- Sep 24, 2020
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Wow I never knew some of that.. thank you for the info. (I don’t agree with the killing part) but everything else was awesome. I have always peeped on my property kinda all over as that one I knew but never knew about the peppers etcYou can try to predator proof your run and coop, try looking for where the opossum entered. Try to secure feed and water, pest wont come where there is no food or water. If both are secured, he might be looking to eat eggs he smells. They will also be attracted to garbage that's left out, and are also attracted to fruit that has fallen off fruit trees. Even then, he could be attracted to the eggs.
If so, try collecting the eggs before dark, opossums are Crepuscular. Nocturnal means active at night, diurnal means acting during day, and Crepuscular means active at dawn and dusk, so only at twilight.
Also, if you consider hurting or shooting the opossum, just remember that opossums are very clean animals. They will try to get away from you before attacking, they don't carry rabies because their body temp is too low for rabies to survive, they eat ticks and other parasites, they eat snails and sometimes even aphids that eat your garden, they eats rats and other small rodents. This means they are as good as snakes when you have a rat problem in the run/coop
To move the opossums if you have to, always wear gloves. get a bucket and gently kick the opossum into the bucket, once in the bucket, move the opossum outside of the run and coop and release it.
Also, take note that opossums CAN and WILL attack, kill and eat chickens if hungry enough, If they are full, generally they will either play dead or run away if spotted or attacked by a chicken. If hungry, it will be the opossum that will be attacking and eating the chicken.
An opossums greatest sense is its sense of smell. You can put down any of: human, fox, owl, bobcat, mountain lion, dog, cat urine. Yes I said human. All you have to do is pee around the run. It sounds dumb but it works, trust me. I peed once around the run away from where the chickens can reach and since then no cat has come back!
One last thing. Opossums are great at one thing: Tonic Immobility/Apparent death. The art of playing dead. Its not just laying down and closing your eyes. Its not as simple as you think. The opossum will: Lower its heartbeat, slow its breathing, and they have glands in their anus that release a rotting flesh smell. It can take the opossum anywhere from a minute to 6 hours to stop playing dead.
Opossums will only play dead if attacked or caught off guard, if they know you are there, they will always run away, if you corner them, they will growl, if you don't back off, they will bite, if you attack back, they will play dead.
Hope this helps!
EDIT: It IS legal to kill an animal after you livestock. If you feel the need to kill the opossum, kill it while it is playing dead. Opossums dont really play dead, but they will paralyze themselves and go to sleep while playing dead, they dont feel pain while in this state. 2 humane ways to kill an opossum include gassing with carbon dioxide, or shooting the skull/head will a close range gun, preferably a handgun or a shotgun.
You can place crushed garlic cloves in a spray bottle and spray it around the coop and run, opossums hate garlic more than anything.
Opossums are great at learning from mistakes.They also hate mustard and hot peppers. If you think the opossum is coming back for eggs. Take one of your chicken eggs, crack a hole into it and pour it all out over the sink inside. Then fill it up with mustard or crushed hot pepper and leave it outside where you commonly see the opossum, once they bite into it they surely won't try eggs again! They could still come around, but they won't be coming for eggs anymore, i'll tell you that!
The reason why opossums hate pepper is because they are very sensitive to spiciness, a jalapeno or a serrano can taste like a ghost to them. The spicyness overpowers their nose and they mainly see through their nose, it basically blinds them until the spiciness wears off.
) I leave it on the opposite side from where my ducks are and my chicks will be.
