Well, I finally had to do it ...

[DTRM30]

Well, not me - a friend up the street with a .22
caught the opossum im the hen's run for the last time. It ate 3 chickens over the summer - was in the coop once and in the run three times. Figured it hadn't gotten the hint soooo,
when I went out to close up the coop and found the girls standing around outside - I knew something was amiss. Sure enough, the little bugger was in the run - so we cornered him - got it into an empty garbage can and called our friend up the street.
I don't like killing something for doing what it needs to do, but .... enough was enough.

My dog misses it - she watches out the door looking for it - likeed to bark at it ....

 

[ColbyNTX]

There will be more!

 

[bluere11e]

Quote:
I agree
They're like potato chips.. you can't just have one..

 

[gronsk]

i have found possums in my chicken house a few times and they never did any damage - just played possum - i thought they might go for the eggs - so i just moved them out with a shovel... do they climb wooden posts ??

 

[bobbi-j]

Yes, they climb. Posts, trees, fences....

 

[RedneckChikns]

I deal with possums regularly.....keep ya some live traps set all around all the time...you be amazed at the amount you will get rid of. They will eat eags, hens on eggs that wont budge, chicks...they are NASTY...but easy to trap. Just put either cat foot or old eggs or both in a live trap and walah...insta possum.

 

[GarlicEater]

We'd be knee deep in the things if I hadn't started trapping. Get a Hav-A-Hart trap, watch the excellent YouTube videos on using one, trap and SSS.

I'm a rather good shot. Where "rather good" mean international competition and Olympic tryouts. I LOATHE the idea of shooting a .22 up into a tree at a critter or anyplace I can't be very sure there's no choice the bullet won't go someplace strange where someplace strange means something like a neighbor's window. A Hav-A-Hart takes that factor away. Trap the pest, then carry to where you can be sure of the backstop and take care of it.

 

[RedneckChikns]

LOL

I have a .22 too and I hate it....I worry too about what goes up must come down somewhere if I miss. (thinking neighbors cows) Think its time to go back to WallyWorld for nuter shotgun and some buckshot! LOL

 

[DTRM30]

I know there will be more ---- but at least this one is gone. My friend has just about every trap and hunting rifle known to man LOL ... and said he has no problem killing anything I need quickly dispatched. He hunts and eats - most of what he kills - but said he's not quite ready to try opossum. In fact if it were trapping season here for the coyote he would have used it for bait - but apparently can't trap right now. I'm sure something has already eaten it so at least it didn't go to waste. It was quick - so I don't feel as bad about it. But I've had enough of this guy eating my hens - and I KNOW it was him. Got my silkie bantams who were slow moving .

I figure it won't be long before another takes it's place -

but I'll deal with that when that time comes. At least it was a guy and not a girl with little ones - then I'd feel really bad.

He left it in the garbage can - and just shot it in the can - the shots went right through the can into the ground (2 to the head). He's pretty safe when it comes to that stuff - knows better than to shoot into the air - or shoot it in the can on the driveway.

I used to worry about that all the time before they sold the property behind my house and built a few houses on it. It was a 40 acre parcel that the people would hunt on - I'd hear shots waaaay to close to my house and would find shells just over the property line. Literally - like 5 feet - Even found deer parts in the dumpster on my property when I was building - eewww - and rude too. I called the local police, but they couldn't do much without actually catching someone so it was basically - keep the kids in the house during the fall hunting season. Not thrilled about having houses behind me, but it sure beats being worried about stray fire - and I can't even see the houses for the most part. So it's all good now - no more worry about hunters not paying attention. Not that all are like that - so please don't take offense if you are a responsible hunter !

 

[GarlicEater]

Quote:
Well, you have to understand ballistic coefficient. I'm quite fearless about shooting my .177 pellet gun because the pellets have such a lousy BC that once they lose their initial velocity, they're harmless. So's bird shot. I wonder at times about getting a small shotgun, a 20 gauge maybe, and use bird shot shells for critters. Generally unless you're dispatching a critter you've caught in a trap, it's night time and it's close up. Quail loads will work fine. 10 meters/33ft is about the longest shot you'll make at night on possums, skunks, or coons. It's really close in shooting.

If you get 'nuter' shotgun, use dove and quail loads not buckshot. You want shot that's small enough that within the range you're working in, will cause damage but if it falls onto your neighbor's land, will only tickle his cows. I've actually been near a trap and skeet range and had shot rain down on me - wind gusts had carried it over. Utterly harmless.