It was 10PM, and I was going to see if the neighbor cat was sleeping on the back porch like it usually does. So I turn on the light, and there's this giant opossum up on our porch (I live in town). This thing was huge, it had to be 20 to 30 pounds. So, living in town, I couldn't shoot it with my .45, and I couldn't get out to get to the garage to grab an axe or a potato fork... So alas, it finally wandered off... Going to set out the raccoon trap tonight, but I am unsure if this giant behemoth will actually fit in the trap.

Any suggestions?

Coincidentally, Sadie chased - sort of - an opposum last night! They're pretty slow and not too bright.

They won't do anything to you. They're generally harmless and won't hang around if you don't have garbage or cat food for them.

I had a young one in the barn and was able to pick it up with a towel and put it in the bathtub until I could drive it away. It lay there on its back, looking dead with its mouth open - playing possum!

That wan't no possum. That was a young pig!

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Georgia On My Mind

You're luckier than us. Usually they wander into the neighbor's garage at night (they don't always pick up all their trash, and have animal food outside) - but they hiss and snarl. This one is obviously well fed. I intend to relocate him out of town, at the very least.

Let's see....The yankees call them opossums and the southerners call them possums.
"I say old chap-would you please pass the opossum and some of those yams" vs "pass the possum and sweettaters hoss!"
Give you a pointer-when they're that big it's best to trap them and feed 'em corn for about 10 days to clean them out a bit before you cook 'em. Also expect to cook one that big/old for at least 6-8 hours.

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Forum consigliere

A gentleman might think you'd partake of Swampus Ratus also? My dad tolt me he shot a possum out of a tree one time and he picked it up by the tail. Mr. Possum swung up and bit him good.

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SOS USA

Must be the time of year?
One half of our dog dynamic duo jumped one herself in the back yard last night. Fortunately for both she and I, it too played "possum" even after she did a spine column bite on it. Good thing too! She's the smaller of the two dogs.

Unfortunately I'm seeing a lot more than usual road kill this year. I'm not happy seeing critters maimed by cars. Could be the unusually warm weather we've had confusing the furball brains.

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SOS USA

That was just right eat'n size!

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Lost it all in a boat accident

Get you some of that hot mustard that comes with the Chinese dinners, mix it with a little water, and put it in a water gun or squirt bottle. Hit that old boy with a couple of shots in the snoot and he'll tear out of there about 2 or 3 miles per hour never to return. It's worked quite a few times for me.

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

I just have to ask. How did you figure this out?

Yes, out with it, inquiring minds want to know.
I have a couple nuisance animals I'd like to discourage in a non-lethal fashion.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

We used to flush raccoons with super soakers (my childhood leftovers, haha) filled with vinegar, cayenne pepper, and various other nasty things.

I've always wonderd why people get all upset about possums, which are completely harmless. Unless you stick your fingers right in their face. But think racoons which can be vicious and destructive, are "just soooo cute".

I've got those things here in Houston.
One example..
http://home.comcast.net/~disk100/stew.wmv
I thought it was pretty good sized..

But I was up at my OK place last week and was
visited by the rural version..
Made city possum look like a stunted yard rat. :/
A few shots of it.. I think a large female more than likely.
http://home.comcast.net/~disk100/possum.wmv

Had a thing for bar-b-q sauce that I cooked some chicken
in. Fed it a bunch of chicken bones, and it would run off
into the woods, and "chomp, chomp, chomp" and then back
for more. Then it got tired of me pestering it with the light,
and took and grabbed the whole foil pan I cooked the chicken
in and drug it off into the base of the oak tree.
It then later took the foil off somewhere else.. Probably
another tree..
I could have shot it, but she said she was trying to turn
her life around, and besides, a possum that likes bar-b-q
couldn't be all bad. :/
You should have seen the fat rump on that OK possum..
Looked almost like a miniature bear from the rear.

I think I may try to train them as guard/attack possums.
With those little human like hands, I bet I could train one to
shoot a small pistol with the proper motivation.

Raccoons are evil, dirty creatures. I feel sorry for anybody who has experienced them getting into their house.

As for the opossum, if I cage him, I'm going to release him out on the farm. He's not harmful, and he doesn't have rabies obviously - but we really don't need him in town, either.

Though maybe if I could convince our neighbors to properly dispose of their trash and garbage, it'd be a non-issue to start with.

In my "neighbors trash" is exactly where the cadaver belongs?
If the stugatz didn't leave bird seed and dog food in his 50+ YOA garage with the overhead door open 4 nights out of 7, we likely wouldn't have the Lincoln Park Zoo rookery in the neighborhood either! Maybe if he sees a daisy chain of marsupial corpse's arranged in a circle on the top of his trash can, hmmm?

Let him be. They are harmless and there are plenty more where he came from, moving one out of town not going to make any difference. They only live a couple of years anyway, the big old boy was probably just trying to find a nice spot for a nap

It's the "Disney Principle" - survival of the cutest.

Well, I caught him in the live trap last night. Going to release him out on the farm, so no fears there - but I intend to show him to the neighbors this morning and say "this is what happens when you leave your trash around" first.

Bring the axe in and store it by the door for a few nights.

Make sure they get a good, close look.

Yeah, it was showing it's fangs, but it didn't offer to bite or hiss this morning. It has now been released into a freshly downed corn field... It was funny watching him amble away through the corn stalks. He didn't offer to do anything but run away.

There's a big possum living under my back deck. I just saw him before I left for Michigan. I'll have to set the Havahart when I get home. I'd hate to think what would happen if Molly or Angel got into a fight with him. And they're small enough to go where the possum goes, and aren't afraid of anything. Not sure if mini Doxies are brave or foolish, but I do know possums have a very toothy grin.

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Misty

Their easy to catch,Just leave the lid off the garbage can (or barrel) and provide a way in,They can't climb out.Just make sure it won't tip over.Five gal. buckets work on the babies.
I set up a barrel next to a picnic table and got one plus a weasel.By the time I found them the next morning the weasel was dead and the possum was fine.Don't think possums aint dangerous,He wanted a piece of me untill I tipped the barrel over.he then just went on his way like possums do.

D.G.

This one wanted a piece of me, too (he was biting at the cage and baring his teeth, but no hissing at least) - but when the cage door opened -> away he went.

possum and raccoons is why I keep a 32 rifle behind the bedroom door. I was willing to look the other way when they came calling until I was woken up one night by my daughters cat trying to defend her kittens from a pair of possum.

Your dogs may be small, but Dachshunds were bred to go into holes after Badgers. They are stout little dogs. They may look cuddly, but they are brave little critters.

When Fred was still alive he attacked a 100+ lb Rottweiler who was giving me trouble. He may have been small but had the heart of a Bear.

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PC, censorship
with a smile.

TnDixieGirl, I had one that kept getting in my garage at night. He would run behind my dryer and pull off the exhaust tube. He would growl and hiss at me every time I tried to run him out. I had hit him with a broom, a hoe and everything else I could find and no success. Nothing worked and he was there almost every night. I made up some of that spray, gave him a good dose and he shot out of there as fast as he could waddle. He hasn't been back.

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

....Bang, Bang.............Bang.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Same attitude as my ex wife.

[/QUOTE]

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SOS USA

BarbC

I always thought that he was a pretty cute guy... smart too!

Well, nothing wandered into the trap last night... I know we at least have a raccoon in the neighborhood (and at least 6 more down the street), but I'm unsure if we have another possum or not. Will keep you all posted.

When you said, "giant", I was picturing something about five feet tall. That's a pretty big 'possum, I reckon. But "giant"? Hyperbole, right?

Well, that'd be borderline "behemoth" or "ogre" territory, right there.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Here's the picture I snagged of him in our large live trap:

He is big! Good job.

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PC, censorship
with a smile.

I put my trap out for a few nights when I got back from Michigan. The first morning the trap was sprung and turned around. I think Mr. Possum may have tried getting at the catfood from the back end. So I set it up again every night after and...nothing. I haven't seen him again either. Figure either one of the area stray dogs got him, or maybe a car tire.

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Misty

Well, I set the cage out for another week, and nothing else wandered in it... So, I think he was a lone wolf.

I always thought a O'Possum was a Possum that came from Ireland.

I can't believe you didn't want to make a pet out of him. In my younger days I probably would have shot him but now that I'm older I would do the same, catch and release him somewhere else. I don't have any outdoor animals so I'd just leave him along and let him roam around.

A couple years ago, my dog tried to make friends with a possum. Dog very friendly and not terribly bright. I ended up lifting the possum with a shovel and removing him from my back yard so I could get the dog back in the house. For whatever reason, the possum was clinging to the shovel.

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Marie

You said in reply to caj:
I take it you don't have any cajuns way up dere in Indianner? Down south, everbody knows they'll eat anything.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Considering the age of this thread there are 7th generation spawn running around now.

Reminds me of this...

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Pack light and cinch tight.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Pogo’s a possum?!

Not bad to have a few around. They eat ticks and small snakes, but will eat any eggs it come across and loves the picky cat's food.

Last one I came across was on my porch in NW Connecticut. 10 pumps from a Crossman pellet gun, and a well-placed shot between the eyes took care of that problem. I left the racoons and the skunk alone. Possums are nasty!

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son