Possums are Chicken Killers

[Sunshine_Chick]

I've killed them with a sharp hoe! In fact, I've killed a few critters with my hoe.

 

[SusanJoM]

Okay, so there was a HUGE opossum out behind the house last night. Well....HUGE as in bigger than the 15# dog that was worrying it into a corner but really didn't want to have to deal with those T E E T H !!!!

Aargh.

So....what is a person to do? How do I get rid of opossums? I think the chickens are safe in their coop and run, so I'm not too worried about them, but it's never certain, and it seems like this is the second or third time in the past month that the dogs have insisted that I get up out of bed in the middle of the night and "Do something about it"....

I don't have any guns, and I don't have the hand strength for a pistol anyway. I'm afraid if I set a trap I'll catch a dozen or so friendly cats. I'm wondering about something like a taser? Hmmmm....I just Googled them, and they are expensive....

Aargh....

Susan

 

[SusanJoM]

Anyone had any experience with this trap?
http://www.pestproducts.com/cat_trap.htm

Susan

 

[SusanJoM]

Okay, I ordered this trap.

http://tinyurl.com/5ehgfl

More when it arrives.

Susan

 

[SterlingAcres]

Quote:
This made me LOL. Really. Good call.



Sorry about your hens msnelson!!

 

[thewobsers]

ok i have a question... may seem obvious but here goes. what kills possum that isnt a dog or coyote?
the other night DH found a baby possum about the size of a big rat its head was crushed, then the next night he found another one with its body all mangled. these were in our pole barn.
would a coon do it and why wouldnt it eat them? or was it a cat?
just wondering.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Our vets are telling us that the same is highly suspected of raccoons now, too. I have horses, and I'm the same way about any 'possum (and now raccoon) sighting. ZERO TOLERANCE. There's no cure or vaccine for Equine Protozoal Myelitis.

(The animals are the vector, the disease passes when horses consume droppings that have gotten into their food supply, usually in hay or on pasture.)

 

[Pitchfork]

Though I also have a low tolerance for possums due to EPM it is now known that up to 70 percent of all horses already carry antibodies indicating they have been exposed to EPM.
No one knows why some horses develope possum desease and most don't. But the truth is most don't. With four horses I keep an eye out all the time for possums, but usually only see them in their natural habitat, the middle of the highway, playing a very flat possum.
Mike

 

[ninjapoodles]

I saw three affected within a year of each other at a boarding stable--it's heartbreaking.

Immunity is a weird thing--In spite of being vaccinated against it, our Shetland pony was hit with West Nile Virus TWICE in the same year! She nearly died. That was one reason my husband was opposed to us getting chickens for a while, and we're taking every precaution against mosquitos now.

Meanwhile, my younger horses who had not been vaccinated against WNV didn't get it. They either weren't bitten by the "right" mosquito, or they had a natural resistance. Some equines who get it apparently don't get visibly sick, just like EPM.

 

[DDRanch]

Susan,
The trap you ordered is easy to use and very effective. Just make sure it is on a flat surface. You can easily relocate the oppossum. Good luck.
Anne