Opossums: Not the Hero we want, but the Hero we need

[Alamo]

DID YOU KNOW THAT OPOSSUMS EAT VIRTUALLY ALL THE TICKS IN YOUR YARD?

"I had no suspicion they'd be such efficient tick-killing animals," said Richard Ostfeld, of the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York.

...

Ostfeld said that one opossum can kill and eat some 5,000 ticks in a single season.

You go, 'possum!

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I think we just have possums here. I don't know if we have the Irish O'possums.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I kinda wish I hadn't shot the last possum that came in my yard. I wonder if they could be domesticated to the point where I could take one camping with me to guard the campsite against ticks. Or maybe walk one on a leash while walking through the woods. Kinda like a "point possum".

 

[maxwelhse]

I think we just have possums here. I don't know if we have the Irish O'possums.

As soon as I saw this thread I was wondering how long it would take for someone to Denny it up...

First post is the answer!

 

[jagee]

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/opossum-vs-possum/

 

[DoggyDaddy]

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/opossum-vs-possum/

Well that's interesting! I didn't know they were two different animals!

 

[Cameramonkey]

I just want to know where are the PSA possums are found. Every one of them I see and say "awwww, he's cute!".

Yet every one I see in the wild is ugly AF.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I just want to know where are the PSA possums are found. Every one of them I see and say "awwww, he's cute!".

Yet every one I see in the wild is ugly AF.

The young ones are cute as a button. They don't age well. Some of them start to resemble country music artists...

 

[Farmerjon]

They might eat ticks, but that isn't predominately their meal plan. They are scavengers and come out of the belly of disgusting carcasses. Their manure and saliva carry many bad things harmful to livestock and humans (think kids playing in the yard). They are nothing more than a large rat, do not feel bad about SSSing one or two or more.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

They might eat ticks, but that isn't predominately their meal plan. They are scavengers and come out of the belly of disgusting carcasses. Their manure and saliva carry many bad things harmful to livestock and humans (think kids playing in the yard). They are nothing more than a large rat, do not feel bad about SSSing one or two or more.

I got lucky with the one I shot in my yard. The next day was trash day.

 

[Farmerjon]

Day like today and it still could have gotten pretty ripe!

 

[Alpo]

The young ones are cute as a button. They don't age well. Some of them start to resemble country music artists...

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

A couple of evenings ago I saw one on my walkway playing possum (!) and not wanting to deal with it, I added a rule to the game involving having a brick dropped on your head. The next day it was ready for the trash

 

[Alamo]

Tick control across U.S. lagging amid rising Lyme disease threat

Like I said, the hero we need.

A few years ago A friend of my nephew got Lyme disease - in Indiana - and she damn near died before the doctors figured out what it was. She was in a coma and going downhill fast when her mother, who is also a doctor, flew in from Turkey and did some research and pointed out that the symptoms looked a whole lot like Lyme disease. She is still deaf or very hard of hearing in one ear because of the episode.

 

[KLB]

They might eat ticks, but that isn't predominately their meal plan. They are scavengers and come out of the belly of disgusting carcasses. Their manure and saliva carry many bad things harmful to livestock and humans (think kids playing in the yard). They are nothing more than a large rat, do not feel bad about SSSing one or two or more.

Amen. We have a pony that got a parasite called EPM from one that had taken up residence in our barn. It almost killed him twice.

 

[Old Bear]

I actually like possums. Very passive, don't carry rabies and keep the carcasses cleanup up which keeps the flies down

 

[patience0830]

O'possums will eat almost anything.. Carrion to fish to fowl to fruit and vegetables. I usually let them live unless they're scaring the wife or they're dumb enough to get caught in the coon cuff.

And they don't hunt ticks, they eat them as a part of self grooming. If the tick doesn't find them, they generally won't find it.

 

[Tombs]

[video=youtube;USg_QsCfNmk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USg_QsCfNmk[/video]

 

[Dutchisaurus]

I have one I feed regularly, Ichabod get extra special treats on grill or smoker night.

I feed him because I have yet to have a tick issue.

 

[Gabriel]

I don't mess with them unless they get into my chicken coop. I had a problem with that last year and would just use a broom to get hem out. After a few days they started really getting aggressive about being kicked out of the coop and I ended up just shooting them.