hard to kill a possum in the coop

[BigBlueHen53]

The most effective way to dispatch a possum is to use the broomstick method, same as if dispatching a chicken. Possum facing your feet, stout stick across the neck with your feet on either side. A quick, strong yank, jerking the tail upward and the neck pops. Death throes for a minute, then it's over.

Yahbut, first you have to catch it.

Where (in the body) did you (OP) shoot the possum that didn't kill it? And did you only have two bullets? And why only "almost" cut off the head and not finish the job?

If you have a gun and need to kill an animal quickly, humanely and painlessly, aim for the center of the BRAIN. One shot is sufficient, if you do it right.

 

[Smokerbill]

They don't move too fast, and once you get them corralled somehow they tend to freeze up, playing possum.

 

[ChickenChick46]

I'm glad the possums in Aust are no where near where I live, and the ones that are closest are small.

The ones y'all have are actually kind of cute, lol. Ours come from the devil!

 

[ChickenChick46]

I just came in from the coop. Found a possum in there just seconds from getting another hen about 8 last evening. My husband shot it three times in the body area with a 45 cal pistol at close range (with hollow point bullets). It's still on the shelf in the 'unsecured' area of the coop (the birds are in a secured area now) ALIVE! I need to get to bed and the birds would like to have the lights out. So I turned the lights off. There is a light right at the area where the possum is and we turned it so it shined right on him. I know the possum was shot as there is blood smeared on the coop wall behind it and a little blood dropped below from the shelf. Surely that thing will die soon. It killed a favorite hen last week and we've been trying to trap it since with no luck. I've read that they are extremely hard to kill and should have a head shot. Just couldn't get at an angle enough for a head shot because of where it was. First two shots I told my husband he was either a bad shot, his gun was no good, he had fake bullets... that's when he shot the third and left. He's sleeping soundly upstairs. That's where I'm going.

My husband says possums come straight from Hell, lol. We've got some outside cats that were strays when we moved in. We were able to get all the girls spayed over time, but they don't and won't come inside the house. I keep water on the porch and use a gravity feeder, but never fill it up. I add some food twice a day. The possums like to show up at night. My husband has, as others here have said, emptied his gun into the things and they don't die!

Of the 3 he's shot, only one was confirmed dead. The other 2 had left the scene by the time he secured his gun back inside. Nasty things! I am such a baby, and I don't like harming anything. But possums, they've got to go!