was living at my parents' house we found a dead possum in the back yard. There was no way to know if our Shih Tzu had been messing with it, so we called animal control to come and remove it-we had to prove that his rabies vaccine had been up to date or we would have had to quarantine him! We still had to keep him away from other dogs until they checked the possum.

Mmmmmm.... road-kill grill

[JenT 0]

The hunters at peace:

They must be so proud of themselves.

Jen, what your shepard mix needs is a showdown with a skunk or porcupine...that'll teach her to stay away from small furry creatures.

Uh--nope. unfortunately that isnt the case.. no matter how many times they get a face full of quills.. or come home smelling to high heaven.... they go right back out there.. a litte more cautious... but just as stupid in the end

That has essentially been my experience, yes.

[Mirorgate 0]

That has essentially been my experience, yes.

which is unfortunately why your dogs will continue to "hunt" anything within the back yard. that and its their territory. as to how to keep the criters out of the yard at night... no idea. sorry.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

We used to get possums in our garage -- we mixed water with ammonia and sprayed it around the area they were nesting (in a woodpile) and it seemed to do the trick -- dunno if or how that would work for a whole yard but it worked for us!

[Mirorgate 0]

We used to get possums in our garage -- we mixed water with ammonia and sprayed it around the area they were nesting (in a woodpile) and it seemed to do the trick -- dunno if or how that would work for a whole yard but it worked for us!

ammonia (even watered down) will evenutally kill the grass.... not to mention the havok it'll play on the beagles sense of smell. Might work on the upper portion of the fence where they come over.. trying to keep it out of the dogs faces.... but thats not my call.

[rooster 1]

I once went out and there was one traversing the top of the fence. I scared it off, but it would be a pain to do so EVERY time they go out.... my .45 makes too much noise....hmmmm....

A long barrel .22 cal rifle is nice and silent. A cap gun makes more noise. Not that I would know

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

A long barrel .22 cal rifle is nice and silent. A cap gun makes more noise. Not that I would know

i'd suggest a .22 pellet rifle - legal most of the time and you don't have to worry about the range of the bullet like a regular .22 rifle

Edited September 1, 2006 by charlesandnessa

[Donna A 4]

i just love animals when they sleep. they are like little angels and makes u want to wake them up just to kiss them.

[cheeky^Wolf 0]

Hope it doesn't look like this one

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

My dog tries to hunt the squirells. But they be too fast too high for him.

Daniel

:energetic:

[Sharon 1]

Hope it doesn't look like this one

I hope so too, cuz that ain't no possum....lol.

[Sharon 1]

So I get home LATE from my hair appointment and let my dogs out in my backyard (which is surrounded by chain link fence). Next thing I hear is the frantic barking of my beagle who only has that 'tone' when he's cornered a wild animal. I went out with a flashlight and find my shepherd mix working on ending the life of an oppossum. He's done this three times before, so he has considered himself the greatest hunter of all time. The beagle just stands there and barks like a maniac. His contribution to the frey.

I called the shepherd off, dragged the beagle inside, and assessed the damage to them. Blood all over the shepherd's neck and chin... the beagle is only spattered on one leg. I proceed to clean them up (none of it was their blood) and went out with a shovel to finish the job the shepherd started. Twice before, he's taken care of it, this is the second time I've had to take care of the rest...

So how do I keep these stupid oppossums OUT of my yard???? I'm getting very tired of this whole process... Of course, it only happens at night since they are nocturnal creatures. And ugly and smelly.... yuck.

Jen, you could always place a PVC pipe on the ground along the side of the yard that the possums frequent too. One that's about 8-inches in diameter and around 5-6 feet long would enable the possum to run into it and the dogs couldn't get at it. You would still know the dogs had one cornered by the sounds they made and could bring them in and both the possum and your dogs would stay safe. And the possum could leave of it's own accord.

[cheeky^Wolf 0]

Oh hell I had a conversation with a friend today who has a groundhog prob and got confused

OK so maybe it'll end up like this..