Are Opossums Misunderstood?

[catobsessed]

I’ve been feeding this particular opossum and her friends for over a year now and not once have any of them tried to go after my chickens or any other animal hanging around. Obviously I would never leave any of my birds alone with one, but I have come to the conclusion they aren’t a threat, at least in my yard. There was one night one of the coop doors weren’t shut, yet all the opossums who came by for a snack didn’t take the opportunity.

The look of betrayal when there are no snacks.

An interaction a little too close for comfort, but ended fine.

For reference this is how the coop setup is. Above ground surrounded with hardware cloth and trick locks. Probably a big factor on why there have been no opossum incidents.
I also only have a small handful of chickens.

Raccoons however, are not friends. Those get chased off or trapped and relocated if they don’t get the hint.

 

[Debbie292d]

You're doing what I've heard is one way to keep them from eating eggs or killing chickens, and that is to keep them fed. An opossum only goes after our eggs/chickens when they're starving supposedly.

I've heard if you have one hanging around the coop, to set out a bucket of cheap dry cat food and you'll never have a problem with them.

We've had one around here, but it's never been near our coop, so it must've just been snooping around. We border a forest, so suppose that's where he lives.

 

[catobsessed]

You're doing what I've heard is one way to keep them from eating eggs or killing chickens, and that is to keep them fed. An opossum only goes after our eggs/chickens when they're starving supposedly.

I've heard if you have one hanging around the coop, to set out a bucket of cheap dry cat food and you'll never have a problem with them.

We've had one around here, but it's never been near our coop, so it must've just been snooping around. We border a forest, so suppose that's where he lives.

That could very well be the case. I read that opossums are going to want the easiest meal possible so
That might be a factor. These guys are always getting leftovers that need to be thrown out and cat food. I actually tried to offer boiled eggs that broke but they snubbed it! The alpha opossum always walks up to me when I’m sitting out in the evening but keeps a safe distance. She’s like where’s my food? she shares with the neighbors cat a lot too. I’ve really enjoyed having these guys around. Some are “trained” to know exactly where to go for food.

 

[Debbie292d]

That could very well be the case. I read that opossums are going to want the easiest meal possible so
That might be a factor. These guys are always getting leftovers that need to be thrown out and cat food. I actually tried to offer boiled eggs that broke but they snubbed it! The alpha opossum always walks up to me when I’m sitting out in the evening but keeps a safe distance. She’s like where’s my food? she shares with the neighbors cat a lot too. I’ve really enjoyed having these guys around. Some are “trained” to know exactly where to go for food.

You did take adorable pictures of him/her too by the way.

I have read posts where someone found one sleeping in their coop, another who found one had a litter of babies in their coop, and yet others who've said they've stolen eggs or killed a chicken (rarer).

 

[catobsessed]

Oh yeah, I’m not trying to say opossums will NEVER get a chicken if given the opportunity but overall I think they are okay. Those sound like crazy encounters, but even mine catch me by surprise by being right by the door when I’m getting a drink from the outdoor fridge haha.

 

[Callender Girl]

While I strongly suspect you are in an extreme minority of BYC folks who appreciate opossums, I think it's great that you have found a way to keep your chickens safe AND enjoy the opossums' company.

I have many encounters with those little grinning critters. They've gotten into the hay shed (where I believed I had only been feeding a feral cat), crawled into my duck shelter, stolen feed while two geese pathetically looked on and hissed, driven my smaller dog crazy as she's tried to tree them and led me on several slow-motion pursuits around the yard (thank goodness, we run at about the same pace).

I've never befriended any, as you have (congrats!), but none has ever attacked any of my birds. I've always kind of liked the little pests. They don't carry rabies, eat a lot of ticks and are so ugly-cute.

However, I will admit to "rehoming" a couple who were a bit too brazen about their thievery. They got a long car ride into some wooded country.

Thanks for your story and the sweet photos!

 

[catobsessed]

While I strongly suspect you are in an extreme minority of BYC folks who appreciate opossums, I think it's great that you have found a way to keep your chickens safe AND enjoy the opossums' company.

I have many encounters with those little grinning critters. They've gotten into the hay shed (where I believed I had only been feeding a feral cat), crawled into my duck shelter, stolen feed while two geese pathetically looked on and hissed, driven my smaller dog crazy as she's tried to tree them and led me on several slow-motion pursuits around the yard (thank goodness, we run at about the same pace).

I've never befriended any, as you have (congrats!), but none has ever attacked any of my birds. I've always kind of liked the little pests. They don't carry rabies, eat a lot of ticks and are so ugly-cute.

However, I will admit to "rehoming" a couple who were a bit too brazen about their thievery. They got a long car ride into some wooded country.

Thanks for your story and the sweet photos!

100% valid. It sounds like you live on a real farm where there’s a lot more at stake. For me this is just a casual hobby to get some fresh eggs which I’ve been loving!! All the chicken food is kept in a tin trash can with a strong lid so not even rats will be a problem. But I realize those who have a flock of say 30+, my method of storage won’t work for others. I used to chase opossums off all the time because I just assumed they were a threat and now I feel terrible. There’s been so much development in my area and a lot of these guys are losing their homes, I feel like I owe it to them to at least offer shelter in my yard and a steady source of food. The OG opossum is a stinker and has gotten into a container of chicken food I left out on a couple of occasions. (That’s on me.) but overall they are really helpful in my case because they eat leftover chicken feed and help us clean out the fridge without wasting food. I completely understand where they can be a nuisance for those really out in the country though. I’m pretty sure other chickens would consider my flock “city girls.” an acre of land is plenty for a handful though!

 

[theoldchick]

So long as you feed the possum it will most likely leave your chickens alone. However, stop feeding them and within a week they will invade your coop. Use hardware cloth as a deterrent to keep the possums from getting ideas just in case they want to change their diet.

 

[Zenmonkey]

@theoldchick is correct, it doesn't take much for them to switch to chicken dinners.

They're very much opportunists, and will gladly take the easiest meal. As long as that isn't a sleeping chicken, eggs, or a couple chicks, you're fine.

Be aware that just like feeding stray cats, feeding possums can be an increasingly large past time. The females have frequent, large litters.

Everything that follows is NOT something that I recommend, happened a long time ago, and may violate your state laws, so please do not take this as a recommendation. Just humorous anecdotes from my youth.

My grandfather farmed a few hundred acres at one time, and in my later teen years he'd stopped farming, but still had the habit of maintaining an army of barn cats. He fed these on his porch, and also had a collie nearby. The collie would fend off most of what might bother a cat, but the possums were perfectly happy to thread the needle between the dog and the porch, and take possession of the cat food.

I had an affinity for most living critters, and my grandfather would call me to collect possums from his porch when they got excessively prolific.

At first when he taught me to capture them, I'd wear a welding glove. Later I'd catch them as he did, bare handed. Again, I'm not recommending this. They've got a face full of teeth and while they rarely carry rabies, they frequently eat well rotted road kill.

Snatching them by their tails and lifting them into the air requires surprisingly little effort. A small "bounce" if they try to curl up and bite returns them to a downward hanging position.

Now a family of possums hanging by their tails while they sleep is a very Disney image, but looking back, I don't know that I've ever seen a possum assume this position willingly. It didn't seem to cause then distress, but I don't know that I would still consider this to be a safe and comfortable way to handle them today. And possums may legally be a fur bearer in your state. Check your laws before you decide to interact in any way.

At the time I would drive them off a mile or two and release them. Possums don't have a wide travel range, and it doesn't take much for them to not come back. Again, this isn't something I would recommend today. Wherever you drop them off, there's already going to be something living, and now you're introducing a new mouth to feed, and possibly diseases.

As a teen with an interest in animals, and a grandfather with a similar mind set, some of those possums were held for a bit rather than immediately transporting them. About 10 minutes of handling is generally enough for the possum to switch from "help! I'm being attacked by a predator! " to "humans are good for scratching ears".

Now I don't think the possums really sought out human affection, no matter how socialized they became. However it is easy to convince oneself that your holding something closer to a very calm cat than to a wild animal.

A few years later several of them ended up riding around in my car as I went to college. And then riding around campus sitting on my shoulder. One at a time. Not several all at once. That would be ridiculous!

Again, I really do not endorse placing an animal on your shoulder, particularly where that animal was 48 hours earlier roaming the woods and scavenging your grandfather's cat food.

So possums are surprisingly malleable behavior wise. They're surprisingly easy to tame. Harding Magazine (publishes Fur-Fish-Game) at one point, and maybe still, has a fur raising book that describes propagating them as a fur bearer. There's a history of cultivating them in captivity, at least for a very niche market.

And also if they get hungry they'll drive your cats off their feed and eat your chickens.

 

[Callender Girl]

@Zenmonkey, I enjoyed your post -- and your many admonitions!

My dad also caught opossums (okay, technically, possums are a different species, not native to North America. But where I grew up, they were just, plain possums) bare-handed. He said if you grab them by the tail, they won't be able to curl up and bite at you.

Keeping with family tradition, that's also how I handle them and, at least to this point, I've never been bitten. Unlike Dad, I do not shoot at them to make them go away. As he got older and less mobile, he often "wounded" the backyard picnic table, but I don't think any possums were ever hurt.

You probably would have liked my Uncle Dave. Although he never had a possum on his shoulder (to my knowledge) Dave's pet raccoon, Snoopy, frequently perched there during forays into town. On a less happy note, she also liked to get into the kitchen cupboards and tear the labels off canned food. That made meals a bit challenging for Aunt Shirley and often surprising for the rest of us.

And, @catobsessed, I don't really live on a farm, just a little acreage that's surrounded by farms. All my critters are pets. Older layers who stop producing eggs get to live out their lives in well-deserved retirement. I love their eggs, but I love them more.

As long as what you're doing works for you, your chickens and the possums, keep it up! Even little possums deserve kindness and a hero.