We have a possum

[FarmingCityGirl]

My husband saw it the other day. While he's big on talk, he didn't kill it. I saw it yesterday. He's a pretty big guy-but I've never seen one before him so I'm not sure if he's actually big for a possum. I don't know anything about them. He looked so yucky, slow and stupid, I didn't want to let the dog out on him. I don't want my dog actually chewing on anything nasty.

I looked it up and this guy will eat my chickens & eggs. Crap. So now I'm going to set a live trap out there. What do I bait it with? Anything? Do possums fall for traps? We didn't have any of these animals (and so many others I see out here) in the city lol.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Possums are the cleanup crew, they'll eat seeds, food, garbage, carrion, eggs and yes chickens. I wouldn't put the dog on it as they do have a vicious bite. They can be fast if they think they can get away. Possums fall for traps much easier than coons. Almost anything will work, fish, peanut butter, grain.

I hate to burst your bubble but you don't have an opossum. You have lots of them AND raccoons. People don't usually go out around their property in the dark but while you're inside the possums, coons, weasels, foxes and coyotes are roaming. As for cities, they're rife with raccoons and opossums. Chicago has a huge population of both. City people here in St. Louis trap both and have foxes and coyotes.
http://www.pestanimalcontrolchicago.com/opossum.html

 

[aart]

Possums are the cleanup crew, they'll eat seeds, food, garbage, carrion, eggs and yes chickens. I wouldn't put the dog on it as they do have a vicious bite. They can be fast if they think they can get away. Possums fall for traps much easier than coons. Almost anything will work, fish, peanut butter, grain.

I hate to burst your bubble but you don't have an opossum. You have lots of them AND raccoons. People don't usually go out around their property in the dark but while you're inside the possums, coons, weasels, foxes and coyotes are roaming. As for cities, they're rife with raccoons and opossums. Chicago has a huge population of both. City people here in St. Louis trap both and have foxes and coyotes.
http://www.pestanimalcontrolchicago.com/opossum.html

For sure.....they can be vicious when cornered.

Best defense is keep your coop tight and impenetrable....cause ya can't catch and kill them all before they find a way inside.

But if you do trap it, kill it...and keep resetting the trap cause there's usually more than one critter around.

Good Luck!

 

[FarmingCityGirl]

Possums are the cleanup crew, they'll eat seeds, food, garbage, carrion, eggs and yes chickens. I wouldn't put the dog on it as they do have a vicious bite. They can be fast if they think they can get away. Possums fall for traps much easier than coons. Almost anything will work, fish, peanut butter, grain.

I hate to burst your bubble but you don't have an opossum. You have lots of them AND raccoons. People don't usually go out around their property in the dark but while you're inside the possums, coons, weasels, foxes and coyotes are roaming. As for cities, they're rife with raccoons and opossums. Chicago has a huge population of both. City people here in St. Louis trap both and have foxes and coyotes.
http://www.pestanimalcontrolchicago.com/opossum.html

You have bursted my bubble lol. Thanks. This possum was kind of gross looking. And pretty daring. It was up by the back door in the daytime. I saw its tail first, out of the corner of my eye, and thought it was a giant rat. Ew. I should still try to trap & kill it, right? I don't want these things walking on my deck.

I mentioned to the neighbor we don't seem to have a raccoon problem here like I did at my other house. He said he's taking care of them...I took that to mean he's shooting them all.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You can trap it. I do with some regularity and it helps but when there's a void in territory, others will soon find the unused territory and move in. You'll never be completely rid of them. And worse yet, while you're sleeping, they'll be walking on your deck.

 

[aart]

Agrees^^^

Maybe work with your neighbor on a trap and dispose project together.

Best/first thing tho is to make sure nothing can get into the coop for night time security....because you really cannot totally eliminate predators.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Opossums actually have an important niche in nature. They eat a lot of bugs, like cockroaches (one of their favorite foods), snails, slugs. They catch and eat rats, They eat a lot of carrion, keeping the woodland tidy. They would prefer to eat your eggs, but if hungry, they'll gladly snatch a chicken off a roost in an unlocked coop.
Without a lot of easy meals, like dog food, cat food, garbage, grains, chicken feed, there's a limited food supply in the wild. There will be varmints and predators everywhere to utilize those food sources. Looking at things the opossum eats, if you eliminate them, they will soon be replaced by rats, skunks, cats, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, crows, vultures and yes, more opossums.
I agree, they are extremely ugly. Beyond that though, they are more benign than most of your nocturnal visitors. Probably due to the fact that they can eat almost anything, they are very unlikely to harbor any diseases, more resistant to rabies than any other mammal, including you. They actually present a lower health risk to humans than dogs and cats. They will look really scruffy this time of year because they're shedding.

Raccoons, on the other hand, are invasive in most of their current range. Originally populating river bottoms in what is now SE US, they spread across the continent easily when white men populated the land offering easy pickings. Elimination of larger predators, like wolves, also helped them expand their range. Raccoons are smart, fast, incredibly strong, nimble hands, have excellent night vision, can climb almost anything including walls, one of the only animals that can descend a tree head first. They also have an affinity for chicken dinner.

All things being equal, I'd rather have opossums patrolling my deck at night eating cockroaches, slugs and rats.

 

[BillM2]

If you're the least bit concerned about Lyme Disease and the various other tick borne illnesses, keep the possums around but out of your coop. Possums eat ticks and studies show that in areas where there are higher numbers of possums, there are fewer incidences of tick diseases. They may look ratty, but they groom and devour the ticks. At this time of year when ticks carrying diseases are smaller than a poppy seed, you should be happy to have one around. Just secure your coop well and put up a baby gate to keep the critters off your deck.

 

[FarmingCityGirl]

Opossums actually have an important niche in nature. They eat a lot of bugs, like cockroaches (one of their favorite foods), snails, slugs. They catch and eat rats, They eat a lot of carrion, keeping the woodland tidy. They would prefer to eat your eggs, but if hungry, they'll gladly snatch a chicken off a roost in an unlocked coop.
Without a lot of easy meals, like dog food, cat food, garbage, grains, chicken feed, there's a limited food supply in the wild. There will be varmints and predators everywhere to utilize those food sources. Looking at things the opossum eats, if you eliminate them, they will soon be replaced by rats, skunks, cats, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, crows, vultures and yes, more opossums.
I agree, they are extremely ugly. Beyond that though, they are more benign than most of your nocturnal visitors. Probably due to the fact that they can eat almost anything, they are very unlikely to harbor any diseases, more resistant to rabies than any other mammal, including you. They actually present a lower health risk to humans than dogs and cats. They will look really scruffy this time of year because they're shedding.

Raccoons, on the other hand, are invasive in most of their current range. Originally populating river bottoms in what is now SE US, they spread across the continent easily when white men populated the land offering easy pickings. Elimination of larger predators, like wolves, also helped them expand their range. Raccoons are smart, fast, incredibly strong, nimble hands, have excellent night vision, can climb almost anything including walls, one of the only animals that can descend a tree head first. They also have an affinity for chicken dinner.

All things being equal, I'd rather have opossums patrolling my deck at night eating cockroaches, slugs and rats.

Wow, that is all very interesting! Thank you so much for that information. I was under the impression they carried diseases and were a nuisance. We don't really have too much of an issue with raccoons here. Apparently, my neighbor works pretty hard to ensure that. I'll just continue to make sure my hens are locked up at night and stop worrying about this new animal.

 

[FarmingCityGirl]

If you're the least bit concerned about Lyme Disease and the various other tick borne illnesses, keep the possums around but out of your coop. Possums eat ticks and studies show that in areas where there are higher numbers of possums, there are fewer incidences of tick diseases. They may look ratty, but they groom and devour the ticks. At this time of year when ticks carrying diseases are smaller than a poppy seed, you should be happy to have one around. Just secure your coop well and put up a baby gate to keep the critters off your deck.

I am worried about ticks here. We haven't had an issue yet, but friends & family just an hour south of us had a horrible tick problem last summer. I'll keep my girls locked up at night and stop worrying about the possum...but there's no way to keep it off my deck. Are they pretty smart? If I let the dog out after it will it run quickly away and not come back on the deck?