An Opossum Incident In The Middle Of The Night-Funny

fmdog44

Well-known Member
Location
Houston, Texas
An opossum was on out outside staircase last night blocking my neighbor from going up the stairs despite her attempts to move it. She called me as I am her next door neighbor sharing the same landing at the top of the stairs. So I went out to look and their it was defiantly refusing to move.

They will not harm you unless they feel cornered but they sport two front daggers for teeth so you don't want to get them riled. An old trick for critters...I went back in the kitchen to get a jar of cayenne pepper and poured some in to a long piece of folded paper. I got close enough to clear the critters nostrils and blew it in to his face. Gone it went!!
 

I feed two opossums that show up 3 nights/week by my back door. They love cat kibble & nuts. While researching their diet, I found out they're interesting. They are the only mammal that's immune to Rabies. Scientists think it's due to their low body temperature. They're also immune to snake venom. They have to eat constantly because they are unable to store body fat.
 
I feed two opossums that show up 3 nights/week by my back door. They love cat kibble & nuts. While researching their diet, I found out they're interesting. They are the only mammal that's immune to Rabies. Scientists think it's due to their low body temperature. They're also immune to snake venom. They have to eat constantly because they are unable to store body fat.
They also eat a lot of ticks...thousands of them possible in a week. Great little "only marsupial in the country" to have around your homestead.
 

Uh-oh, I clicked on "like" to that entertaining sounding post.

Then I began to wonder..... what they do with it, afterwards. :oops::sick:
 
In my rural area there are possums, raccoons, skunks, badgers, coyotes and deer. We never see roadkilled coyotes....they're too clever for that. Sadly, we all too often see examples of the other species lying dead on our highways. And possums? They're the only species that seem to lack the wits to know to avoid human habitations....the others know how lethal people can be but possums stupidly help themselves to peoples' pet food and noisily inspect peoples' rubbish bins.....frequently leading to ,22 caliber trauma inflicted on the odd looking creatures.
Amazingly, possums were contemporaries of the north American megafauna of the Pleistocene epoch....mammoths, woolly rhinos, sabertooth cats etc. They're gone but the humble possum is still here, tiny brained, primitive little marsupial that it is.
 
I had an ailing, old possum in my back yard. I put out dog food and water for her, even though I'm normally opposed to feeding wild critters. She survived for three months. One hot morning, I opened the back door, and was hit with that unmistakable smell of death. I bagged her, and dumped her in the refuse bin.

I like possums. I'm not so sure they're all that stupid. They've been on this planet far longer than we have, and they'll probably be around long after we're gone.
 
I had an ailing, old possum in my back yard. I put out dog food and water for her, even though I'm normally opposed to feeding wild critters. She survived for three months. One hot morning, I opened the back door, and was hit with that unmistakable smell of death. I bagged her, and dumped her in the refuse bin.

I like possums. I'm not so sure they're all that stupid. They've been on this planet far longer than we have, and they'll probably be around long after we're gone.
There is really no such thing as a "stupid" animal. There are stupid people who want to feel superior to other living things & the only way they can feel smart is to call everything else stupid.
 
We have 'possums and 'coons come to our back door. We put out scraps for them when we have any.
:) My opossums & raccoons are spoiled. I buy their favorite food. The two opossums love raw Hazelnuts, so I make sure I never run out of them. I know both opossums & raccoons are omnivores & they'll eat anything, but they have preferences like us. When I leave fruit for the raccoons, they take it out of the bowl & scatter it all over the porch, but they don't eat it.
The opossums are less picky; they eat whatever I leave, but they love Hazelnuts.
Last night, one of the raccoons actually knocked on my back door to let me know it was dinner time. When I opened the door, he walked up to me & stood up on his hind legs like a dog begging.
 
They are killed on the road because their defense mechanism is to freeze instead of run. They're also pretty slow getting around.

I have a habitat in my yard for them. It's a garden refuse pile. I just put a fresh layer of leaves on it for the winter.

Several generations have been brought up in there. I don't feed them or interact with them though.
 
We’ve had possums on our property before but I didn’t know the difference between these two until now.
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/opossum-vs-possum/
North American slang being what it is, I've always used either word to describe a particular animal. Apparently "possum" is also the actual name of a separate Aussie species. Who knew???

Thanks for the link, Keesha!

p.s. I don't leave food out for wild critters except hummingbirds. I've spent too much time dealing with mice, rats, black widow spiders, ants, roaches, etc, that have invaded my home over the years, not to mention the money and effort required to dissuade them from sharing my living quarters.

Happy to have them live outside, but am not extending the welcome mat to get any closer.
 
North American slang being what it is, I've always used either word to describe a particular animal. Apparently "possum" is also the actual name of a separate Aussie species. Who knew???

Thanks for the link, Keesha!

p.s. I don't leave food out for wild critters except hummingbirds. I've spent too much time dealing with mice, rats, black widow spiders, ants, roaches, etc, that have invaded my home over the years, not to mention the money and effort required to dissuade them from sharing my living quarters.

Happy to have them live outside, but am not extending the welcome mat to get any closer.
That’s the same with us. I use to be so into feeding birds I had about 7 feeding stations and would make my own duet and buy all kinds of ingredients for it. We attracted so many beautiful birds but we also attracted many rodents like mice, raccoons and possums. As soon as we ditched the feeders our rodent problem was resolved. Now I put up a suet feeder only since it’s not loose seeds and is caged and store bought. No welcome mat here any longer either.
Heck. We rolled out the red carpet for them. Lol 😝
 
It really is not a great idea to feed wild animals, my episode with the dying possum, as above, notwithstanding. Doing so can increase their numbers, sometimes greatly, and then they exceed the normal carrying capacity of their natural environment, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.

I totally understand that those who feed wild animals think they're doing them a great service. Sadly, the opposite is commonly true.
 
It really is not a great idea to feed wild animals, my episode with the dying possum, as above, notwithstanding. Doing so can increase their numbers, sometimes greatly, and then they exceed the normal carrying capacity of their natural environment, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.

I totally understand that those who feed wild animals think they're doing them a great service. Sadly, the opposite is commonly true.
So true. You’re setting them up to not use they natural hunting skills they are born with. You teach them to depend on humans which they should never do. You teach them to trust humans which they should never do and you teach them to become lazy and greedy. They become a nuisance to humans and then we start shooting them which isn’t fair. It’s considered baiting in some ways.
 

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