Normally I don't worry too much around wildlife, as far as our dogs, except for wolves and coyotes. But yesterday I was inside and heard my wife screaming, so I grabbed the nearest firearm, which was a Ruger 22 target pistol, and went out the door. A muskrat, of all things had attacked one of our dogs, and had chased my wife indoors. First thing I thought with that 22 was: " thank God its not a bear." Well the thing hissed at me and stood its ground, and that was the end of that. Checked it over with rubber gloves on for signs of stress or rabies or distemper and called the vet. She checked vaccination logs for the dogs and recommended against having it tested for rabies, as they were all up to date, and it would cost me $400. The dog was ok except for one bite wound that fortunately was pretty open and not a puncture wound. We cleaned it out and have to watch her for infection. Makes me think I am going to have to exercise extra care and vigilance from now on. Guess you never know, though come to think of it, back in my duck hunting days, all the muskrats I ran into were bad tempered.