Found out my "rat" was a possum!

For the past month my trusty brittany spaniel/beagle mix has been acting strange at night. Usually very agitated, and he would constantly go to the bathroom in this one particular spot every night. I had always thought it was a rat. But the snap traps I set were always sprung, but the bait was missing. Last night though, he wanted to go outside bad. Growling and whining, I knew something was up so I told him to get the "squirrel" which pretty much means chase whatever isn't supposed to be in the yard. So I let him out, and he ran. Ran ran ran! It was dark out so I couldn't see what he was chasing, but I've never seen that 13 year old fart run that fast in years. He eventually stopped at a tree, barking and growling and sniffing the air. I got the flash-light and the hose and went to see what was up there. With the flashlight on, I immediately saw a grimy little face peering down at me, hissing and snarling. A possum, blech. Though smallish, I wasn't going to take the chance of letting this thing grow up into a chicken killer. With the hose, I sprayed him straight in the nostrils. Told my dog to bark, and banged on the fence. I gave the thing 20 minutes of noisy watery hell. Eventually, he fell of the tree soaking wet and shivering and my dog chased him away. Hopefully, with a good scare, it won't come back. But it's better a possum than a raccoon!