I went outside in the afternoon and cleaned the droppings board, collected eggs, and brought the waterer in to clean and refill. My chickens like to sit on the edge of the threshhold board and look outside and view the thick white blanket of snow covering the ground. (God forbid they actually fall out and touch their dainty toes in the stuff!) So I (wrongly!) left the door open for them while I was inside the house. The baby I was watching was fussing for her bottle, so I went to the sink to get one ready, and glanced out the window. I saw an oppossum slowly climbing into the hen house!! My DH had just gotten home 15 minutes or so before, and I yelled that I was going to go out to try to chase the 'possum away, and he gallantly went in my stead. He at first tried to humanly herd the critter out of the coop w/a wooden walking stick he grabbed on his way out the door, but when it refused and bared those sharp teeth at him, he bludgeoned it w/ the stick. All the while my girls were up on the roost cackling and creating a ruckus. Because of the baby bottle, I was lucky enough to see the 'possum go inside the door...I would have just locked them up after a quick head count on the roost, never looking in the dark recesses and behind feeders, etc. He would have had a feast over night and I would have been in for a shock in the morning.
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