What’s That Critter Lurking In The High Grass In My Backyard?

I need to be more diligent about mowing the grass in my backyard at home. I'm being specific because I am also responsible for mowing the grass around my campsite as well. Of course, that needs attention about once a week as well.

The grass in my backyard is currently higher than it should be right now, and that's a problem. I don't have to worry about either side of my house since there are no areas where grass can grow.

Aside from the obvious issue of high grass looking bad, it also can be a great hiding place for small wild animals. Even though my backyard is completely fenced in, if a squirrel, raccoon, opossum or other critter wants in, they will find a way. And from time to time, snakes slither into my backyard. Granted they are just harmless snakes, but I don't like snakes and I don't want to unexpectedly encounter one.

Anyway, whenever we let our dogs out into the backyard to do their business, we go out with them to make sure there are no unwanted animals in the yard. If you've ever seen a Greyhound run, you know that there are very few wild animals that can outrun them.

And that's what happened yesterday (6-14.) My wife let the dogs out (great title for a song, huh?) and within seconds I heard her screaming "Drop it!" I rushed outside to find one of my Greyhounds with his teeth wrapped around a baby opossum.

Fortunately, I was able to get ahold of my Greyhound, and told him to drop the animal, which he did surprisingly. I guess our training has paid off. The opossum was still alive, but was limping. Since the opossum was rather small, I was able to scoop him/her up with a pooper scooper and place him/her over the back fence to safety.

Normally, we would have seen the critter, but the grass was a bit high (even though we just mowed a week ago), so the little animal was not easy to spot, plus the fact it was dark outside.) I don't want to go through that drama again, so guess what I'll be doing tonight after work?