Adventures with possums

[Diana101]

Hi there. I'm no expert on latches, but I am an opossum expert having been a wildlife rehabber for many years. Maybe something I say may help - at least a little.
For feet, opossums have grasping hands and their back feet even have opposable thumbs but they are not that smart. I'm surprised it was able to open the latch - probably by luck. Raccoons on the other hand can open locks, zippers, etc.
Opossums are master fakers, and as our only marsupial, seem very strange to us. That is, they don't always (or even usually) run like everything else does, so this makes us think they must be sick. They are master faking at pretending they are sick and /or dead by staying put, drooling from their mouth and nose, staring into space (they really cannot see in daylight), and generally looking like they are dying. They even fake rigor mortis by stiffening their body, faking a dead smell by a green mucous coming out of their anus (yes, disgusting). This works great with coyotes and other predators, but terribly with humans that assume they must be rabid.
They are master bluffers pretending they are ferocious by hissing, screeching, and always showing you their big mouth of 50 sharp teeth when they are actually scared to death. This is their defense, not fighting. They do not fight. Rehabbers know they rarely bite and walk over and pick them up with their bare hands. I've done it many times with an adult wild opossum to relocate them or just for the thrill of it.
They will not attack anything that is not a food source. They won't attack cats, dogs, or people because they are not a food source. But as you know, eggs are a food source as well as baby chicks. They probably won't touch the adults. I've watched opossum approach my sleeping unprotected backyard chickens at night, then decide to walk away from them because no matter how good they smelled, they were way too big for it to kill.
They don't carry any communicable diseases that you or your pets may get from them such as distemper or rabies but they do often have fleas.
Other than eating your eggs, chicks, and pet food they are great to have around -(hope I don't get any hate mail) - because they eat slugs, insects, snakes, mice - all nasty pests, as well as carrion, dog poop, (probably chicken poop), and fallen overripe fruit.
They are immune to venomous snakes - isn't that a great trait to have?! They don't dig or gnaw, but they are excellent climbers.
So, next time this happens, if you or your son can find the courage, put on some thick gloves and long sleeves (for your own peace of mind), and slowly pick it up by the tail. You can hold it by the tail without harming it (and it cannot reach you) and put it in a box and relocate it anyplace in the country away from other chicken farmers.
Or better still, throw a sheet or blanket over it, find it's tail to pick up.
I love chickens, but I also believe we must learn to live in harmony with wildlife. Most wildlife has an excellent sense of smell, and a chicken yard smells like a delicious meal
Idea - maybe one of those latches that attaches to an eye hook and has a spring on it that you pull back with your thumb.

 

[chiques chicks]

I'm not a fan of possums, but have actually had one in my run. My rooster list a couple feathers, but when I got there, the possum was the one in the corner scared. I let it be and the next morning it was gone. No list birds or chicks ( there was a broody with two two day old at the time. I leave my broodies with the flock).

I try to let nature alone whenever possible. I am working to provide habitat for a diversity of critters, from deer to snakes. I'm surrounded by woods and farmland, but rarely have predator issues. Sure, I have to plant twice as much garden, half for me, half for them, but by allowing a wide variety, I feel they can coexist, there are plenty of mice and voles and small birds that make easier prey for the predators than my roosters protected flocks. And yes, good roosters make the difference IMHO.

I have seen animals or tracks of raccoon, possum, weasel, mink, fox, skunk, heard coyote, had s hawk nest 75 yds from my run, hear owls nightly, see eagles, yet have lost 1 bird all year. Open top run, 2x4 wire and obviously holes, as I just chased 5 chickens back in the run!

Coexistence is possible if managed correctly. Of course my birds aren't super tame, have trees for cover and only the strong survive, but I love nature and my animals, I will it is important to work on the balance.

I will also add, my mosquito population is low due to the bats and hummingbirds, grubs are kept at bay by skunks, mice controlled by snakes, the list goes on. Of course I have standing and fallen dead trees, brush piles and lots of other "unsightly" things, but I call it habitat.

 

[enola]

Concerning relocating possums; in most states it is illegal to transport and release wildlife.

 

[Morning]

I don't believe I've ever seen a possum. Does Colorado have them?
I've played Possum in the Gum Tree on the fiddle, but I guess I never thought what a possum was.
I've told my children as they pretended to sleep that they were playing possum. But it was just words I'd heard.
The pictures of them are pretty un-appealing.
Where do possums live?

 

[chiques chicks]

I k,now we got 'em in Pennsylvania.

Actually I believe they are named opossums, we just call them possum.
And playing possum is a real thing, I've had dogs attack them and when they play dead, the dogs lose interest. I've stood beside one and watched it get up and run away after an attack. Strange little critters.

 

[kayaker69]

When my oldest daughter was about 4, she went to the chickenhouse to get me some eggs to cook with. She came running back to the house to get me because the biggest rat in the world was in the nest eatting eggs! She was highly upset! I went to the chicken house with her to see this rat. Sure enough, it was a possum, who by now decided he better be making tracks. She and I made a sign which we stuck on the chicken house door, "NO POSSUMS ALLOWED". I never told her that the possum was trapped and disposed of! She probably thought the sign was all it took to make him stay away.

Hey signs really work. Highway Dept puts up "Deer Crossing" signs and **** if the deer don't cross there.

 

[Morning]

Please don't relocate them to Colorado.

 

[laughingdog]

Oppossom actually can and many carry bacterial infections and nasty things that can make you n your animals extremely ill and die.. I've done rehabbing in few places too as well as worked for vet, rescues, and DNR (federal department of natural resourses. idiots mostly but some actually care and learn what paid for supposedly all thougght do). Wild out away from any people oppossoms are awsome and clean. prob happen when they live and interact around people and cats mainly. itd be extremely rare for oppossom to carry rabis or distemper,but main prob of overload of nasty bacteria in saliva and poop, comes from eating main roadside diet of rotting carrion, as well as bacteria carried by cats and rats. think how know komodo dragoms use bacteria in saliva to do work of taking down prey, which then reinfests them with their bacteria. drinking out of cat bowls allows bacteria from them to infest city oppossum as well, eating with rats many mistake for,allows bacteria from them to infest oppossum, n you may or may not have heard what cats and rats carry and reasons how many every day get seriously ill and die from.. I've seen dogs die badly after getting lethal doses of these bacteria, and owners loose flesh from bacteria and infections resulting setting in. also oppossum have a death grip with feet n tail if get jold of you.. you'll usually not get bitten if you release tjem as they grab you, but don't get anything near their mouth as they bite like gators.

I've raised many orphans myself, as sadly parents get hit n run constantly, and babies usually alive still in pouches, on in fur, or near, n then they die slow horrible deaths sadly. they make great pets once fed some original dawn dish soap to take bad bacteria out of, n fed probiotics (zoos do to many animals all time, especially giraffe etc, milw WI zoo i worked at).

Their possible probs are greatly out weighed by benefits, and manyare harmless, but some habitualized to humans do know now acting aggressive, and actually attacking and biting etc, is better survival technique than trying to escape and or play dead, as seen many more than not oppossom not play dead in city at all, assuming the playing dead became dead n ones that stand and fight actually biting apparently survived, as seen many oppossom killed by dogs cats adults and children, when they played dead, where ones that attacked scared people n pets away (what one would you attack and or run from?). Darwinian theory won on that battle..

i just last year had eight laying hens eggs n young all destroyed by oppossom that was fought off from last and a gamey spurred broody on her eggs.. she mean as any actually game breed hen (maybe mix, as neighbor to buddy got from as chick, raises gaming birds)and killed hawk twice her size she grounded when it attacked another hen, n lost nails spurs n part of beak n broke wing in places in process, spitting up blood n had to be taken in house, as she wouldn't stop going after and screaming at barely alive hawk that was screaching.

Just week or so ago had a large saying conservatively, male oppossom, after neighbors left town for while (i imagine their boy was feeding it aside from all garbage/leftovers, and they'd had an animal in cage may have been it), that came and attacked my dogs.. stoopid enough fought tough dog and lost (she mean as any game dog, and neighbors don't release their pits (poor good doing what wanted beaten teased starved "bred" n trained to do, mistreated popular do anything to please "breed" almost all mixes as game dogs bred never to hurt humans), on my dogs no more (last time i picked pit up n set my dogs on the lil shlits! Found dog good home n turned out was great trained old dog gotten rid of or stolen recently when happened. it was awsome watch dog not loving people who came up or by yard, but never attacked dogs cats rabbits ducks chickens guinea pigeons quail etc had at time (I've downsized a LOT since).

 

[enola]

Did I read this correctly? You fed possums Dawn dish liquid to kill bacteria they carry?????

 

[laughingdog]

If oppossom clamps down, hold under water or put white vinager on its face. also they like cats and coons skunks etc, don't seem to like white vinager smell, but rabbits n deer seem to love apple cider vinegar.

i love nature, butsadly people keep getting rid of,so some things mirror our society as adapt to. nature never wins when "in way" of "progress" and "civilization". Sometimes nature decides to fight back, and can't blame oppossom for. they are a natural treasure and are to be respected for how long evolved and how evolved here as Americas only marsupial. Non native brought rat species evolved along ride with brittish/english and spanish, only look like oppossoms to most un caring eyes.