i woke up to a possum in the coop! i went outside to open the door (i close it every night) and i could see that there was an intruder, but i couldn't see it very well cuz it was still kinda dark outside. i figured it was possum though cuz i had seen one around before.....eating my cat's food on the porch. so i have been taking the cat food away every night. well, now it's after the chicken food! i only have 2 hens in the big coop right now, the rest of my chickens are babies and are in a smaller coop. anyway, i let my Boxer out and he cornered the possum....but he couldn't get to it cuz the possum was wedged behind a bucket full of stuff. then i woke up my 17 year old son and asked if he would kill the thing....i told him he didn't have to if he didn't want to....but what teenage boy wouldn't want to? lol! anyway, he took a pitch fork and got it up against the wall with it, but couldn't really kill it cuz of how the possum was positioned....then it somehow got out and played dead on the ground (outside of the coop) and my son took a shovel to it....about 5 times....it was a female cuz it had babies (which was kinda sad) they were about as big as a nickel. my 2 chickens were VERY disturbed about the whole business once my dog came out to bark at the possum. but they made it out ok. i didn't see any signs of digging around the coop, so i know it got in by climbing to the top. it's really a make-shift coop made out of a lean-to.....the lean-to is very nicely built, but not predator proof.....i live in town and i normally have one of those red flashing lights outside the coop for predator control....but lastnight i forgot to put it back by the coop (the coop is in a shady place....so every day i have to bring the solar powered flashing-light-thingy out into the sun).....i guess it works....cuz i have never had a problem before now. and what do you know, the night i forget to put it back in place, a possum comes. i'm so glad it's dead now though. i'm an animal lover, but still, i love my chickens more than the possum!