Pesky 'Possum
October 2005

For the last 3 months, we have noticed the odd egg missing from our hens' nest box. More recently, we found our chicken feedbags ripped in half down the middle and feed spread far and wide. Then we found a dead hen. A quick Google showed us that the culprit was likely an opossum.

We confirmed this when we were burning a pile of fencing that was pushed down by flood waters during Hurricane Isabel. We had been burning the very hot fire for about half an hour when he came scurrying out across Clint's workboot and disappeared into the brush. He was a young adult, not quite fully grown. He must have been very terrorfied of our presence to have stayed in that burning woodpile for so long. He looked fine in the quick glimpse we had of him, not a hair was singed.

Brandon and Amanda made traps that worked very well at trapping our cats, especially Fluffy. The traps seemed to insult the 'possum because he would then leave broken egg shells right where Brandon and Amanda would walk to check the traps. He even carried some to the path to the entrance of the chicken coop.

At night, we'd put Nala, our beloved Golden Retriever/German Shepherd mix, into the coop. She didn't appreciate her elevated status of guard dog one bit. She has been trained the Barbara Woodhouse way of leaving chickens alone, which was very effective, although a bit grotesque. We sometimes forgot and other times didn't have the energy to take her out and lock her in there, so it was a hit and miss operation. Sure as we wouldn't put her in, the 'possum would be back.

Clint bought a Havahart trap from Southern States. Thankfully, it was on sale and we saved $15. Within 3 days, we had our 'possum.

We enjoyed observing him. He was a very mild mannered animal who seemed as curious about us as we were of him. He had very agile and muscular feet which explains why he was so deft at opening the feedbags. While his sharp end was facing opposite, I touched the fur that was sticking out of the trap's wire. It was fairly soft, not wirey like I expected. A quick lift of the trap showed that he was in fact a "he."

We learned online it was illegal for us to release him any where except for on our own farm. That wasn't an option. Killing him wasn't one either. I can't see killing something for it merely trying to survive. So, we took him down the road to a place that was wooded for miles in all directions.

At first, he held onto the cage with his prehensile tail and wouldn't budge. I prodded him with a stick and then he took off through the open trap door like lightning without a backward glance. The last we saw of him was his waddling backside being swallowed by the dense forest.

'Possum Facts We Learned

Opossums

..are not rodents, but are the only marsupials in North America.
...does not hang by it's tail in trees, but uses it's tail to stabilize itself while climbing.
...are very resistant distemper and rabies and have fewer diseases than the average house pet.
...are instinct driven to a comatose state (what some call "playing dead" or "playing 'possum") when other defenses do not drive off a predator.
...can have surviving young, which can be rescued and handfed, in their pouch when they get hit in the road.
...are considered great pets by some people.
...are named for an Algonquin Indian name apasum which means "white face."
...amazingly gentle creatures that rarely bite, which doesn't mean you should go pick up one.
...has 50 teeth, more than any other animal, which means you shouldn't go pick up one.
..can emit a foul smelling discharge to discourage prey animals.
...has opposable thumbs on it's hind feet, which it shares only with humans and primates.
...will eat just about anything.
...are important and valuable to our ecosystem.
...are immune to most pit viper's venom and are currently being studied for ways to enhance the human immune system.

back to Farm Stories