Possum found in Hobart Airport gift shop soft toy section

Bretrick

Bretrick

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Perth Western Australia
A real possum nestled among soft toys and animals in a gift shop has thrilled passengers and given airport staff something unusual to deal with in Hobart.

Liam Bloomfield, multi-site manager with Lagardere AWPL, at Hobart's airport in Cambridge, said staff members found the possum around 11.45am on Wednesday.

"We found the possum sitting within the native plush," he said.

"It looked like he was pretty comfortable with his friends there."
Mr Bloomfield said the animal "was not stressed" and appeared calm — with things becoming much less calm after the animal left the store, going on a tour of the airport.
"We had passengers here, there and everywhere, taking videos," he said.

"It was a bit of a mad rush to make sure it was safe, and no passengers were disrupted and that the possum got back home."
Mr Bloomfield said the real possum was "safely escorted" out of the terminal by Hobart Airport management.

He said how the possum got into the airport building was "a true mystery", but speculated it could be because of "redevelopment works" that are currently underway.

He described the possum's visit as a "nice little spike of happiness" during a normal day's airport business.

Short video attached to the link
Possum found in Hobart Airport gift shop soft toy section
 
Possums, IMHO, are just nasty animals. We had one in our garage when I was a kid; it had shat all over the place. Dad managed to get it out.

One night years ago, I noticed what I thought was a cat on our back porch. I opened the door to give it some food. Was eyeball to eyeball with a possum. Yikes!
 
Wellllll, hats off to all those folks who don’t know straight up about those “ cUte” little things..

Th Hobart opossum looks innocent enough only because it looks like a young one.

That stupid girl in @Messy ’s video is probably hanging onto a diseased one, since it was “drooling all over the place”. At least the boyfriend had enough sense to tell her she couldn’t keep it.

Anyone can google “diseases opossums carry” and get a number of hits for human diseases.

They also carry EPM which can be devastating to horses and is often fatal to them.

“Opossum are the primary definitive host for the protozoan parasite (Sarcocystis neurona) that causes Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) in horses. Opossums shed the parasite in their feces, which can contaminate horse feed, water, or hay, causing neurological disease in horses that ingest it, notes the University of Minnesota Extension and Leatherstocking Veterinary Group. “
University of Minnesota ExtensionUniversity of Minnesota Extension +2


Oh. wait a minute. Let’s not forget distemper & rabies………

Cute or not, picking them up is just plain idiotic and brainless.
 
Bretrick said:
A real possum nestled among soft toys and animals in a gift shop has thrilled passengers and given airport staff something unusual to deal with in Hobart.

Liam Bloomfield, multi-site manager with Lagardere AWPL, at Hobart's airport in Cambridge, said staff members found the possum around 11.45am on Wednesday.

"We found the possum sitting within the native plush," he said.

"It looked like he was pretty comfortable with his friends there."
Mr Bloomfield said the animal "was not stressed" and appeared calm — with things becoming much less calm after the animal left the store, going on a tour of the airport.
"We had passengers here, there and everywhere, taking videos," he said.

"It was a bit of a mad rush to make sure it was safe, and no passengers were disrupted and that the possum got back home."
Mr Bloomfield said the real possum was "safely escorted" out of the terminal by Hobart Airport management.

He said how the possum got into the airport building was "a true mystery", but speculated it could be because of "redevelopment works" that are currently underway.

He described the possum's visit as a "nice little spike of happiness" during a normal day's airport business.

Short video attached to the link
Possum found in Hobart Airport gift shop soft toy section
Click to expand...
He looks very different from these huge American oppossums.
 

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GoodEnuff said:
Possums, IMHO, are just nasty animals. We had one in our garage when I was a kid; it had shat all over the place. Dad managed to get it out.

One night years ago, I noticed what I thought was a cat on our back porch. I opened the door to give it some food. Was eyeball to eyeball with a possum. Yikes!
Click to expand...
My nocturnal visitor, Possie, is not at all nasty. She waits until we have had our evening meal and then comes down for the little tray of fresh fruit that I leave out for her. As for sh*tting all over the place, Possie's deposits are out weighed by the contributions of the four free ranging pet hens that roam the back garden.

I would miss both the possum and the chickens, not to mention the other avian visitors - sulphur crested cockies, pigeons, lorrikeets and magpies.

The birds make work for me but really, I do need the exercise and time outside in the fresh air.
 
Last edited:
Imogene said:
Wellllll, hats off to all those folks who don’t know straight up about those “ cUte” little things..

Th Hobart opossum looks innocent enough only because it looks like a young one.

That stupid girl in @Messy ’s video is probably hanging onto a diseased one, since it was “drooling all over the place”. At least the boyfriend had enough sense to tell her she couldn’t keep it.

Anyone can google “diseases opossums carry” and get a number of hits for human diseases.

They also carry EPM which can be devastating to horses and is often fatal to them.

“Opossum are the primary definitive host for the protozoan parasite (Sarcocystis neurona) that causes Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) in horses. Opossums shed the parasite in their feces, which can contaminate horse feed, water, or hay, causing neurological disease in horses that ingest it, notes the University of Minnesota Extension and Leatherstocking Veterinary Group. “
View attachment 491934University of Minnesota Extension +2


Oh. wait a minute. Let’s not forget distemper & rabies………

Cute or not, picking them up is just plain idiotic and brainless.
Click to expand...
It is an Australian Possum, not an American Opossum.
Australian Possums have bushy tails, Opossums have rat tails.
They are both marsupials.
 
Bretrick said:
It is an Australian Possum, not an American Opossum.
Australian Possums have bushy tails, Opossums have rat tails.
They are both marsupials.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the correction.


Tomato tomahto, they BOTH carry diseases - google it. If people want to e courage their appearance at the door, that is indeed your prerogative.

If I see them and they appear to be healthy, they get trapped and relocated.

If they have the shakes and are drooling, they get shot. Sorry but the safety of my horses and dogs is more important than.
 
Warrigal said:
My nocturnal visitor, Possie, is not at all nasty. She waits until we have had our evening meal and then comes down for the little tray of fresh fruit that I leave out for her. As for sh*tting all over the place, Possie's deposits are out weighed by the contributions of the four free ranging pet hens that roam the back garden.

I would miss both the possum and the chickens, not to mention the other avian visitors - sulphur crested cockies, pigeons, lorrikeets and magpies.

The birds make work for me but really, I do need the exercise and time outside in the fresh air.
Click to expand...
I read that they eat ticks. I think they're all cute.
 
When I was a kid there was a dairy farm up the road and when a cow would die the farmer would just tow it to the back property line by their farms dump and let it rot away. Dumps were always an attraction for a kid like me and one day I was poking at a new cow carcass and discovered an opossum had crawled inside. The hide was still mostly covering the rid cage and the opossum was literally inside of the body eating. Not much grossed me out at that age but that moment forever made me disgusted by opossums.
 
C50 said:
When I was a kid there was a dairy farm up the road and when a cow would die the farmer would just tow it to the back property line by their farms dump and let it rot away. Dumps were always an attraction for a kid like me and one day I was poking at a new cow carcass and discovered an opossum had crawled inside. The hide was still mostly covering the rid cage and the opossum was literally inside of the body eating. Not much grossed me out at that age but that moment forever made me disgusted by opossums.
Click to expand...
And that girl in the video just kissed him. Eeeeeeeeeeeewwww.
 
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