You Wont Believe This!

[Talihofarms]

I cought a possum in the middle of the night after he had killed a white Embden Goose.
Anyone who thinks they are harmless is delusional.
Also cought them in the coop during the day.

Shotgun solved the problem.

Rhodesian Ridgeback takes care of them now, they don't even get to play dead.

 

[juliawitt]

I know Opossums are great scavengers and provide a service, but I'm sorry.........we kill them and we don't feel bad about it. They carry disease and eat chickens, and baby kittens. We actually tried to release them. My husband would dab paint on their back. Guess what.....they came back. So, we waste a bullet. Glad your girls were ok!

 

[j egger]

Talihofarms wrote.

I cought a possum in the middle of the night after he killed a white Emden Goose.
Anyone who thinks they are harmless is delusional.
Also cought them in the coop during the day.

Shotgun solved the problem.

Rhodesian Ridgeback takes care of them now, they don't even get to play dead.

How cruel, even I woudn't do that.​

 

[jc12551]

I had a large possum come after me when I was beating it with a shovel (with the help of my roo) out of my coop as it was ripping the heads off my 5 year-old son's pet chickens.

I never kill anything unless it poses a danger to me or mine.

Why is it ok for the predator to kill my expensive chicks, but not for me to defend them? If the possum was eating a pet hamster, or cat, or parrot I bet nobody would worry about killing it. How are chickens any different.

We had a lot of feral cats nearby too that liked to eat chickens. It is a felony to kill a cat (someone was prosecuted for killing a cat that was killing their baby ducks) but nobody gets in trouble when they slaughter my chickens, not to mention all the song birds they kill.

Here we follow the three S's of predator control: SHOOT, SHOVEL, AND SHUT-UP. If you can't deal with predators, then don't have chickens!

**stepping off my soapbox**

 

[Sophie Mae]

I had one in my storage shed, scared the bejezes out of me, now if I happen to go out after dark I wear one of those head lamps. Keep my hands free and plenty of light.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

Awww thats a young one !

 

[draye]

Did you have 'possum and sweet taters that night?

 

[dawnwinds58]

Since we are talking about a 4 legged rat-like ground-vulture with fangs, I would not eat one. I raise Rat Terriers.
They "deter" opossum and other vermin quite nicely.

I am no puppy mill with 25 breeds, nor a huge breeder with dogs I've never seen, nor show breeder selectively breeding "fashionable" flaws into a great breed. They are working dogs and we have 6. They are not "dust bunnies" and run between 15 and 30 lbs depending of if they keep growing to standard or stop at mini.

They are ratters, vermin hunting farm dogs, bred with good noses and prey instincts. They are pack oriented and defend their territory. There are both foxes and coyote here and they keep the predators headed in other directions. My oldest Rat Terrier before he passed took down a 30 lb ground hog digging holes in my horse pasture endangering my horses with broken legs if they stepped in one moving fast. One of my larger girls is pushing 100 rats total kills. Now we are not talking field mice, but pound to 2 pound RATS! They are weather proof, short haired, vital dogs with intelligence and more personalities than an airport lobby.

They hunt squirrel and will literally climb a tree if they can get footing to go after them. There won't be another breed on my property.
They don't know there smaller than some dogs, and most larger dogs will, and have, backed down from them and left this property.

 

[juliawitt]

We are thinking about getting a farm dog. We have been researching breeds and training programs. We had not thought about rat terriers. Thank you for the info.

 

[spectrumranch]

Quote:
Obviously you are not familiar with opossums...at least the ones I know...they have a prehensile tail and if you carried them by the tail, they are more than likely to latch onto your hand or arm with their teeth for added stability...or maybe if you happened upon a mean one, he may even rake your forearm with his back legs, similar to a cat. If you were inclined to relocate the opossum it should be controlled from the scruff of the neck similar to cats and dogs. Personally I would dispatch it. Once one finds a source of food, not only will they return, they will bring their friends.

Quess I'm lucky, I have carried hunderds of possums by the tail and never gotten bitten or scratched!