Gardening-WTF?! Dogs to the rescue
We’re frustrated, pissed and have had reached our limit when it comes to our resident and persistent possums. These thieves have been stalking our precious kalamansi lime tree and devouring all of the fruit. We noticed that the kalamansi limes were disappearing from the tree faster than we can eat or drink them. At first we accused each other of hogging the delicious fruit, and not sharing with one another. But after a few watchful days, we knew the perpetrator was someone or something else. There’s been a long history of gardening warfare between us and the possums. They’ve stolen our persimmons, assaulted our tomatoes, decapitated our broccoli plants and now are partaking in a citrus felony.
Granted, the kalamansi limes are fragrant and addicting, but never in our gardening experience did we ever think they’d attack sour citrus.
Luckily the other day, Dante and Sierra sighted one of the damn possums hovering above the garden, clinging to the telephone wire. Our dogs were awake and ready to defend OUR territory, OUR garden and OUR fruit! The presence of two big, vicious (they fake it well) and hungry K-9’s underneath pretty much scared the crap out of the possum. They had him frozen on the wire for over an hour, going into a frenzy every time he would move the slightest inch. Serves the little bastard right!
Dante, aka: flying dog, was jumping as high in the air as possible to get the possum, while Sierra was patiently waiting underneath for the prized possum catch. They worked as a great team. Sierra ever vigilant, but lacking the hops for any true menacing threat. Dante, the wonderdog, would grow bored at the possum’s stillness, and would wander off until Sierra alerted him to the possum’s movements. Then the two would whip up into an attack mania that would have cornered a lion.
All in the name of defending the homestead! Back off, Possums!
When we finally do have a harvest again of kalamansi limes, we’ll make kalamansi (calamondin) lime cocktails that will cure all of our possum blues!
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Sorry to hear that the possums are being a royal pain! I loved your pix in this post, especially the jumping dog.
Yeah… when nature is at it’s best EVERYBODY wants to enjoy it.
Opossum stew, anyone? Or maybe not. I think the pooches would do well to have a opossum snack. I like thinking about the limes much more. Cocktails, anyone? Okay, that sounds better.
Those pooches would make a great afternoon snack out of that fat little possum. Get ’em.
WHAT a HOOT! Love your dogs and their valiant attempts! It’s hard to grow things and fight the varmints at the same time! I relate.
Deer are my arch nemesis–and so your post really cracked me up. Sadly my dogs rarely catch the offenders in the act and instead want to pee on everything to mark their territory! Luckily, no animal has ever acted interested in my prize citrus which lives outside int he summer, my kaffir lime tree. If they did I might invest in a shotgun! Just kidding. I think.
What a terrific series of photos! Love the shot of Dante in the air. I didn’t realize it, but your kalamansi limes are the same as the little calamondin tree my parents gave me for Christmas.
Oh my GOD, hilarious!! Your dogs are too funny, and I love the comments on the pics!
Thanks for the laugh! Those pics are priceless. We also have the dreaded possums in our neighborhood…they’re pretty mean.
HAHAHAHA. you’re killing me! you must really hate those possums to spend all this time working in photoshop 😉 your pups are so cute, too! and i like that your first instinct was to think the other one of you two was stealing and hoarding it! you sound like me and nick 😉
a good bb gun or a pellet gun! my aunt who is such a beautiful lady who has a gentlewomens farm (i call ger matha stewart) she sits outside dressed wonderfully as ever and shoots those little bastards that come into her garden. ugly little f*cks.
A weak BB gun like a Daisy Red Rider won’t kill them but it will annoy the hell out of the possums and they are silent. Think how fun it would be to sit in the back yard with a drink and bean the furry little ba***rds till they run off.
A more powerful air rifle will kill them and are still really quiet. Your neighbors probably won’t know what the sound is.
My problem critters are ground squirrels and moose. I shoot the ground squirrels with a .22 but the moose get yelled at. My dog kills the ground squirrels by the dozen too. Go dogs!
Oops – that should be garden ‘stakes’. Unless we have support cows…
Have you invested in a good sling shot yet? I’d suggest a b.b. gun – but your neighbors are probably a little too close for that! Our big problem is deer – over fifty of them. Garden steaks supporting a big tent of strawberry netting is the only solution I’ve found to keep our tomatoes from disappearing fast.
Ugh! We have those revolting creatures around here too. They’ve been going after my mulberries and kumquats. I’m rooting for the dogs!
those things climb too? only my ire is directed at the ground hog. I am not sure I have seen possums but I hate them already.