# A whole flock of possums !



## IKE (Nov 11, 2016)

I live in town on a normal residential street and noticed several weeks back that something had been digging under the corner of my backyard storage shed and that the hole kept getting bigger.

In the wee hours of the morning I've seen skunks scurry across the cul de sac a time or two in the past thirty years and I pretty much figured that they had taken up residence under my shed and I also knew that I didn't really want 'Peppy Le Pew' as my closest neighbor.

I purchased and starting setting out at night a Hav-A-Hart brand live trap baited with canned and dry cat food about two weeks ago, rotating it between the backyard and the front yard flower bed.

I just turned on the backyard patio flood light and I've caught yet another possum which is number four in just two weeks......no skunks (thankfully) yet but there must be a whole flock of possums in the neighborhood. 

As opposed to calling the local Animal Control Office for pick up, who I assume would dispose of / kill them, under the cover of darkness I've been hauling them about three miles away to the wooded area surrounding the S. Canadian river and releasing them.

Well it's about 4:45 now so before it gets light I guess I better get dressed and take my latest catch to his new home down by the river.


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## Ken N Tx (Nov 11, 2016)

Releasing a skunk may be a little harder!!


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## IKE (Nov 11, 2016)

Just got back from my catch & release and all went well......on the way back I heard Mickey D's calling my name so I stopped and got mama and I a sausage biscuit for breakfast.

I don't know about being harder Ken but it darn sure would be stinkier.


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## jujube (Nov 11, 2016)

Good thing you got rid of it or you'd shortly have a "passel" of possums on your hands.


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## SeaBreeze (Nov 11, 2016)

You're very kind for using a trap like that and relocating them Ike...kudos! :love_heart:


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## fureverywhere (Nov 11, 2016)

That is very kind of you indeed. It's kind of that way with our resident raccoons. Our garage is just basically a parking place for the lawn mower and nothing else. Hubby's family stored so much junk in there I don't even care anymore. But there is probably a whole colony happily living in there. They know the rules...the front yard and you'll have to tangle with big territorial cats. You can safely cross the back yard when the dogs are inside. They're free to stay, it's doing our part for nature


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## Carla (Nov 11, 2016)

Possums make a tasty stew! Do you remember that on the Beverly Hillbillies?
That is very kind of you to do that, a quest that has you up in the middle of the night, no less.


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## fureverywhere (Nov 11, 2016)

I admire you in that the possums we see around here are right scary looking. If you've ever seen one by flashlight hissing jeez...Of course the raccoons grow to the size of baby bears. I wish I had a picture of one night on our street. Here was this huge raccoon sitting in the middle of the street happy as you please. He had a Burger King bag in his paws and just kept reaching in and stuffing his face.


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## Shalimar (Nov 11, 2016)

Raccoons love peanut butter.


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## Phoenix (Nov 11, 2016)

Neat thing to do, Ike.  I'm glad you do catch and release.  A possum used to come up onto our deck which wraps around the second story of the house.  The house is built like a box of Animal Crackers.  In the front the deck is a story off the ground.  In the back it's sort of snugged up against the hillside.  Well, this one time we could see the possum out the sliding glass door on the back deck by the dining room.  My husband slowly slid the door open.  He carefully reached out and touched the possum with his index finger.  As he did so, he said, "Booga, booga, booga."  The possum jumped through between the boards slats and onto the hillside.  Poor little thing.  It was funny, but I imagine it's terror.  He never came back.


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## BlondieBoomer (Nov 11, 2016)

We did the same thing with squirrels in our attic a few years ago. We relocated them to a nicer (wooded) neighborhood. 

Thank you for relocating the possums.


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## IKE (Nov 27, 2016)

I've still been using the trap continuously for the past two weeks and hadn't had any luck, which tells me that I've thinned out the herd considerably, till this morning.......I just turned on the patio light and possum # 5 is in the trap.

I just got up and haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet so he's just going to have to wait a little bit longer before he takes a pickup ride to his new casa down by the river.


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## jujube (Nov 27, 2016)

Apparently, if you pen up a possum and feed it on cornmeal and milk for at least two weeks, it makes a good stewed meal.....at least according to my late father.  I haven't got that hungry yet.


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## Carla (Nov 27, 2016)

jujube said:


> Apparently, if you pen up a possum and feed it on cornmeal and milk for at least two weeks, it makes a good stewed meal.....at least according to my late father.  I haven't got that hungry yet.



Yes, granny on the Beverly Hillbillies used to speak of it. There's also squirrel pie and ground hog stew....Just kidding, it doesn't appeal to me either.


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## Lon (Nov 27, 2016)

My first time to New Zealand I was amazed to see the huge amount of Possum Road Kill. The country has a over abundance of those critters. A smart entrepreneur started taking Possum fur and combining it with Merino Wool to make excellent socks. I have several pair and they last forever.


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## Ken N Tx (Nov 28, 2016)

.


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## jujube (Nov 28, 2016)

Carla said:


> Yes, granny on the Beverly Hillbillies used to speak of it. There's also squirrel pie and ground hog stew....Just kidding, it doesn't appeal to me either.



Now, I have had squirrel and it was quite good.  Just had to watch out for the buckshot so I didn't break a tooth.  Honestly.


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## NancyNGA (Nov 28, 2016)

jujube said:


> Now, I have had squirrel and it was quite good.



Me too.  Better than chicken.


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## IKE (Nov 28, 2016)

jujube said:


> Now, I have had squirrel and it was quite good.



I've eaten a lot of both and although there is more meat on a rabbit I actually think squirrel tastes better.

There are some who'll eat a possum but you'd have one hell of a fight on your hands if you tried to force me to eat some.......why ?

As a kid working on my uncles farm in Kentucky I witnessed a possum 'coming out' of a dead cow that my uncle had drug off to the woods a week or more earlier......sorry but I don't care how you fix it, there ain't nothing that considers the insides of a week old dead cow fine dining that I'd care to eat.


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## Shalimar (Nov 28, 2016)

Eek. I am not eating squirrels or bunny! Lol.


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## Pookie (Nov 28, 2016)

Enough of this. I'm seriously considering becoming a vegetarian now. LOL!


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## chic (Nov 29, 2016)

It was kind of you to relocate the possums. I'm sure they're grateful for it.


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## Butterfly (Nov 30, 2016)

Ken N Tx said:


> View attachment 33719
> .
> View attachment 33720



Yuck and double YUCK!


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## Grumpy Ol' Man (Dec 1, 2016)

Have eaten a lot of different things, but never possum.  Raccoon, beaver, muskrat, rattlesnake, chitlins (deep fat fried hog intestines), rabbit, squirrel, deer (venison), etc., etc.  Just could never see where I needed to try possum meat.  They always seemed to be simply an overgrown rat.


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## IKE (Jul 8, 2017)

[IKE; 11-27-16 QUOTE]I've still been using the trap continuously for the past two weeks and hadn't had any luck, which tells me that I've thinned out the herd considerably, till this morning.......I just turned on the patio light and possum # 5 is in the trap.

I just got up and haven't finished my first cup of coffee yet so he's just going to have to wait a little bit longer before he takes a pickup ride to his new casa down by the river. [/QUOTE]


Update; I noticed some new digging around my storage shed about a week ago so I starting setting out the live trap again baited with dry dog food......guess what ?, I just returned from hauling off possum #6.

Like the other five I hope he enjoyed the pickup ride to his new home in the woods down by the river.


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## IKE (Jul 17, 2017)

There sure must be a lot of them around, I just returned from relocating possum #7.


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## Butterfly (Jul 18, 2017)

Wow, you've got a bunch of them.


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## IKE (Jul 28, 2017)

Just got back from relocating # 8 and cleaning up his mess (poop)......cleaning up possum poop is not really something that I look forward to at 5:00 in the morning.


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## IKE (Sep 24, 2017)

I haven't set the trap out for several weeks but yesterday I noticed footprints and scratching in the front flowerbed so I baited the trap with dry cat food and set it out last night.........I just went out to get the paper and guess what's in the trap ?

Another skunk !.......it looks like I'm going to be tied up for the next hour or so.


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## Pappy (Sep 24, 2017)

Here in the Campgrounds, it’s catch and release also. Mainly skunks and raccoons. There is a fox that has been seen, but doesn’t stick around long.


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## IKE (Sep 24, 2017)

Glad that's over, I hauled him down to the wooded area by the S. Canadian River so he went from being a city skunk to a country skunk......by draping a towel over the trap this time the best part is that I did it 'Without Getting Sprayed !'

The Hav-A-Hart live traps work really well and releasing critters is quick, easy and painless.


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## IKE (Oct 5, 2017)

IKE;666540 7-28-17 said:
			
		

> Just got back from relocating # 8 and cleaning up his mess (poop)......cleaning up possum poop is not really something that I look forward to at 5:00 in the morning.



Possum #9 was relocated about an hour ago......all the others were calm but this one growled, hissed and was biting at the wire cage, he was not a happy camper.


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## fishmounter (Oct 8, 2017)

I have "saved" several opossums at my place of work that wandered into the big roll up warehouse doors that are sometimes open at night.  One was in my bosse's office.. the boss and everyone else was terrified by him.  I just grabbed him by the tail and put him into a box to be released a few miles down the road.  Young possums can actually be held once you show them that you are not going to harm them.  They may open their mouths and hiss, but it's all just a bluff.  Once you hold the little scared guys, they seem to relax in your arms, almost like they feel protected.  And skunks.. I have had many skunks walk almost right up to me when I'm fishing at night.  As long as you don't make any fast moves, they will continue on their way and not spray you.  I've even told them to move away from my bait and pushed them away with my fishing rod.  Most of these night critters know you are there before we see them and will avoid us.


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## RadishRose (Oct 8, 2017)

Bless your hearts!


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## IKE (Oct 14, 2017)

I caught #10 last night and just got back from relocating him.......I'm actually pretty surprised that there are so many around in a residential neighborhood.


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## Ken N Tx (Mar 15, 2018)




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## Ken N Tx (Mar 15, 2018)




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## NancyNGA (Mar 15, 2018)




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## Keesha (Mar 28, 2018)

IKE said:


> Possum #9 was relocated about an hour ago......all the others were calm but this one growled, hissed and was biting at the wire cage, he was not a happy camper.View attachment 42979



we had to catch two like this on our property also. We set up the cage and put food in it only to discover that we caught our little yorkie instead. Lol They can be quite nasty creatures but we had no problems with them once we caught and released them.


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