opossum in my yard...

[GKeeper316]

i turned my 2 new dogs on it, and it did its whole 'playin possum' thing... i put it in the dumpster for the garbage guys to haul off.

after doing a little bit of research on them, however, they are actually some of the most beneficial wild animals in america... very resilient to diseases such as rabies, and eat mice, rats and other "vermin". they are also transatory animals. they'll only stick around for a couple days before moving on.

so dont kill opossums... they're neat little animals that keep the real vermin from proliferating in urban areas!

[soonerchk]

They hiss and will urinate all over your house if they happen to get in. Next time, I'm moving.

[Leroy Lizard]

God commanded me to kill all possums.

And spelling it with an "o" in front. Are you some sort of Yankee?

[SanJoaquinSooner]

vet wrote a book called, "How to Serve Possum"

[Cornfed]

I have a cousin who's nickname is possum.

[royalfan5]

Once when I was little, my aunt was watching me for an evening. We were playing in the yard when she saw a possum. I had to stand on top of the dog house while she ran it down with her caprice classic. I also remember my mom beating a possum to death with a crowbar.

[soonerinkaty]

Damn things are hard as hell to kill without a gun. Tough bastards.

[yankee]

Damn things are hard as hell to kill without a gun. Tough bastards.

yup. had one that made a home in our garage a few years back...took several shots to kill it.

[Leroy Lizard]

I have heard of people skinning them while they played dead, and then watching the possum walk off. Not sure if it isn't an urban legend.

[soonerinkaty]

Would it make me a bad person to say that sounds hilarious?

[soonerinkaty]

If so, then hell no that's terrible. ;)

[Penguin]

I saw one when I was checking my mail one night. I tried to shoo it away, but it looked at me and started freaking out hissing and jumping all around.


I ran like a little girl.

[RocketDad]

Have one the frequents my back yard and drives my border collie nuts. Threw a board in a bush to scare it and got a 1/2 staple in my finger. Had to use wire cutters to get it out, it was a through and through. $35 and a tetnus shot later damn opossum is still out there somewhere.

[GKeeper316]

I saw one when I was checking my mail one night. I tried to shoo it away, but it looked at me and started freaking out hissing and jumping all around.


I ran like a little girl.

they will hiss and make a lot of noise, but if they actually feel threatened, they "play possum" which is a totally involuntary defense mechanism... actually very docile creatures, as i have come to learn.

the articles ive read tonight all say the same thing... leave them be and they will kill the rodents, snakes and bugs around your house, then move on to where there's more rodents, snakes and bugs.

nature's sanitation workers

[StoopTroup]

I thought they carry rabies.

[Cornfed]

I thought they carry rabies.

yep, in the left back pocket...:P

[StoopTroup]

yep, in the left back pocket...:P

Better get it out of your pocket then...


Opossums have a remarkably robust immune system, and show partial or total immunity to the venom of rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and other pit vipers. Opossums are about eight times less likely to carry rabies than wild dogs, and about one in eight hundred opossums are infected with this virus.

http://www.fwnp.com/opossum-teeth.jpg

[GKeeper316]

I thought they carry rabies.

less than 1 in 800 wild opossums carry rabies... thats an incredibly low number, statistically speaking (1 in 6 stray dogs has rabies). another thing i found out about them is that they are almost completely immune to snake venom.

[StoopTroup]

less than 1 in 800 wild opossums carry rabies... thats an incredibly low number, statistically speaking (1 in 6 stray dogs has rabies). another thing i found out about them is that they are almost completely immune to snake venom.

Nice try...I'm incredibly quick.

[GKeeper316]

Nice try...I'm incredibly quick.

curse you ST!!!!

[StoopTroup]

:D

[Leroy Lizard]

they will hiss and make a lot of noise, but if they actually feel threatened, they "play possum" which is a totally involuntary defense mechanism... actually very docile creatures, as i have come to learn.

the articles ive read tonight all say the same thing... leave them be and they will kill the rodents, snakes and bugs around your house, then move on to where there's more rodents, snakes and bugs.

nature's sanitation workers

They are the sickest creatures you can imagine. We had a cow that died and we found her about a week later. They were inside, gnawing at her innards.

I would rather have the snakes and bugs.

[StoopTroup]

You had a cow? That's leaving an image that's very strange and somewhat disturbing....

[SCOUT]

We had a possum in our suburban back yard last week. My three dogs had chased it down the top of our fence a couple of times but never caught it. Last Thursday, they caught it.

I spent about 15 minutes corralling the dogs, I recently had rotator cuff surgery and that is why it took so long, and finally turned back to the possum. I put some gloves on and picked it up by the tail being leery of it still being alive. It curled its tail around my finger and scared the bejeezus out of me, even though I was sort of waiting for it.

Anyway, I left it alone for about 15 minutes and he went his merry way. Haven't seen him since.

It may be involuntary, but playing possum stopped my dogs. Others haven't been as lucky, they have taken down about 7 rabbits and 2 birds. I think they were bumfuzzled by him just laying there.

[GKeeper316]

my 2 new dogs are a couple of dump offs i took in that were up at my work on ne wilshire. i was on the fence about whether or not i was going to keep them, but the way they went after that possum was it. 10 seconds from the time i let em out of the run that thing was layin "dead" at my feet. im never giving these dogs up.

i had to take the possum away from em when they started fighting over who got to knaw on it first. they went after each other pretty hard. they gonna make great guard dogs...

[olevetonahill]

they will hiss and make a lot of noise, but if they actually feel threatened, they "play possum" which is a totally involuntary defense mechanism... actually very docile creatures, as i have come to learn.

the articles ive read tonight all say the same thing... leave them be and they will kill the rodents, snakes and bugs around your house, then move on to where there's more rodents, snakes and bugs.

nature's sanitation workers

Yea them sombitches are so NICE they just love to Kill yer Chickens, Baby Pigeons, Ducks whatever and then just leave em lay .
I love me some nasty mother****ing POS Possums. Tell yer Bambi story to some one who will believe that dumbassed shat :rolleyes:

[GKeeper316]

cant blame a carnivore for trying to get some dinner. ya if its killing your stock, get rid of it. its costing you money. but if its in an urban area, such as i live in, and you got 2 badass dogs that'll keep you apprised of when he's creepin around and in no way would lose a fight to a dam possum, let him do his thing and eat whatever nasty thing is creepin around your house and let him move on.

if i was back on the farm, you bet your *** id shoot the little ****er for killing the chickens or geese, or scaring the horses... because horses are dumb as ****. one of em gets scared and then they all take off together, and thats how little baby fillys get run into fences and snap their necks.

[olevetonahill]

Sure dumas , Let em breed so they can always Move to the country.
Hell Ive seen the sombitches kill 7 duck in one nite and not a Bite taken , Just killed , They are TRUE Psychos :rolleyes:

[picasso]

i turned my 2 new dogs on it, and it did its whole 'playin possum' thing... i put it in the dumpster for the garbage guys to haul off.

after doing a little bit of research on them, however, they are actually some of the most beneficial wild animals in america... very resilient to diseases such as rabies, and eat mice, rats and other "vermin". they are also transatory animals. they'll only stick around for a couple days before moving on.

so dont kill opossums... they're neat little animals that keep the real vermin from proliferating in urban areas!

ok man, this reminds me of a disturbing story from a few years ago.

We were living in our first house in midtown and our dogs had one hanging on to it's last breath. I had to finish him off with a shovel.
It was not fun and quite bothersome.

They are some nasty looking things.

[Leroy Lizard]

We were living in our first house in midtown and our dogs had one hanging on to it's last breath. I had to finish him off with a shovel.
It was not fun and quite bothersome.

Sure sounds like fun. Maybe you weren't doing it right.

[Big 8]

Once when I was little, my aunt was watching me for an evening. We were playing in the yard when she saw a possum. I had to stand on top of the dog house while she ran it down with her caprice classic. I also remember my mom beating a possum to death with a crowbar.

I once beat a badger to death with a bumper jack.

[picasso]

Sure sounds like fun. Maybe you weren't doing it right.

Well, you're limited with a dull shovel. I whacked him in the head several times with nearly all my might and I'm a fairly in shape 200 pound fella.
I eventually had to apply pressure with said shovel to his neck and air supply area.

[fadada1]

I have heard of people skinning them while they played dead, and then watching the possum walk off. Not sure if it isn't an urban legend.

after it's skinned, it's called a chupacabras.

[olevetonahill]

Well iffen yer gonna skin it Ya mites well cook it. Anyone want my Recipe?Ya can bake it Grill it Make ya a Stew, Pan frying its a Little tuff to chew.

[Mississippi Sooner]

When I was a youngun, I was out coon hunting with my dad one night when he was training a young blue tick hound. As the young dogs will do, this one treed a possum, so my dad shot it with a 22 just so the dog would go on and look for what he was supposed to be looking for. My dad didn't have any use for a possum, since their hides were practically worthless, but I picked it up by the tail anyway and was intending to take it home as a trophy.

Well, walked along for a bit more, when suddenly that possum realized he wasn't really dead. He let me in on this fact by grabbing ahold of my leg and twisting this way and that.

You'd have to ask my mom, but she likely had to pre-soak the drawers I wore that night before she washed them.

[soonerboomer93]

vet wrote a book called, "How to Serve Possum"

he does know how to make a tasty stew from them

[soonerchk]

ok man, this reminds me of a disturbing story from a few years ago.

We were living in our first house in midtown and our dogs had one hanging on to it's last breath. I had to finish him off with a shovel.
It was not fun and quite bothersome.

They are some nasty looking things.

Next time use a hoe.

[olevetonahill]

Next time use a hoe.

I aint waistin a Good HO on a dayum Possum , whats the matter with you ?:eek:

[olevetonahill]

he does know how to make a tasty stew from them

gonna try to bring some Chili to the TG , Just wait till ya wrap yer lips around a Bite er 3 of it ;)

[soonerchk]

I aint waistin a Good HO on a dayum Possum , whats the matter with you ?:eek:

My shovel was dirty and I didn't want to get mud in the house.









Totally true story of how my brain works. I'm going to kill a critter, but I don't want to get mud on the floor. :confused:

[hipsterdoofus]

I have one that walks across the top of the back fence to traverse the neighborhood (usually at 2:30 or worse in the morning). When my dog starts barking at it, it gets scared and freezes. Recently it apparently got cornered by a neighbor's dog for 6-7 hours overnight (the dog barked that whole time).

I initially put up a board along the fenceline trying to block it - it doesn't seem to come through as much, but still does. I wouldn't care if it didn't drive my dog crazy, so I started keeping a water meter key in the backyard. The first time it appeared after I had put the key out there I kind of shoved it off the fence into the neighbors yard. The next time, I took a one handed swing at it and heard a satisfactory thump as it hit the ground. I think the next time I'm going to hold the meter key with two hands and try to hit a homerun.

[Taxman71]

For the best possum, go to Riverwind tomorrow night. Get good and liquored up first in case it doesn't show.

[picasso]

Next time use a hoe.

She was busy.

Ba-dump, crash!