Got the Shock of My Life Tonight!!

[linda040899]

I went out back to let the chickens out of their pen so they could come up and be near the house for a while before I brought them inside for the night. I thought I had seen something in their pen the other night but whatever it was was back under the bushes so I've been going out to get the chickens a bit earlier now.

Well, tonight as I got there, I saw this huge possum in the middle of their pen, about 8' from where the chickens were sitting while they waited for me to come get them. He was eating something but he was way too close to my chickens for me to feel comfortable about his presence!! Needless to say, the chickens will be coming up near the house a lot earlier from now on.

Not sure exactly how I'm going to handle his presence in the back yard. I know he's not likely to leave without some assistance and he's bigger than the last ones I took out about 10 yrs ago. My thoughts are leaning towards a live trap and then transport him somewhere else. However, it's highly illegal for me to transport him (if I get caught) but there's quite a large fee if I call animal control to come get him.

He WILL be going away. Just not sure how.

[Elle]

Is there a wildlife rehab center near you? The one here will come and remove wildlife and release them elsewhere at no cost.

[linda040899]

I'll have to check on a local rehab center or group in my area. Most everyone just calls animal control. They will trap the animal, if necessary, and remove/relocate it but their services are not cheap. I was thinking about getting a live trap, catching him and taking him somewhere else. I just can't get caught doing it.

This one is about 3 times the size of the last 2 that thought my lovebirds on my lanai would make a good meal.

[NickyBeth]

I hear you on the animal control thing, Linda. They charge the $$$ too down here to get rid of the alligator that's in the neighbor's yard eating all the Muscovy Ducks.

When I used to work at a hardware store back in the day, we used to tell people that the best bait for possums was regular fried chicken. You'll probably need a big 'coon trap too. The problem with transporting it is you'll have to do it where no one can see. My suggestion would be to catch him, cover him with a blanket or tarp so you can smuggle him into the car...and then release him at a neighboring pond if you can.

[linda040899]

Believe it or not, NickyBeth. My neighbors are so used to seeing me carrying birds in either cages or carriers, a covered live trap would not attract even a second glance from any of them! :rofl::rofl::rofl: This guy's got a set of teeth that won't wait so covering him is probably safer for everyone concerned!!

I priced a live trap this afternoon, and buying just one that can be re-used is less than animal control charges per animal pick up! Definitely think that's the way to go. I just need to think of a quiet place where I can release him that's far enough away from me where letting him go wouldn't attract attention. I really would prefer not to kill him, as he's not attacked any of my chickens, yet. I just want him gone without option to return. My chickens will just be inside before dark until I get that live trap on Friday.

[michael]

When time to release him, ya might wan't to bring along a little extra fried chicken. .. I've had a couple (possum's especially) show plenty reluctance to vacate the trap. ..........:x

[linda040899]

Good idea! Never thought about that possibility!

[michael]

Well...you know....if it were me....that would be about the time the law would just happen to be driving by on a doughnut break. .. probably be cited for cruelty to a poor helpless caged animal. ..... I'll be watching your local news for the next couple days Linda. ............:rolleyes:

[linda040899]

Hey! This possum is pretty lucky that I don't really want him dead, just gone! He's not hurt anything of mine so I'm willing to let him survive, but elsewhere. However, you're right, Michael. My luck would probably go in that direction. :omg:

Poor, helpless caged animal in a live trap with a couple of pieces of KFC. Yup. That really could be construed as cruelty! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[NickyBeth]

Poor, helpless caged animal in a live trap with a couple of pieces of KFC. Yup. That really could be construed as cruelty! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Get him one of those "Double Down" sandwiches. It will give him a heart attack and then you can sue the Colonel and own your own KFC!

[linda040899]

The chickens came inside just as the sun was setting so everyone is safe for the night. Nosey me had to go out and check to see if my "guest" had returned yet. Sure enough. By 8 pm, he was in the chicken pen, searching around. Sorry, guy, but chickens are gone for the night! There's nothing to eat out there so I'm hoping he will leave to hunt elsewhere. Will be checking periodically so that I know where he's at if he's still in my yard.

[Pips mom]

Ohhhh, them things are mean and nasty! they get REALLY mad when they feel they are trapped! I know......we had a family of grey foxes move in under our shed where I used to live over in upstate NY and I hired a guy to try to trap them. He showed me how to use the traps in case anything else got in them. Every day I had different animals get in there, everything but the foxes, but the foxes moved on and left afterwards. I got a possum twice in the traps and had to let them go.......one of them was asleep when I found it in there and when I woke him up, he was none too happy! He hissed at me and showed his teeth! I ran back in the house and got the potholders to open the trap! I got the cutest woodchuck in a trap too.....he was SO scared that I had to hit the back of the trap for him to even move when I opened it for him! I could hear him running all the way down the bank in back of the house! Hope you are able to get your intruder outta there! If you catch him in the trap, they are not fun to let go....they are scarey mean!

[Mummieeva]

I HATE opossums. We had a baby one that was getting into our house for about 4 months. Kept finding new ways to get in. My 2 adult cats and 2 kittens just looked at it. Heck they even shared their food and water with it. Nothing like walking into kitchen for a drink and noticing 4 cats and a possum at the water bowl. It finally stopped showing up when it could no longer fit. We found a hole behind our washer so hopefully he is the last one to ever get in.

[linda040899]

That's funny, Steph, although I can see how unnerving it could be!!! Not quite sure what I'd do if I found one in my kitchen, sharing food with, in my case, my dog.....

Bringing the chickens in early and making sure there's no food in their pen is going to do one of two things. The possum is going to go elsewhere to look for food or he's going to come up closer to the house. Coming closer is not a smart move, as that will cause me to take quicker action to ensure that he goes away permanently!

[thebubbleking]

I say release it at your tax office dave can help you hes got connections lol

[linda040899]

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

The possum didn't show up tonight. There was no food and no chickens in the pen when he arrived last night but I don't think he's gone permanently. I let the chickens out of their pen at around 7:30 and they were ready to come inside to go into their awaiting dog crates.

[thebubbleking]

See the meer threat of the tax office scares even a mean ol possum! lol

[Z28Taxman]

See the meer threat of the tax office scares even a mean ol possum! lol

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

I don't have possum problems here, but I could send a few skunks if you'd like!:omg:

[peteandtilly]

i dont even know what a possum is or looks like i guess we dont have them in eastern canada!!! i have heard the saying possum pie though, i think, is there such a thing? i dont know, my baby african grey is doing fine though, the baby lovie is much more coordinated than the grey!!

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x463/peteandtilly/babies078.jpg

[linda040899]

Chickens came in early again tonight. No possum. I did find a feral cat in their pen, however........... ~sigh~

[Chickobee]

I had a cockatiel who bonded with my youngest son so Chris took him with him when he moved out.

He now lives near Portland where it gets hot in the summer with no AC. He and his wife put their mattress downstairs on the floor in the living room on a hot night and left their front and back doors open to cool off the house. They were sleeping there with their baby.

In the middle of the night the cockatiel started making a horrible racket in it's cage upstairs on the landing. They discovered a very large opossum on the top of the cage! :omg:

When it snarled at Chris he fell on the stairs catching his hand in the ballisters. Gabrielle whacked it repeatedly with a broom which finally gave it enough incentive to walk slowly down the stairs and out the front door. Then they all went to the emergency room to get a cast on Chris' broken hand... Ouch.

The bird suffered no ill effects from the encounter other than severe fright.

[bbslovie]

i dont even know what a possum is or looks like i guess we dont have them in eastern canada!!! i have heard the saying possum pie though, i think, is there such a thing? i dont know, my baby african grey is doing fine though, the baby lovie is much more coordinated than the grey!!

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x463/peteandtilly/babies078.jpg

What a cutie, what's your new birdie's name?

Barb :)

[linda040899]

My possum will be leaving, no ifs ands or buts. After last night, he will be lucky if he leaves alive.

I was tired yesterday when I got home from work and I sat down to unwind. When I woke up, time was 8:20 pm and it was dark outside. Needless to say, my feet hit the floor running. And, sure enough, when I got outside to the chicken pen, my possum was in the middle of the pen, about 2' away from the chickens!! No one was injured but I would have killed the possum with my bare hands if I had managed to catch him. He can credit the fact that he's still alive with the fact that he ran faster than I did! I know he's got a mouth full of sharp teeth, but I didn't particularly think about that.

Live traps are being set today and he will be leaving. Last night was the last straw. I've been dragging my feet on this, but no more. >: I just hope there's only one........

[carrier]

I hope you are able to safely and humanely rid yourself (and your chickens) of this problem, Linda!

Aren't the pretty much blind? I've seen several here in Boston, and was under the impression that they had horrible eyesight.

And I hear you about their teeth...I had an encounter with a nasty one outside late night with my dog (on a leash, thankfully). That tiny thing hissed and bared his sharp, menacing teeth at us!

[linda040899]

The live traps are about as humane as I'm going to get and he's lucky I'm willing to do that! Possums and raccoons both have horrible vision but they can move quickly if necessary!

My chickens have been inside just as it gets dark, so I've not seen him in about 2 weeks. I was really thinking he'd found better pickins but one slip on my part last night convinced me otherwise. Since he won't leave on his own, he's going to have some assistance!

[linda040899]

Trapped!!!

It took two nights but the possum is currently spending the night in a live trap, awaiting pick up in the morning. I know someone who does pest removal and he set 2 live traps. We think the possum has been living under the shed in the backyard of the neighbor who lives directly behind me. That's why I always see him come over the back fence. He always exits my chicken pen on the left side and that's the trap that got him.

There's another live trap in the front of my chicken pen and that one was turned over this morning. Not sure what kind of creature did that but I may find out in the morning. When I checked at 10 p.m., I found the possum but the other trap was untouched.

[lemonypickett]

Yipee! That is great news!

[linda040899]

Unfortunately, as I found out tonight, my trapped/removed opossum has a buddy! >: I haven't seen anything in the chicken pen since the last one was trapped but I went out looking for one of my missing chickens and my flashlight found him in the very back. This one is a bit bolder than the other one and actually moved towards me as I checked him out. Wrong move! Went back into the house to look for something to kill him with and the best thing I could find was a heavy duty crow bar. I hit him with one good swing but it wasn't enough to disable him. He took off in a hurry but I know he'll be back. Guess we do another round of live traps but I think I want this one dead!

Didn't find my missing hen. I'm just hoping she's roosting somewhere and is safe for the night. I didn't see massive amounts of feathers so I think she simply found a place to sleep. I feel so bad, as she's not used to being outside. :(

[michael]

........ Went back into the house to look for something to kill him with and the best thing I could find was a heavy duty crow bar. I hit him with one good swing but it wasn't enough to disable him. He took off in a hurry but I know he'll be back.......

You know Linda, in my opinion, possum's have to be one of the most resilient (hard to kill) buggers on the planet. .... Crow bar? No. ... Small calibur firearm? ....Nah. ... Large cannon? ... Certainly helps.

[linda040899]

One way or the other, this one is going to go away, too! If I had hit him where I aimed, he might not have walked away. The bar I had in my hand was pretty heavy. That's why my aim was poor. I live in a sub-division so using a firearm would definitely be frowned upon. However, I did quite a bit of damage to a smaller opossum with a pellet gun about 10 yrs ago. My dog finished that one off.....

This one is a bit smaller than the last one, but he's still capable of taking down one of my chickens. I don't think so!

[Chickobee]

Did you find your chicken? She most likely found a tree to roost in overnight. When I had chickens years ago most of them slept in the chicken house at night but a few of the bantys would roost in the rafters of the barn after first getting up most of the way doing short flights up the hay bales. They would also sneak and lay eggs in the hay and then show up with a clutch of 12-15 babies. Sneaky chickens!

Your opossum may wait a few days to come back after the whack from the crowbar, but he will return, expecially if you put out a bit of food to lure him.

Good luck!

[linda040899]

Yes, my chicken came out from where ever she spent the night last night. I searched the entire yard but she was well hidden. Unfortunately, it rained all last night so I was less than happy when I couldn't find her. It certainly was not for lack of trying.

This opposum comes out later than his buddy did. I didn't see him until after midnight when I realized my one hen did not come inside with the others. Many times, I will let them stay outside by the back garage door for a while and then let them come inside when the garage cools off a little bit. If the temps have been in the 90s, it's awfully warm in there and they are cooler and actually safe right by the back door. If anything went after them, I would hear the chickens making noise, as they are right outside my kitchen window, too.

Now I'm wondering just how many critters are living under the shed behind me......

[Chickobee]

I'm glad you found your chicken safe and sound. I talked to Dave about getting some and he said a resounding "NO". Of course that's what he said about lovebirds too. :rofl:

Rest assured. If the opossums are living there it is unlikely that anything else is, unless it's a huge building. Once one kind of animal has staked out the territory the others will find another home.

I found a dead mountain beaver in my driveway when I was wheeling the recycling bin up the hill after work last night. Someone evidently hit it with their car, probably in the wee hours of the morning. It could have been me but I sure didn't see it. I didn't even realize we had any of those. That explains some of the holes on the side of the hill. The holes can be really dangerous when walking because they can be hidden in the tall grass.

Good luck getting your next critter. :)

[Chickobee]

More than I ever wanted to know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum

Read the part about how many teeth they have! They are just plain creepy, and smell awful. The part about "playing possum" is interesting also.

Also, check out Australian possums. They are completely different and there are lots of kinds. The honey possum is smaller than a mouse and lives on nectar and pollen.

[linda040899]

It's my guess that the opossum I'm seeing now is a female. She's smaller than the one we trapped. I'm really not quite sure why she showed up in my chicken pen, as my chickens are never out that late at night and there's no food left out. I collect all eggs and don't put food out there until just before I let the chickens out in the morning. Had I not gone looking for my missing hen, I never would have seen this one.

One thing I know for sure. My chickens don't like being in the back of the pen as the sun goes down. Yesterday afternoon, I traded my car for a new one and we had a really bad rain storm go through as I was headed home. When I got back to let the chickens come inside, all of them were huddled together in the front corner of the pen, completely unprotected from the downpour, soaking wet! I felt so bad for them, as had I been home, they would have been inside out of the weather and dry. During daylight hours, they run under the Viburnum that's at the back of the pen, but they won't go there once the sun goes down. Even when I saw my missing hen coming towards the chicken pen, she came from a direction close to the house rather than the back of the property. I don't have any buildings or sheds behind my house but my neighbors do. It's my guess now that they most likely have critter residents in/around those buildings and just don't want to do anything about it.

[bird-brain]

Ohhh I hate opossums! My dogs kill them if they get the chance but a large one (or a coon) can seriously injure even a large dog. Rabies is rampant in both species here in the south and though my animals are vaccinated I don't know that all my neighbor's animals are. So every aggressive opossum or coon on my property is humanely shot......I will not run the risk of my family being bitten by a rabid animal.