Opposssssums

[down_home]

A little bit ago as I was opening up the puter, I heard a racket on the porch. Dakota didn't even care. Medium sized Oposuum had eaten all the cat's food and was rattling around the bowl. He sullied up and hissed at me. I hit him with a hoe but not hard enough to hurt him.
Cute for a possum. If he will cooperate and go into the trap next time. Might entertain the idea of making a pet out of him. I had a Client that fed them every evening but they were still wild. They petted the things. Not putting my hands on anything wild without a firm grip. Had pet Raccoon and getting anywhere near him while eating might aw well been a bear.

[Code2High]

Feral cats need a lot of work to tame. If you get her fixed, she can return the next day to her familiar environment and live her life without self replicating.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

fla-gypsy wrote:
I can think of no redeeming values of the possum. They are just large rats.

You've not had a dead animal upwind of you, then.... a few years ago, a deer got hit by a car, staggered across our neighbor's parking lot, and died. By the time I found out that there was no one to remove it, it was too ripe/putrid to BE moved. At that point, you just pray for the opossums, crows, vultures and maggots to do their jobs QUICKLY....

Opossums will eat ANYTHING. They're Mother Nature's Cleanup Crew.

[down_home]

The things cleaned up the bugs around here last year. Left signs all over the concrete.
Caught the wild cat this morning. Can't tame it down. So...
Another critter got into the food bowl a while a go. Opened the door and I didn't see a thing Dakota took off out towards the woods and a sharp right and the race was on. Don't know if it was coon or shat.
Saw gray fox yesterday am, cross the road near the cemetery.

[garry1p]

If you see "one" its a sure thing there are more around.

[fla-gypsy]

I can think of no redeeming values of the possum. They are just large rats.

[magnusfide]

APRSRVer wrote:
Know why the possum crossed the road?
To show the armadillo that it could be done.

LOL :C

I guess its where you are too; TX, OK, etc we see more armadillo roadkill. MS, AL, GA, SC, NC we see more possum roadkill.

[APRSRVer]

Know why the possum crossed the road?
To show the armadillo that it could be done.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Dog Folks wrote:



That is interesting. In Florida, the armadillo is the one that digs up turf grass to get at grubs.

Around here - it's the skunks. When we lived in Grandville, MI - we had our lawn destroyed over the course of about 3 nights by skunks - looked like someone had rototilled it 😞 Finally had to resort to using grub-killing chemicals to save the front yard (and I HATE to do that sort of thing)

[Dog_Folks]

magnusfide wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:


Possums do NOT make good pets. Sharp teeth, poor vision, so they are easily startled, not the brightest animal, and have a poor attitude.

Double ditto: they have very primitive brains with 1 active brain cell and the rest is instinct. Not good pets. They also carry quite a bit of disease so it's a good idea to find another place to put the pet food bowls where the possums can't get to them. We had a neighbor who made stew from them but it's greasy. Can't think of much use for these marsupials.

If prepared right, they are good eating. I kid you not.

[magnusfide]

Dog Folks wrote:


Possums do NOT make good pets. Sharp teeth, poor vision, so they are easily startled, not the brightest animal, and have a poor attitude.

Double ditto: they have very primitive brains with 1 active brain cell and the rest is instinct. Not good pets. They also carry quite a bit of disease so it's a good idea to find another place to put the pet food bowls where the possums can't get to them. We had a neighbor who made stew from them but it's greasy. Can't think of much use for these marsupials.

[Dog_Folks]

Happytraveler wrote:
A couple of years ago our dog Katie had a baby opossum in her mouth heading for the doggy door. I stopped her in the nic of time, LOL. I think she wanted another friend :B
My cousin feeds opossums in her backyard. She leaves cat food and water out for them. I have no idea why she doesn't have any damage in her yard because they are notorious for digging up the grass for worms. We replaced out grass with plants because of the opossums.

That is interesting. In Florida, the armadillo is the one that digs up turf grass to get at grubs.

Possums do NOT make good pets. Sharp teeth, poor vision, so they are easily startled, not the brightest animal, and have a poor attitude.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

When I was a docent at our zoo, we always had a tame opossum that we'd take to schools. Folks would check for a pouch on fresh roadkill in the spring: it seems the babies can live about 24 hrs past the mother's demise. But even a hand raised baby doesn't exactly make a "pet".... they were just odd creatures with no personality who would allow humans to hold it or touch it.

[Happytraveler]

A couple of years ago our dog Katie had a baby opossum in her mouth heading for the doggy door. I stopped her in the nic of time, LOL. I think she wanted another friend :B
My cousin feeds opossums in her backyard. She leaves cat food and water out for them. I have no idea why she doesn't have any damage in her yard because they are notorious for digging up the grass for worms. We replaced out grass with plants because of the opossums.

[RoyB]

Hey Darrell - we have a cat door in our garage door and you never know what you are going to run eye to eye with in there. We have a second cat door going into the washer/dryer room from the garage side. Our one indoor/outdoor cat knows pretty much where the heat is during the winter months... He will scratch on the door to get into the house from the washer/dryer room or go get up on the window air conditioner and stare at the window until the dog inside start barking. I guess the strangest animal was a ferret but he was a pet from down the street.

The possum makes a big noise eating the cat food... He has to hold his head sideways to eat so it makes alot of noise and a big mess on the floor. I can tell when one is inside haha... I've had rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, probably all of the neighborhood cats one time or another, even birds. I guess the birds hop thru the door opening but then don't know how to get out. I have to open the garage to let them out...

Roy Ken