Scrambled egg,
I hope your Fred returns to you soon. We keep cat food out front all the time and of course, we've had a few possums over the years. They are really so cute sitting there crunching away. We have four cats out front, and they just sit and watch the possum, no issues. By the way, possums are marsupials and can not carry rabies. If you want to touch it, you can do this...turn off your porch lights so that it is as dark as possible. When you hear the familiar crunching, go out back with your strongest powered flash lite, industrial strength, new batteries, etc. Dash around front to the cat food bowl and quickly beam your light right to his eyes and rush him. He should freeze up just like in the headlights of a car! Quickly, before his eyes adjust, with your light in one hand focused on his face, stretch your other arm to grab his tail, maybe last third of it. Quickly, pick him straight up and hold him out away from your leg. His cold scaly tail will wrap around your hand much like a snake, don't freak out. He is too heavy to curl all the way up to your hand, and he can not reach your leg at arms' length. He will just hang there and maybe hiss, but most likely not. By now somebody inside the house has flipped on your porch light for you. Your arm will get tired soon, and you can put him down, sort of like throwing down a rug, pitch him out & down as you squat down, too. When his feet hit the ground he will try to run away from you. Switch hands & pick him up and out again. Soon you will have a feel for his limited range of motion and you can touch his back! If your first try is not successful, not to worry, he will probably be back again tomorrow night or the night after, unless something bad has happened to him, lately. I've caught several, and just be sure to keep it out from your leg. Maybe rooster-red can add some more to this. Oh, by the way, I've never had possum/chicken problems. -Spence
I hope your Fred returns to you soon. We keep cat food out front all the time and of course, we've had a few possums over the years. They are really so cute sitting there crunching away. We have four cats out front, and they just sit and watch the possum, no issues. By the way, possums are marsupials and can not carry rabies. If you want to touch it, you can do this...turn off your porch lights so that it is as dark as possible. When you hear the familiar crunching, go out back with your strongest powered flash lite, industrial strength, new batteries, etc. Dash around front to the cat food bowl and quickly beam your light right to his eyes and rush him. He should freeze up just like in the headlights of a car! Quickly, before his eyes adjust, with your light in one hand focused on his face, stretch your other arm to grab his tail, maybe last third of it. Quickly, pick him straight up and hold him out away from your leg. His cold scaly tail will wrap around your hand much like a snake, don't freak out. He is too heavy to curl all the way up to your hand, and he can not reach your leg at arms' length. He will just hang there and maybe hiss, but most likely not. By now somebody inside the house has flipped on your porch light for you. Your arm will get tired soon, and you can put him down, sort of like throwing down a rug, pitch him out & down as you squat down, too. When his feet hit the ground he will try to run away from you. Switch hands & pick him up and out again. Soon you will have a feel for his limited range of motion and you can touch his back! If your first try is not successful, not to worry, he will probably be back again tomorrow night or the night after, unless something bad has happened to him, lately. I've caught several, and just be sure to keep it out from your leg. Maybe rooster-red can add some more to this. Oh, by the way, I've never had possum/chicken problems. -Spence
