It could be an opossum...
Like a common brushtail possum?
Lesley wrote: I vote coon. They're mean bastards.
I don't like your attitude, Lesley. The Coon is my primary totem.
coons can actually sometimes kill dogs during coon hunts. So... pretty nasty. hard for me to believe a coon would get a hold of just the dogs ear and there be no carnage either dog or coon... my guess is the dog was shoving his head up a gap after the animal, whatever it was, and the animal swiped or bit at it. thats where squirrel starts to be iffy... squirrel doesn't have the reach to berkeley up a dogs ear without getting bitten... I dont get it.
I'd say there's not nearly enough damage to the dog or the house for it to be a coon. We used to get them in the horse feed bins in our barn when I was a kid. (Oats with a little molasses, which is apparently coon crack) If you accidentally locked one in the barn not realizing they where there, they would literally disassemble the walls to get out. On the "mean bastard" count, my dad interrupted a raiding party one night, and, rather than run one of those cute little round eyed devils came after my dad. He finally died with 10 rounds of .22 in him snarling and reaching for my dad's boot with his last breath, like something out of a horror movie. Mean bastards indeed. If a coon latched onto your dog, it wouldn't stop with the tip of the ear. And it would have pretty easily gotten out of your house, leaving about a three foot hole in your walls. Not sure about a squirrel.
We had a tom cat when I was a kid that would stay with us for a week or two at a time, and then disappear for 2-3 weeks. Each time he came back, he was beat up a little worse. His ears got shorter and shorter as the years went by. I always liked to think that the other 'guy' was getting the worst of it.
I think your dog was the other guy for some badass raccoon. Don't kid yourself -- the dog had a blast. Just part of being a dog. Tend to shots. Get it healed. Then tell the story as often as you can especially in front of the dog. The dog will love it.
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