Possums!

[Rosalind]

I come home from work, I walk into the barn, turn on the light, and what do I see but a slightly embarrassed opossum attempting to carry (yes, carry) four eggs out through a teeny-tiny crack in the wall! And the remains of another smashed on the floor. He managed to get them out of the highest nest boxes (only spot where two of my EEs will lay) and about 4' down to the ground and only broke one.

I got a big fishing net and a broom and netted him, with much hissing and growling, and pitched his furry behind out into the snowy backyard. Here's hoping a coyote eats him--he looked pretty dark and obvious against the snow.

Tomorrow DH is closing up every last crack and opening with solid wood. The bugger got in through a soffit that was not quite secure. This will be mended. In the meantime, the chickens are ALL going into the Chicken Jail part of the barn, where the dog can mind them.

 

[lacyloo]

wow im glad he dint eat any of your birds.
what did you do with the possum .??

they are naste looking

 

[picklespickles]

my mom grew up with a lot of possums nearby and hated them. i've never seen one in person.

glad you got there in time.

 

[chicknmania]

Once again, I have to say...I'd rather have a possum around then a rat, if I didn't have chickens. Possums are ok, except they do eat chickens and eggs, of course. We had one in our barn once; we got rid of him by closing the barn, all the doors, turning the radio on full blast, and every single light on that we could find. We came back a half hour later and found that he had actually dug a hole under the barn wall to get OUT!!!! He was terrified and never came back; so far, neither have any others. I am always and always will be a defender of all forms of wildlife, for the most part, and possums are pretty much maligned; they are even kind of cute if you look at them up close; and like lots of other generally disliked predators, they do eat mice and rats. I think they are easier to get rid of then coons because, as I said, they are afraid of radios and lights; coons really aren't.

 

[rooster-red]

I'm not looking to start any contraversy, just share a little insight.
Possums are opportunistic feeders, they look for the easiest meal they can find to survive, thats why they get killed on roads while eating carrian.

Those that live in the woods close to my house have found an easy meal ticket.
Late at night they come up on my porch to eat the cat food we leave out for our outside cats.

My porch is about 43 feet from my coops but they've never bothered my chickens at all because there is too much work involved in killing when they can just amble up to the porch to have dinner.

I bet we have some of the cleanest possums around with shiny soft coats and nice white teeth and the don't smell bad either.

Don't get me wrong, if they were getting after my chickens I would not hesitate to eliminate them.

They seem content just to have a meal to survive another day. They arn't blood thirsty monsters bent on killing everything the run across.

In case you are wondering, these are wild, not tame by any means.

I catch them by grabbing them just behind the jaw hinge so they can't get those razor sharp teeth on me, and boy they let you know they don't like it a bit.

There are some preditors that we can coexist with, though I know its not for everybody.

*Kids don't try this one at home*

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

that is a fat and sassy one rooster!

 

[SpottedCrow]

Holy Sheepdip, Rooster Red, that's a big mofo!!!

 

[Galaxie_Man]

Quote:
One word.......YIKES!!!

The only time I ever handled wildlife, it was a baby Woodchuck in my elderly neighbor's back porch. She called me over because she was scared and didn't know what it was. I used heavy leather firefighting gloves and a small pet carrier. You, my friend are the new Steve Erwin!

How on earth did you let it go without it taking a chunk out of your hand? Possum Toss?

 

[rooster-red]

Quote:
No, the one in the lower left of this pic was a BIG mofo. His head was HUGE!

 

[frizzylizzy]

A couple of years ago I bottle fed 6 baby possums. My boyfriend built a large (6ft x 4ft) cage and I raised them in my kitchen. When they got too big I kept them in a dog run until I released them at a river.The biggest and fattest one would let me pet her, the others didn't like me. I would have loved to have kept one as a pet, but I thought they would all be happier if they were free. I have heard of people taming them down enough to be lap pets.
My biggest problem was that they prefer to go to the bathroom in water. That can get really stinky not to mention difficult to clean up after!

On an interesting note, the dietary requirements of youngsters is very specific and if not fed the proper nutrients, they will die pretty quickly. I found an organization called The Virginia Possum Society and they were extremely helpful with raising them. It is something I would like to do again.

Elizabeth