Dacshund Tails and Possum Trails

After coming face to face with a possum at 4:30am last Wednesday morning, I've decided to write a children's book about a friendship that blossoms between a dachshund and a possum.

We have had quite the critter problem lately - mice, opossums, and snakes (...Mom, Dad and Mimi - pretend that you didn't read that last part...and you might not want to read the rest of this post.) You would think the three groups would cancel each other out, but no such luck. Short of capturing some Indian mongooses in Southeast Asia, we are not really sure what to do. Over the past two years we have had chance encounters with a few garden snakes, but this summer the action really picked up. Last Thursday, I killed a scary looking snake (about 1 foot in length) while it was striking at Emma - yikes! It had tiny little fangs, but it was still pretty scary.

A pitching wedge has become my weapon of choice against the snakes. I gave the creature a good whack in the mid-section, and then scooped it up so it was hanging from the golf club. This was my first mistake, as it was still alive and it struck back at me as it was dangling from the club. I freaked out and accidentally slung the snake off the club and onto the roof of our garage. It slid back down to the ground and I finished it off with a blow to the head. This all happened on my lunch hour, so I returned to the office sweaty and shaky. We have recently had really cool weather, so I'm hoping this will keep the snakes away. I'll continue to kill all of the ones I see. If a snake hurt Emma, I'm pretty sure I would rip it in half with my own two hands.

The possum is pretty cute so he doesn't bother me, but boy does he rile up Emma. She always flies out of the back door, barking at the top of her lungs, in search of him. Unfortunately, this usually occurs between 3:30 and 4:30am.

The mice issue isn't terrible, but it does bother me. We have been dealing with mice since we moved in. Our house is really, really old - so I guess the mice come with the territory. We have put out traps in the past, but I really hate to kill them. I am going to look for some humane traps, if something like that even exists.

I'm getting ready this evening to head to Columbus, OH in the morning for the Columbus Nationwide Half-Marathon. Two of my friends will be running the full marathon, while me and another friend run the half. I've never been to Columbus, so I'm looking forward to seeing some new sites and hanging out with friends over the weekend. I hope to post a race report sometime next week.