Am I hunting a weasel? Graphic photo warning

[Ruralhideaway]

X2 the tree rat did it.

 

[chickencheeper]

Just drop the trap in a bucket of water(fully submerged) with the possum in it for about 20 minutes and when you pull it out, poof! Dead possum!

 

[Chickassan]

Nope, they aren't especially not at night. They are pretty slow in the daytime, but you hardly ever see them then. Btw saw your catch, that is most likely your killer, he's hungry. See how the eyes aren't popping out? That possum has no fat stores. They only store fat behind the eyes and on the tail. A possum with indented eyes is very hungry.

I used canned cat food, stinky sardines and a piece of shrimp in the trap. I also found some possum prints, altho they look like baby possum. Hmmm, well, keep your fingers crossed that I catch it.

I didn't think Possum would chase chickens like that. I thought they were too lazy.

 

[danceswithronin]

Just drop the trap in a bucket of water(fully submerged) with the possum in it for about 20 minutes and when you pull it out, poof! Dead possum!

I feel like this is really cruel actually. Drowning is a frightening way to die, and as somebody who has rehabilitated and hand-reared several opossums in the past for wildlife rehab, I would never wish that kind of death on any of them.

I say if OP doesn't have a gun to kill it properly, it should be relocated. Drowning an animal to death would be considered animal cruelty by anyone's standards. If somebody drowned a stray cat or dog in a bucket and posted a video of it, people would be raising all kinds of holy hell. Possums are not a lower animal than cats or anything else. They're not some untouchable caste of creature that deserves a painful or frightening death. If an opossum ate OP's chickens it's because the possum was hungry and the chickens unprotected, end of story.

Sorry you lost your chickens OP, but I hope you didn't cause a wild animal to suffer in death, especially since there was no way to verify it was even the culprit to begin with.

This is a mother possum with two babies that I rescued after she was hit by a car a few years ago. She eventually recovered and I relocated her and her two babies to a local wildlife preserve.

All animals, regardless of species, are worthy of our love and respect.​

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

I feel like this is really cruel actually. Drowning is a frightening way to die, and as somebody who has rehabilitated and hand-reared several opossums in the past for wildlife rehab, I would never wish that kind of death on any of them.

I say if OP doesn't have a gun to kill it properly, it should be relocated. Drowning an animal to death would be considered animal cruelty by anyone's standards. If somebody drowned a stray cat or dog in a bucket and posted a video of it, people would be raising all kinds of holy hell. Possums are not a lower animal than cats or anything else. They're not some untouchable caste of creature that deserves a painful or frightening death. If an opossum ate OP's chickens it's because the possum was hungry and the chickens unprotected, end of story.

Sorry you lost your chickens OP, but I hope you didn't cause a wild animal to suffer in death, especially since there was no way to verify it was even the culprit to begin with.

View attachment 1404582

This is a mother possum with two babies that I rescued after she was hit by a car a few years ago. She eventually recovered and I relocated her and her two babies to a local wildlife preserve.

All animals, regardless of species, are worthy of our love and respect.​

x2

 

[andreanar]

I feel like this is really cruel actually. Drowning is a frightening way to die, and as somebody who has rehabilitated and hand-reared several opossums in the past for wildlife rehab, I would never wish that kind of death on any of them.

I say if OP doesn't have a gun to kill it properly, it should be relocated. Drowning an animal to death would be considered animal cruelty by anyone's standards. If somebody drowned a stray cat or dog in a bucket and posted a video of it, people would be raising all kinds of holy hell. Possums are not a lower animal than cats or anything else. They're not some untouchable caste of creature that deserves a painful or frightening death. If an opossum ate OP's chickens it's because the possum was hungry and the chickens unprotected, end of story.

Sorry you lost your chickens OP, but I hope you didn't cause a wild animal to suffer in death, especially since there was no way to verify it was even the culprit to begin with.

View attachment 1404582

This is a mother possum with two babies that I rescued after she was hit by a car a few years ago. She eventually recovered and I relocated her and her two babies to a local wildlife preserve.

All animals, regardless of species, are worthy of our love and respect.​

It is against the law in my state to relocate caught wildlife. He/ she will die, in a humane way. If it's a her, I will check the pouch for babies and have a wildlife rehabber set up if need be for babies. I Am on my way to dispatch it now. It spent the day in the trap in a cool, dark place until I could get out of work. It also had cat food and water.

I love all animals, i could not be cruel unless i was put in a me or it dangerous situation, but I can't abide a threat to my girls.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

It is against the law in my state to relocate caught wildlife. He/ she will die, in a humane way. If it's a her, I will check the pouch for babies and have a wildlife rehabber set up if need be for babies. I Am on my way to dispatch it now. It spent the day in the trap in a cool, dark place until I could get out of work. It also had cat food and water.

I love all animals, i could not be cruel unless i was put in a me or it dangerous situation, but I can't abide a threat to my girls.

can you shoot it? it can take quite a while to drown a possum. it is VERY gruesome.

 

[danceswithronin]

It is against the law in my state to relocate caught wildlife. He/ she will die, in a humane way. If it's a her, I will check the pouch for babies and have a wildlife rehabber set up if need be for babies. I Am on my way to dispatch it now. It spent the day in the trap in a cool, dark place until I could get out of work. It also had cat food and water.

I love all animals, i could not be cruel unless i was put in a me or it dangerous situation, but I can't abide a threat to my girls.

Thanks for being humane. I understand that "varmint" animals must sometimes be eradicated in order to ensure the safety of our flocks, and opossums are in no way an endangered species, but I don't think they as individual sentient creatures should be tortured or their lives taken for granted. Wild animals just do what they can to survive in a harsh and unforgiving world, which is more and more difficult with humans encroaching and destroying their natural foraging territories with every other subdivision.

Very sorry about the loss of your chooks though and I understand, I would not hesitate to eliminate a threat to mine either.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

can you shoot it? it can take quite a while to drown a possum. it is VERY gruesome.

I wish someone had told me this long time back. I thought drowning was peaceful. Thats what I had always heard anyway. Maybe w/ humans ? Anyway I put a coon in a garbage can of water and 10 mins took it out cause I knew it only took a min. It was still alive and I was sick. I didnt know what to do I wasnt doing mouth to whatever that was for sure and didnt own a gun so I drowned it again. Then I threw my trap in the garbage and reinforced my coop. Now I feed them my extra eggs. I wont ever get over that.
Forgot to say, congrats on catching your killer. Im not against taking care of business . This just reminded me of what happened.

 

[danceswithronin]

I wish someone had told me this long time back. I thought drowning was peaceful. Thats what I had always heard anyway. Maybe w/ humans ? Anyway I put a coon in a garbage can of water and 10 mins took it out cause I knew it only took a min. It was still alive and I was sick. I didnt know what to do I wasnt doing mouth to whatever that was for sure and didnt own a gun so I drowned it again. Then I threw my trap in the garbage and reinforced my coop. Now I feed them my extra eggs. I wont ever get over that.
Forgot to say, congrats on catching your killer. Im not against taking care of business . This just reminded me of what happened.

To me a gun is the only humane answer if you absolutely have to kill a pest animal like a possum or raccoon. I'd rather risk getting a ticket from a game warden for relocating a wild animal to an actual forest than I would risk giving an innocent creature a bad death. In my state it isn't even legal to rehabilitate wildlife like possums, skunks, raccoons, etc... anymore, but that doesn't stop me from taking them in and saving their lives when an injured one crosses my path. Same as I'd do for a person in the same pinch.