Opossums

[kenny]

We live in a residential area of houses on 6000 sq ft lots.
At night opossums are walking around.
One pair breeds in our neighbor's tree.

Do you think this problem to be solved or should we just accept them, or even like them, as a part of nature here?

 

[Laughinggravy0]

Well Kenny I've never had to share space with them, but they look verrrry cute. Do they get into attics and if so, do they gnaw insulation on cables, because that would be a drag. Other than that, are they a nuisance? If not, nice to have nature knocking on the door - no?

Now if it were magpies with your wonderful collection that'd be another story!!

 

[kenny]

Our dogs bark at them and I'm worried about that.
You could just say dog barking is nature too but I think my neighbors may not agree.
The babies are cute but the adults look like large rats.

I can get rid of the dogs, or the opossums.

 

[ForteKitty]

our dogs are trained to not bark at them. they dont do anything to harm anyone, and are always getting killed because they're slow and cant see well. i feel bad for them. plus it's kinda like we're in their neighborhood... ya kno? i wouldnt move into the woods and demand the bears be shot.

 

[JillyC]

I'd say that unless they're living in your attic or or on your deck, they're not yours to get rid of.

We have them around here too. We hardly ever see them except at night when the lights catch their eyes!

 

[kenny]

our dogs are trained to not bark at them. they dont do anything to harm anyone, and are always getting killed because they're slow and cant see well. i feel bad for them. plus it's kinda like we're in their neighborhood... ya kno? i wouldnt move into the woods and demand the bears be shot.

Neither would I.

This is not the woods, hence the question.
Also, I'm asking for input, I'm not demanding anything.

Me even starting this thread indicates sensitivity, so please let's not turn this into another bash Kenny thread.
Thanks.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

AHHH...my husband left the garage open on night (I was out of town and not there to moderate)...I finally got home, walked into the garage and the opossum and I had a face to face confrontation by the entrance door to the house. Scared the you-know-what out of me. Still scares me. I screamed, froze and couldn't handle it. They are really scary at night when you catch them off guard.

I think if you can live with it, do. It's part of nature and you have sort of expect that animals are going to do what they do in the wild. The more we populate their natural space, the more they are going to integrate themselves into ours. However, if CAN'T live with it or WON'T live with it, find a company that will HUMANELY relocate the twosome to a sanctuary.

 

[ForteKitty]

our dogs are trained to not bark at them. they dont do anything to harm anyone, and are always getting killed because they're slow and cant see well. i feel bad for them. plus it's kinda like we're in their neighborhood... ya kno? i wouldnt move into the woods and demand the bears be shot.

Neither would I.

This is not the woods, hence the question.
Also, I'm asking for input, I'm not demanding anything.

Me even starting this thread indicates sensitivity, so please let's not turn this into another bash Kenny thread.
Thanks.

Kenny, wow, i was gone for 2 weeks.. what happened? i'm just saying that we (humans) did move into their (animals) area. There are racoons, squirrels, skunks all over the place, even near the beach cities where there are no parks. I think we can share w/ them. Can you train your dogs not to bark at them if the neighbors are complaining? or maybe close the curtains at night so they can't look outside?

 

[MonkeyPie]

our dogs are trained to not bark at them. they dont do anything to harm anyone, and are always getting killed because they're slow and cant see well. i feel bad for them. plus it's kinda like we're in their neighborhood... ya kno? i wouldnt move into the woods and demand the bears be shot.

Neither would I.

This is not the woods, hence the question.
Also, I'm asking for input, I'm not demanding anything.

Me even starting this thread indicates sensitivity, so please let's not turn this into another bash Kenny thread.
Thanks.

Oh, really. It's called a COMPARISON. You know, an example. Why are you so oversensitive?

Personally, opossums don't bother me. Teach the pups not to bark and all will be well.

 

[lliang_chi]

Personally, I hate them. I dunno, I have this weird thing with them and raccoons. My DH thinks it's hilarious, but they totally creep me out.

 

[Jennifer W]

They catch rats and insects.That alone would make me seek them out, not eradicate them.

I had to google opossums, since there aren't any in the UK. They aren't what you'd call cute and fluffy, but they seem entirely harmless. Not sure why you'd consider them a problem?

http://www.opossum.org/ (there may be some bias here, and I may not have the full picture - the clue is in the name. )

 

[JillyC]

AHHH...my husband left the garage open on night (I was out of town and not there to moderate)...I finally got home, walked into the garage and the opossum and I had a face to face confrontation by the entrance door to the house. Scared the you-know-what out of me. Still scares me. I screamed, froze and couldn't handle it. They are really scary at night when you catch them off guard.

I think if you can live with it, do. It's part of nature and you have sort of expect that animals are going to do what they do in the wild. The more we populate their natural space, the more they are going to integrate themselves into ours. However, if CAN'T live with it or WON'T live with it, find a company that will HUMANELY relocate the twosome to a sanctuary.

We had a skunk find his/her way into our garage one night a few years back, and fall asleep behind the garbage cans. The next morning my husband tried to "waken" the skunk, I guess figuring it would rub it's little paws into it's eyes, realize it's mistake, apologize and slink off home. We all told him to just leave it alone and leave the garage open and it would leave that evening, but no.............

Around here you cannot remove any creature unless it's proving itself to be a nuisance, like living in your attic. There are lots of Canada Geese in some of the neighborhoods that have ponds in them around here. Everyone complains about the tremendous amount of goose poop, but there's nothing they can do about it. The geese get to stay.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

our dogs are trained to not bark at them. they dont do anything to harm anyone, and are always getting killed because they're slow and cant see well. i feel bad for them. plus it's kinda like we're in their neighborhood... ya kno? i wouldnt move into the woods and demand the bears be shot.

Neither would I.

This is not the woods, hence the question.
Also, I'm asking for input, I'm not demanding anything.

Me even starting this thread indicates sensitivity, so please let's not turn this into another bash Kenny thread.
Thanks.

Kenny, wow, i was gone for 2 weeks.. what happened? i'm just saying that we (humans) did move into their (animals) area. There are racoons, squirrels, skunks all over the place, even near the beach cities where there are no parks. I think we can share w/ them. Can you train your dogs not to bark at them if the neighbors are complaining? or maybe close the curtains at night so they can't look outside?

I don't think that rebuttal had anything to do with you per say. The past few weeks have painted Kenny as a, um, target? I think it's more hyper sensitivity than anything. He's watching his back...

I mean...if you read closely, you can tell...

 

[Bleed Burnt Orange]

Maybe if they start to create damage or take over the place, it might be cause for concern. For instance...calling animal control? I bet your dogs aren't the only dogs that bark though.

Better than my friend who gets her boyfriend to kill it with a shovel! We had a skunk in our backyard that kept spraying our dog, because he wouldn't leave it alone. We trapped it and released it into the woods. ( I don't know if that's legal, but...we didn't want to kill it)

 

[Dancing Fire]

opossum soup ...

 

[Autumnovember]

I would get the problem solved. I'd crap myself if I ever saw one. Have you seen the teeth on those things?!?!?!?!?!

 

[Tuckins1]

They lived there before people were there, they have a right to be there too. Unless they are getting into the house, or hurting your dogs or something, I say live and let live.

 

[IdLikeToBuyAVal]

I second asking to have them relocated if they are bothering your dogs. Animals like that can carry diseases (I know raccoons for instance can carry rabies and distemper that could be passed to your dogs). Maybe you could call animal control first and see if they can take the opossums and release them closer to a wilderness area?

 

[ForteKitty]

You can walk right up to them and they wont bite.. all they do is hiss because they really can't see well. We have some in our backyard. They come out when we get home in the evenings and wait for their scoop of cat food. It's pretty cute! They're not aggressive.

Racoons, however.... those cute lil bastards are vicious!

 

[Autumnovember]

You can walk right up to them and they wont bite.. all they do is hiss because they really can't see well. We have some in our backyard. They come out when we get home in the evenings and wait for their scoop of cat food. It's pretty cute! They're not aggressive.

Racoons, however.... those cute lil bastards are vicious!

Really?! I never knew that. I just always thought they looked scary as hell! Plus, suckers hang from trees right?!

 

[ForteKitty]

haha not really, i've never seen them hang! they kinda just walk along the branches and fall off a lot... they have bad balance!

My sister found a baby YEARS ago and i just remembered i actually posted on PS when it happened!

There are some pics, and the baby is adorable: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/websailor-question.26284/

 

[Autumnovember]

haha not really, i've never seen them hang! they kinda just walk along the branches and fall off a lot... they have bad balance!

My sister found a baby YEARS ago and i just remembered i actually posted on PS when it happened!

There are some pics, and the baby is adorable: https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/websailor-question.26284/

Maybe I'm thinking of a different animal. Now I feel bad If they're nice and not hurting anyone...I guess keep them around?

 

[ForteKitty]

Oh no, i'm sure you're thinking of the right animal. A lot of cartoons have them hanging upside down on branches! I've never seen it in person tho, all the ones in my yard have super bad balance and are always falling down stuff.

The adults do have some mean looking teeth, and i'm sure they'd bite if you tried to pick it up or pet it, so i dont recommend anyone doing that! They mind their own business tho, so if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone.

The babies are very cute, and the wild ones we found were taken to a wild life rescue. The ones in my yard had mammas, so we left them alone. They do recognize our voices and will come out whe we call them.

 

[Autumnovember]

Oh no, i'm sure you're thinking of the right animal. A lot of cartoons have them hanging upside down on branches! I've never seen it in person tho, all the ones in my yard have super bad balance and are always falling down stuff.

The adults do have some mean looking teeth, and i'm sure they'd bite if you tried to pick it up or pet it, so i dont recommend anyone doing that! They mind their own business tho, so if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone.

The babies are very cute, and the wild ones we found were taken to a wild life rescue. The ones in my yard had mammas, so we left them alone. They do recognize our voices and will come out whe we call them.

Wow, really?! Thats really cool that they recognize voices!!! And those pictures of the babies were really cute

 

[Gypsy]

There are lots of different types. In Australia the ones I saw were smaller and did hang upside down. And they were cute. In NJ they were larger than a cat with scary teeth and a giant rat tale... and loved cat food. Scared the ever loving life outa me first time I got close thinking it was one of the stray cat we fed, sucker hissed and I about grew a tail and hung upside down from a tree!

As for what to do about them, leave them be.

 

[packrat]

Dad always just shot them..but we're country folk. Mom and I used to catch them and put them in a bucket and drive them a couple miles away and it would drive my dad bonkers "The dang thing will be right back here tomorrow!" Mom has learned how to use one of dad's guns now so she shoots them, and she shoots the raccoons that come on the property too.

 

[JewelFreak]

Kenny, maybe you could bring your dogs in when they start a barking binge?

And, if you killed the possums your dogs are likely to bark at something else out there -- as they may also be doing now. Around here we have possums but they were here first, as others have said. Tons of dogs in the south are "outside dogs" (god forbid) & bark at every leaf that moves or even plain air, I think. Because they're bored. Because somebody nearby started barking first. Because they have pent-up energy. You name it.

Killing possums is not going to stop the barking, count on that.

--- Laurie

 

[Gothgrrl]

DF...so what time is dinner? I'll bring the wine.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

opossum soup ...

Yah, yah, DF. I was thinking the same thing. Was about to post my fav recipe for opossum.

OPOSSUM AND SWEET POTATOES
1 opossum (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2 1/2 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
Flour
1/2 cup water
4 medium sweet potatoes
2 tbsp. sugar


Clean opossum, Trim excess fat from opossum and discard.

Wash quickly inside and out with warm water; drain thoroughly.

Rub salt and pepper well into the opossum inside and out.

Sprinkle inside and out with flour.

Lay the opossum on its back in a roasting pan.

Add water, cover and bake in 350 degree F. oven until about half done (45 - 60 minutes).

Split peeled potatoes in half lengthwise and place in pan around opossum.

Add more water if needed.

Cover sliced potatoes and opossum and cook 30 more minutes.


Enjoy

 

[MichelleCarmen]

You can walk right up to them and they wont bite.. all they do is hiss because they really can't see well. We have some in our backyard. They come out when we get home in the evenings and wait for their scoop of cat food. It's pretty cute! They're not aggressive.

Racoons, however.... those cute lil bastards are vicious!

We've always had opossums around us and they've never been a problem. In fact, they keep to themselves and when they do travel about they move VERY slowly. I don't see the harm in just letting them hang out.

I agree with you FT about raccoons. They're monsters. The ones around here are HUGE.