Opossums must really be nasty- my dogs killed one last night.

[Wcross]

Did they eat it? Nope. Did they even take a few bites to see if they would enjoy it? Nope. Opossums must be really nasty when even a dog won't eat them.
I went out about 10pm last night and saw them all surrounding this poor thing, it was still alive and looking nasty (they have some big teeth). I just shook my head and went back inside. I usually let the guys hop up on the bed at night but not with opossum stuff all over their coats.
Now I have to dispose of the body, oh boy!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

1. I had a dog that caught one a number of years ago;

and the poor thing had babies scattered around the yard. The next week was awful...I just kept finding dead baby oppossums...:cry:

[Wcross]

2. I am going to have to look for babies now.

I would feel guilty if I didn't try to help them out.......

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. You probably don't have to worry...

I think it's a little late in the year for them to have dependent offspring...but I'm not an expert.

[xchrom]

3. opossums don't really fight.

they are persistant in trying to bluff.

[Taverner]

8. They attack

They claw and bite...Nasty critters those possums

[freethought]

4. Actually, domestic dogs killing but not eating an animal

is not uncommon. In college, some years ago, I was studying natural resources, wildlife, forestry, ecology, etc..
I took part in a study on deer. If a deer carcass was found, an attempt was made to identify what killed it. Trademarks of a coyote kill was that the carcass was stripped, like you would see a wildebeest attacked and eaten by lions or hyenas, coyotes usually hunt cooperatively in small groups or pairs. If you came across a deer carcass that was dismembered but little was eaten chances were quite high that the culprits were domestic dogs.
Domestic dogs can revert to a wild or semi-wild state in a heartbeat. That wolf-pack instinct is right under the surface, you just need the right stimulus to bring it out. Recall during Katrina, with in a few days pet dogs were that were left behind formed roving packs. Not all of them of course, some did not.

I used to have a neighbor that had this weird looking mutt. Nice dog, quite smart, but rather strange looking. This dog had a knack for hunting down and killing woodchucks. The dog would carry them home and leave them in the yard, as if to say to his owner "Look what I got for you!". Not once did the dog eat them but would plop them on the neighbor's lawn to rot. The dog was pretty good at it too. At one point, the dog had brought home about 4 woodchucks in the course of a week. I am not sure why they don't eat the kill.

[Wcross]

5. These guys have eaten a skunk before.

They will eat most of what they catch, rabbits, skunks and moles. They just don't seem to have a taste for opossum. I guess after you have enjoyed skunk everything else just won't cut it.

[petronius]

7. LOL! - 'Once you've tried skunk, the rest is all junk!'

or 'Skunk! The other (black and) white meat!'

This message brought to you by the American Skunk Marketing Association...

[China_cat]

9. Because they're fed at home.

Same goes for cats that kill but don't eat mice and rats. Let them get hungry and they'll eat what they kill.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. My cat eats what he kills and he's well fed at home.

However, he's also a hyperactive bottomless pit who will eat anything. He begs like a dog, regardless of what I'm eating. Even if it's salad or tofu, he'll eat some.

[trof]

6. My dog and a squirrel.

She always chased squirrels but never caught one.
But our cat did.
One day he came up the back walk dragging a dead squirrel.
Dropped it at my feet.
I thought "OK Nasha, here's your big chance."

I whistled for her and here she came.
"Look, girl. SQUIRREL!"

She sniffed it and walked off.
Not interested.
I guess if it doesn't run it's no fun.
:shrug:

[mockmonkey]

11. Since you've seen one

I wish someone would post the picture of Ann Coulter with the possum so that you can tell us which one is the possum. Of course the adding of **Graphic** in the subject line is requested.

Edit: It was Katherine Harris....my bad.