HELP! What is this thing(pic inside)? Another predator?

[Fintechie]

The opossum was able to get in the backyard but not in the pen or the chicken house. I tend to let them out - raccoon and bobcats all visited before; while the pair of the bobcats got one leghorn, the raccoon came for chicken feed a few times! I live by a preserve, hoping that the nature takes care of them. Maybe I am bit naive...

 

[cmom]

I have had a possum kill a bird in the past. I see them quite often on my game camera. They haven't messed with my birds but I have them well protected. I love my cameras. Good luck...

 

[AntiqueB]

Then it should be looked at and secured. If one got in, another could, as well. So far, no chickens have been hurt. The next time could be different.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Then it should be looked at and secured. If one got in, another could, as well. So far, no chickens have been hurt. The next time could be different.

Exactly what I am thinking.

 

[cmom]

Here they mostly roam at night.

 

[333113]

Opossums are more scavengers than predators. My dad used to call them, "the little janitors." And, opossums are our only native North American marsupial!

A possum will eat a dead chicken left by another predator, but most will not kill a grown chicken unless in self-defense or extremely hungry. Possums will also clean up dead mice left by my cats, eggs that were left in nestboxes overnight, or any other food they find. Here's video of our local possum "cleaning up" the food my Hookbills walked away from.

You can take a cue from your chickens' behavior around an animal to determine the danger level. My chickens and ducks warn each other and hide from hawks, raccoons and foxes, but they ignore opossums.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

As much as everyone on this site has a burning hatred for possums, they are scavengers above anything else. They are very important environmentally as they eat a massive amount of ticks and pests every year. They will eat eggs from your birds but 9 times out of 10 they do not actually attack anything. If you can, simply relocate using a humane trap.

 

[Weeg]

I wouldn't have killed it. They eat ticks, rats, mice and even venomous snakes. While they can be a danger to your chickens, if your run and coop are secured, you should be okay. They also scare pretty easily.

Yes! I 100% agree!

 

[cmom]

If they are hungry enough they will indeed kill a bird. There is a post somewhere on BYC of a possum killing a bird. One killed one of my birds.

 

[cmom]

They are not endangered. I see them quite often dead on the main road from being hit by vehicles.