Look what I found in my coop tonight!!!!

[aprophet]

no it wasn't directed at anyone other than someone that knows nothing about wildlife..I would not want anyone to get hurt by messing with wildlife if I can help in someway to keep them from it.

piece of advice....DO NOT pickup a live opossum by its tail. It may not bite you but then I had a friend that picked one up by its tail and almost lost his hand for doing it.

though I would not recommend anyone else doing it I use the tail to handle possums all the time the ones I handle seem to have NO strength in their tails at all I also use a walking stick / wading staff to help me control said animal

 

[kari_dawn]

An earlier response contained a potentially dangerous tidbit of misinformation. Opossums CAN get rabies. Any mammal can get/carry rabies. It is just that some species' behavior makes them more prone to infection - raccoons, skunks, etc. Possums aren't the usual suspects and that one looks fat and healthy.

yes, opossums can get rabies (and for the record, are not technically mammals). However, technically speaking, so can a squirrel (why don't we consider squirrels rabies carriers? Because the chances of a squirrel surviving the attack of a rabid animal are incredibly slim).

The difference is that the only documented confirmed case found that was presented in the rabies training course sanctioned by the state of Texas, and that I am required to take for my job in order to retain my certification was a case in which the opossum was bitten directly on the head, and the virus was intruduced directly to the brain tissue of the animal. Short of this unlikely scenario, opossums are NOT considered carriers for the virus. They are highly unlikely to pass it on or even be affected by it even if the virus is introduced into the opossum's body.

Opossums are fairly primative animals, and their neurologial systems are quite simplistic when compared to modern mammals. These neuro pathways are what the rabies virus uses to make it's way to the brain of the host animal. In combination with minimal neuro pathways, and low body temps as brought up by aprophet, the opossum is rendered a very poor and unlikely host for the rabies virus. IE-opossums are not considered carriers of the virus any more than squirrels, rabbits, or rats are considered carriers.

CDC has a really hard time finding possums with rabies the body temp is lower then it takes for the virus to incubate, around here bats and skunk are tied for the number 1 vector

 

[henpeck31]

I have a great chocolate lab that loves to find opies. We have had one in our coop. I store our cat food in there also. It got into the the trash can that i keep the cat food in. Thank goodness that day i sent my DH out to feed the cats. cause i would have reached into the trash can and gotten bitten. So the DH and his trusty shot gun and the lab took care of the little stinker.