Possum stalking chickens!

[mowin]

I wish I was brave enough to grab him like that lol im scared of those things

DON'T grab him by the tail. You could end up with a handful of infected, diseased ridden teeth.

The opossum playing opossum is true, to a point. Yes, if you were to grab it within 15 second or so of it playing dead, you might be okay. The defense doesn't last long, and you could be the one to test that theory.

 

[CFLRanching]

Shovels work well. Knock it out then decapitate. If he's there, he'll keep coming back every night until he gets what he is after. Though not as troublesome as a skunk or a coon, a varmit is a varmit.

 

[NatJ]

Coons are very good at figuring out how to get into locks. They can also climb well. I agree with needing to trap him. Boost your security, for sure.

OP said possum, not coon.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

OP said possum, not coon.

Oops. Opossums can climb, and dig under fencing. I don’t know what kind of strength they have.

 

[shannon84]

 

[shannon84]

Does it look pretty secure you guys?

 

[shannon84]

OP said possum, not coon.

@NatJ does it look secure?

 

[NatJ]

@NatJ does it look secure?

I have no real experience with possums (or coons either.) So I'm somewhat guessing.

But nothing looks like a problem to me.

I suggest you go carefully over every spot where hardware cloth attaches to anything else, to check for any staples that might be too far apart or that might have worked loose. And you can try lifting a corner of the nestbox lid, to make sure it can't come up at an angle and let something climb in.

Good things I see:
--hardware cloth (stronger than chicken wire, with holes small enough to keep a predator's hands out too)
--staples that were hammered in to secure hardware cloth
--a latch on the nestbox lid, of a type that is said to be coon-proof and is probably possum-proof too.
--the run is covered
--there is a sturdy bottom edge, that should at least slow down any digging creature and will hopefully keep it entirely out

Hopefully someone with more experience will also chime in to either cofirm that it's good, or to point out any problems I may have missed. But you have certainly avoided several kinds of common problems

 

[shannon84]

I have no real experience with possums (or coons either.) So I'm somewhat guessing.

But nothing looks like a problem to me.

I suggest you go carefully over every spot where hardware cloth attaches to anything else, to check for any staples that might be too far apart or that might have worked loose. And you can try lifting a corner of the nestbox lid, to make sure it can't come up at an angle and let something climb in.

Good things I see:
--hardware cloth (stronger than chicken wire, with holes small enough to keep a predator's hands out too)
--staples that were hammered in to secure hardware cloth
--a latch on the nestbox lid, of a type that is said to be coon-proof and is probably possum-proof too.
--the run is covered
--there is a sturdy bottom edge, that should at least slow down any digging creature and will hopefully keep it entirely out

Hopefully someone with more experience will also chime in to either cofirm that it's good, or to point out any problems I may have missed. But you have certainly avoided several kinds of common problems

I set out a trap! Hopefully he likes deer steak!

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

From what I see, the coop looks secure enough. I would check off all the things that @NatJ said though.

As far as bait, you could use canned tuna fish or even apples so you don't need to use a delicious deer steak.