possum question

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dems4me

Guest
I know its not a farm animal but I didn't see an other critters link. I have this possume that I've been feeding on the front porch for a little over a year and a few weeks ago I noticed that its having problems moving its back legs - I thought maybe it fell from a tree or something. But lately its been getting worse and worse and now its just kind of draging its back legs while trying to walk. It still gets around ok and doesn't exhibit symptoms of pain or anything and as usual he or she is quite friendly and doesn't mind the cats or me. (The hyper pup is an entirely different situation). Anyways, I was wondering -- could she be carrying baby possums in her pouch or something as marcupials do and maybe that is why she seems to be getting more and more weighed down? Is there a safe way I can get a look at her? What made her hurt if that's not it??? Anyone know anything about possums or have seen anything similar to this almost paralysis in the back???:confused:
 
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dems4me

Guest
Originally posted by migtig
You are insane. :roflmao: Possums carry rabies and are wild animals that will fight you and your animals. You go ahead and keep on feeding it if you want, but I really wouldn't pick it up. If I was seriously concerned, I'd use a feral cat cage to catch it and take it to a pre-warned and agreeable vet.

Well there everywhere and I don't want them killing my hens, so I say live and let live and just kept feed them with the stray cats. All my animals are up to date on their rabbies shot except for the dog, so I keep her away -- she just barks and causes a fuss over them. The raccoons too around here have gotten huge from these feedings. They are going through a 20 lbs bag of cat food every 4 days!!! Originally I was trying to feed the stray cats that come around. I would have shooed the other critters away but you know me, they had stuff stuck in their hair -- what was I to do :shrug:

I have plenty of have a heart traps but the cats sometimes end up caught in there instead. If there is a possum or raccoon that goes near the hen house I catch it and relocate it about 20 miles away. If I did that for all these critters I'd be doing it 24/7. Not to mention it would add to my commute time to work. I can just see my bosses now as I tell them I'm late everyday because I had to relocate possums and raccoons...!!!! :lol:
 
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justhangn

Guest
I'd guess the oppossum was hit by a car........

If you are fairly certain the oppossum isn't rabid, you can let your german short hair chase down the oppossum.....it won't take long before the oppossum will pass out and you can take a little closer look that way..............


..........personally, I'd stop feeding it a free meal and make it fend for itself, but that's the republican in me. :shrug:
 
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dems4me

Guest
Originally posted by appyday
Personally I dont feed anything I dont want hanging around causing trouble..that would be human or animal..I would set a trap and relocate or call the warden or kill it..personally I have no use for a opossum..they carry EPM to horses..Rabies and other diseases..they are not better then a large rat...I would not feed one or keep one around...


:rolleyes: that my be the republican in me too:bubble:

Come on guys -- where's y'alls bleeding hearts like mine? I would relocate it but there'd be others. I would be relocating everyday. I back up to the woods. I don't mind it hanging around and its not doing any harm. Its just that I was feeding this thing inadvertently on the front porch since it was only about 8 inches long and now its an adult and hurt and I was just tryn' to help it.:frown:
 

cattitude

My Sweetest Boy
Actually, the incidence of rabies in opossums is very rare. Yes, I am the forum rabies expert. It's not really known why except that they have a very low body temperature.

Give these people a call. Most often, they will arrange for someone to pick up the opossum or meet you somewhere or you can take it to them. They are great!

http://www.homestead.com/chesapeakewildlife/
 
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dems4me

Guest
Originally posted by cattitude
Actually, the incidence of rabies in opossums is very rare. Yes, I am the forum rabies expert. It's not really known why except that they have a very low body temperature.

Give these people a call. Most often, they will arrange for someone to pick up the opossum or meet you somewhere or you can take it to them. They are great!

http://www.homestead.com/chesapeakewildlife/

Thanks cat for 1) still communicating with me and for 2) the input. But my point is -- its not like I live in a community in the city or something where there's the occassional possum. There are bunches of them -- I'd be transporting possums everyday if that were the case and then more would reappear. I was just wondering if anyone's experienced something similar. I feel bad for the ugly guy/girl... what can I say :shrug: I'm afraid if I give it to someone they'd kill it or something. Btw and off topic -- How do I decrease a gif file in pixel size? Mine is 96 and I keep hitting properties and changing it to 64 but when I upload it as an avatar it says its still too big? It's my dearest cat that came up missing last year and I'd like to have her as my avatar. any suggestions????
 

cattitude

My Sweetest Boy
I live in an area with gobs of wild critters. About 6 years ago, a momma opossum was killed by a car. My son noticed that there were babies still in the pouch. He called the Chesapeake people and they explained just what he needed to do. He put on gloves and removed the four babies and put them in a box and a volunteer picked them up. You should call and explain the situation, that you have one that appears to be injured. At the very least, they will euthanize it if it's found to be ill or injured beyond rehab. It's quite an interesting place to go actually. They have EVERYTHING...hawks, owls, deer, squirrels, birds galore...

I've taken several sick or injured wild critters there over the years.

I wasn't suggesting that you get rid of all of the opossum, just the sickly (or injured one).
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
Originally posted by dems4me
How do I decrease a gif file in pixel size? Mine is 96 and I keep hitting properties and changing it to 64 but when I upload it as an avatar it says its still too big? It's my dearest cat that came up missing last year and I'd like to have her as my avatar. any suggestions????

Go to www.gifworks.com - it's a free tool that lets you resize gif's.
 
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dems4me

Guest
Originally posted by cattitude
I live in an area with gobs of wild critters. About 6 years ago, a momma opossum was killed by a car. My son noticed that there were babies still in the pouch. He called the Chesapeake people and they explained just what he needed to do. He put on gloves and removed the four babies and put them in a box and a volunteer picked them up. You should call and explain the situation, that you have one that appears to be injured. At the very least, they will euthanize it if it's found to be ill or injured beyond rehab. It's quite an interesting place to go actually. They have EVERYTHING...hawks, owls, deer, squirrels, birds galore...

I've taken several sick or injured wild critters there over the years.

I wasn't suggesting that you get rid of all of the opossum, just the sickly (or injured one).

Thanks again for the input -- I'll see what I can do. I just hate seeing it drag itself across the porch, etc... but sadly and selfishly I can never bring myself to kill things even if it is for their own good. A fox got into my hen house a few years ago and I had to shoot it but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Thanks
 

KoolStuf

New Member
critter

Dems,
the critter probably has motor nerve damage & will only get worse.
It will starve to death when it can no longer drag itself to get food.
They were right on with the advice re: the chesapeake wildlife, I have known them since Dianne first started.
They have vets that will check out the critter & do what is best for it. I have taken many there. If they survive, they are released back into the wild.
Feeding wild animals is not doing them any favor, they forget how to live on their own if you stop feeding.

"Starvation is a slow death"
:bawl:
 
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dems4me

Guest
Originally posted by Christy
Meamie! :neener: I had a baby opossum when I was growing up, and it was a darling! :neener:

See!!! See everyone -- I said this was a nice one. It will even play dead and think its hiding at times. But he means me no harm. He's just ugly but almost to the point of being cute:biggrin: Yeah for Christy!!! Thanks!!!:biggrin:
 
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dems4me

Guest
Originally posted by appyday
:yeahthat:

But appy -- newborn kittens also hit and spit when they are young too:frown: :cheesy:
 
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justhangn

Guest
Originally posted by Christy
Meamie! :neener: I had a baby opossum when I was growing up, and it was a darling! :neener:

:yeahthat: I had one as a kid too, it was friendly, didn't hiss or anything. :shrug:
 

jlabsher

Sorry about that chief.
Keep the d*mn possum away from your house crazy one.

1. It could TEAR UP any dog dumb enough to mess with it. 'You're talking hundreds in vet bills.

2. RABIES, don't worry about the dogs, worry about you?

3. Why are you feeding rats?

4. It is a wild animal, do the rangers in Jellystone park let you feed Yogi? No. Why, because it will become a fat, dumb and happy Amurrikin human just like most of us and not know how to get its own food should you leave, go on vacation or get hit by a truck. Then it will die a slow, agonizing death, because of you.

5. It is obviously hurt, you could take it to the wild animal shelter and bring it back to life, or you could kill it and skin it, sell the meat at the farmer's market, or on great mills road.

6. Survival of the fittest? I know you democratic socialists believe that every sperm is sacred (oops wrong party) I mean that every human is equal, but let me tell you, as a civil service employee I know that isn't true. If it is a wild animal that is of no pelt, meat or trophy value be strong, turn your eye and let it die. Say goodbye to old yeller.

Wean it off the food, now is a good time of year for that. Let it be a wild animal, it can never be tamed (insert personal macho reference here).
 
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dems4me

Guest
Originally posted by jlabsher
Keep the d*mn possum away from your house crazy one.

1. It could TEAR UP any dog dumb enough to mess with it. 'You're talking hundreds in vet bills.

2. RABIES, don't worry about the dogs, worry about you?

3. Why are you feeding rats?

4. It is a wild animal, do the rangers in Jellystone park let you feed Yogi? No. Why, because it will become a fat, dumb and happy Amurrikin human just like most of us and not know how to get its own food should you leave, go on vacation or get hit by a truck. Then it will die a slow, agonizing death, because of you.

5. It is obviously hurt, you could take it to the wild animal shelter and bring it back to life, or you could kill it and skin it, sell the meat at the farmer's market, or on great mills road.

6. Survival of the fittest? I know you democratic socialists believe that every sperm is sacred (oops wrong party) I mean that every human is equal, but let me tell you, as a civil service employee I know that isn't true. If it is a wild animal that is of no pelt, meat or trophy value be strong, turn your eye and let it die. Say goodbye to old yeller.

Wean it off the food, now is a good time of year for that. Let it be a wild animal, it can never be tamed (insert personal macho reference here).

Wow Jlab you really are a man of few words now aren’t ya’. :lol: :wink: BTW I’m not crazy – I just care about animals – to a fault I suppose. In response to your post…

1) I don’t let my dog near the possum so no problem there. (But just to get a plug in – I’m looking for a King Charles Cavelier puppy or a Newfoundland puppy, if any of all know of any breeders for this breed.)
2) For some reason, I’m personally not worried about getting rabies and really havn’t give that much thought. These animals don’t appear to be rabid though.
3) I don’t think I’m feeding rats – are they in the same family? Eitherway I haven’t seen any rats around. I didn’t set out to feed all the critters of Charles County honest – I’m not made of money personally and 20lbs of cat food every few days does add up. All I had set out to do and intended on doing was to feed a few stray cats outside. And there is nowhere that I can set their food out where the other critters can’t get to it.
Then I started limiting the amount of food I’d set out but the critters would gobble it all up before the stray cats could get a chance. Its not the stray cat’s fault that it is a stray and has no where else to go for food so I try to help out when I can. :frown:
It’s not like I could put a sign on the food and water bowls that says “stray cats only” and the other critters would take notice or something. Also when they started having their buffet outside I realized it wasn’t a total bad thing because this way they stay away from my hen house and have stopped slaughtering my poor (pet) hens. Possums are lethal to poultry just the same as raccoons – nothing like walking out in the morning to get eggs and there's a blood bath of carcusses of hens you raised from peeps.
4) I’m not sure about the feeding of animals in any park theory. I think an animal has survival instincts regardless of whether it is hand fed or forage fed. I think that when it gets hungry it’s not going to lay around and starve to death waiting for a human to give it food. I think it will have enough God given instincts to find food instead of just sitting around hoping for someone like me to come along. :lol: JMO though.
5) If it is hurt and has a disease. I worry about selling it to anyone to eat for the meat – although this is a fat one. Do any of y’all really eat possum meat? I would feel bad for befriending this possum anyway to think of taking it somewhere to get slaughtered. I’m sure this post isn’t sounding convincing that I’m not crazy but that’s kind of where I stand. I’m not focusing on this possum thing 24/7 or anything like that folks. I was just wondering is all. BTW I didn’t see it last night, it may have died already :frown:

I certainly do appreciate your feedback as I always do Jlab – you da' bomb!!! :wink: I just wanted to clarify a few things from my standpoint. You know that all stray animals are really former life democrats that expect a free handout in life anyways :wink: :lol:
 

righttobeararms

New Member
Curious as to how the stray critters are doing? Still feeding them?
I personally used to do the same thing now I kind of feel like it is really hurting the wildlife by feeding them. But that is neither here nor there.

I just wanted to throw in my .02 cents and say be careful. If the animals start doing anything out of the normal for that species of animal, (like raccon or opposums coming out in the day) stay clear. My Dad had a fox that was showing up in the subdivision during the day and wasn't acting skeered of people. I told him something was wrong and he should shoot it. (his subdivision is big enough he could have shot it safely) anyway he said it was just because people had been feeding it and let it go. Well two weeks later the fox got inside of a neighbors swimming pool fence and scratched a little girl swimming in the pool and the father trapped the fox and called the animal control, the fox tested positive for rabies.

I am not the kind of person that freaks out and screams rabies and kills anything that could have them. Like I said I used to feed an opposum when I lived in Laplata and year and years ago my family used to feed a bunch of raccoons on a regular basis, but all those animals has a healthy fear of humans and didn't do anything out of the ordinary. So just keep it in mind and be careful. If they start acting strange maybe you have a neighbor you trust that could put down the one that is not acting right and leave the healthy ones alone. I would hate to see one sick aniaml contaminate all your wild friends.

Have fun and be safe
 
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dems4me

Guest
righttobeararms said:
Curious as to how the stray critters are doing? Still feeding them?
I personally used to do the same thing now I kind of feel like it is really hurting the wildlife by feeding them. But that is neither here nor there.

I just wanted to throw in my .02 cents and say be careful. If the animals start doing anything out of the normal for that species of animal, (like raccon or opposums coming out in the day) stay clear. My Dad had a fox that was showing up in the subdivision during the day and wasn't acting skeered of people. I told him something was wrong and he should shoot it. (his subdivision is big enough he could have shot it safely) anyway he said it was just because people had been feeding it and let it go. Well two weeks later the fox got inside of a neighbors swimming pool fence and scratched a little girl swimming in the pool and the father trapped the fox and called the animal control, the fox tested positive for rabies.

I am not the kind of person that freaks out and screams rabies and kills anything that could have them. Like I said I used to feed an opposum when I lived in Laplata and year and years ago my family used to feed a bunch of raccoons on a regular basis, but all those animals has a healthy fear of humans and didn't do anything out of the ordinary. So just keep it in mind and be careful. If they start acting strange maybe you have a neighbor you trust that could put down the one that is not acting right and leave the healthy ones alone. I would hate to see one sick aniaml contaminate all your wild friends.

Have fun and be safe


Still feeding them all... the weird looking possum got hit by a car and died in the road in front of the house... everyone else is fine... lots of racoons this year and they are really, really skinny looking for some reason.
 

gumbo

FIGHT CLUB !
Christy said:
Meamie! :neener: I had a baby opossum when I was growing up, and it was a darling! :neener:
I had three baby Opossum's. The mother had died and I seen them moving around in her pouch.
So I feed them oat meal with an eye droper untell they where able to feed themselves.
It was alot of fun having them around.
They would climb up your pants leg cling on and go for a ride as you walked.
They would also climb up on the family dog and ride around on her back.
Still tell this day , I can remember the look on our dogs face as three little baby Opossum's rode along as if it was their mother.

Good thing they never looked for a pouch. :ohwell:
 
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