Opossum Playing Dead

[roosterhavoc]

Are possums rare? I’ve never seen one. Are they a threat to chickens? How about baby chicks and eggs? They’re so cute I bet they’re harmless.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Are possums rare? I’ve never seen one. Are they a threat to chickens? How about baby chicks and eggs? They’re so cute I bet they’re harmless.

I see possums on my cameras every week.

They are nocturnal. I only see them in person when driving, usually dead, sometimes crossing the road.
They've never bothered my chickens or got into pens or coops.
They will eat eggs, my mom had problems with possums eating duck eggs, ducks laid under her raised coop, wasn't very secure.
I've read they are a threat to chicks and ducklings. GC

 

[imnukensc]

Are possums rare? I’ve never seen one. Are they a threat to chickens? How about baby chicks and eggs? They’re so cute I bet they’re harmless.

Don't know where you're located, but opossums are certainly not rare here in SC. I'm pretty sure they're born dead in the road. They've never bothered my chickens, but my coop and run are pretty tight.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Got possum here in Northern California very frequently. I see them almost daily in my area. My 14 lbs chiweenie killed a big one a couple of years ago. Tore the thing to pieces in the amount of time it took me to run from my back door to where she was. Silly me - I thought *my dog* was getting hurt. She's small, but built like a tank and vicious when she wants to be.

 

[cmom]

I see possums quite often. If I have had to out to the garage after dark have nearly tripped over them. Once in awhile it may be a coyote or a fox. Now I make noises when and if I need go out after dark.

 

[Tortoise]

I have found since setting up cameras that I have opossums every night. A large one and a smaller one.
They are by no means rare in the US.
They can be dangerous but usually, like any wild animal, will run before fight unless cornered or in the opossum case, play dead or run/walk away. The one I had on my back porch was in no hurry to leave.

 

[feathermaid]

Possums that play dead intend to confuse predators that like to chase, and they wait until the right moment to make their escape. Running or fleeing animals spark the prey drive in predators. If the predator's instinct to chase isn't activated, they usually won't have the desire to kill something not moving, very unlike humans. Has anyone heard of the baby antelope that befriended a lion for months because it wouldn't run away? My cat also befriended a confused coyote once because he wasn't afraid and didn't run away. Lucky cat!

 

[feathermaid]

I also see possums frequently in my neighborhood. I found a very young one in the chicken yard and tried to chase it away but it fell over and played dead. I didn't have the heart to kill a baby one, so I just took a stick and rolled it all the way out of the yard, through the gate across the driveway and into the street, hoping a car might finish it off. But soon it just woke up and wandered off.

Another time I found a giant possum in the front yard eating my strawberries and it wouldn't scare away or play dead, so I got my pitbull dog. She's not trained to hunt and didn't really know what to do, she tried grabbing it. But that thing was mean and bared its teeth and hissed and growled the whole time and wouldn't budge. I was afraid it was going to eat my dog! I think I have the weaniest bully dog in the world. So I got a long pole and tried to shove it away like the little one before, but jeez, it must have weighed a hundred lbs and it was so tough it felt like poking a cinder block. The possum finally left and walked across the street slow as molasses growling all the way.

I don't think I like messing with them anymore... they haven't bothered my chickens as long as they're safely locked in every night.

 

[feathermaid]

Are possums rare? I’ve never seen one. Are they a threat to chickens? How about baby chicks and eggs? They’re so cute I bet they’re harmless.

They're definitely not cute close up. Even the babies are ugly.
I've heard they will eat eggs and baby chicks for sure, very opportunistic.
I think a possum got one of my birds a few years ago that decided to roost on top the 6' fence instead of going into coop at night. I had to pluck her off every night and lock her inside but I forgot once. That top fence line is a major path for the possums in my neighborhood. I've since built a bigger coop and have a stricter lock up schedule.

 

[centrarchid]

They are doing more than playing dead. The take a crap that hangs out only about half way plus the extrude a greenish white stuff from the anal area as well. If a predator is like me the first time, then the predator is thinking this item is nasty.