Fierce Opossum

Finn had a face-off with an opossum yesterday. (Photo above from Widipedia photos.)

We were running trails at Cougar Mountain, with friends Mike and Tracy, and Mike's dog Alice. Finn, as usual, was in the lead. During our trail runs, he might dash several yards ahead of me, but usually stays on trail unless he spies a squirrel a few feet in the undergrowth. He always comes back when I call, "Finn, come!"

We turned onto a particularly twisting and winding section of trail at the end of our run, close to the parking lot, so I wasn't at all concerned that Finn was out of sight, just up ahead.

I came around a curve in the trail to see Finn face to face with a very agitated opossum, just a couple feet off the trail. Finn and the opossum had perhaps two feet distance between their noses. The opossum's mouth was WIDE open, teeth bared, hissing. Finn let out a sharp bark.

"Finn! Come!" I said loudly. I can't remember giving that command with quite as much urgency as I did in that moment. Thankfully, he listened and obeyed, although he turned back toward the opossum once before returning completely to me on the trail. I grabbed and held his collar until we were safely past the opossum, who was still holding his ground, teeth on full display. Mike struggled to convince Alice to leave the attractive nuisance alone.

In all the years I've run trails, I've never encountered an opossum. You see them as road kill all the time. But they're nocturnal. It was surprising to see one in the day, near a busy trail where lots of people and dogs pass every weekend morning.

"I've never heard Finn bark so deeply," Tracy said. If Finn does bark, it's a very high-pitched, excited "Let's go, Mom!" sort of bark in the parking lot, or more rarely, an equally high-pitched bark let out at the base of a tree holding a chittering chipmunk teasing him from a safe perch. This bark was much more serious - one bark, very deep. I'm relieved Finn left it at a bark, and didn't try to attack the opossum.

It will be a long time before I forget the look of those wide open jaws, full of sharp teeth, surrounded by white fur, pink nose and beady eyes above. Reminded me of a crocodile. Really - jaws open that wide.