Possum on the porch

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Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Messages
9,933
Location
missouri
My 'barn dog' is getting old and less inclined to spend his nights roaming the homestead in search of critters to chase. That means there are times when those critters become emboldened by his non-presence. Tuesday night, I found not 1 but 2 possums cleaning up the cat pan and put a 22 bullet in one. Last night I moved the cat pan to a more visible location and got the 410 out of the cabinet. When the possum (only one this time) showed up I found a few errors in my plan.
1:A shotgun doesn't handle as easily as a 22/45 pistol.
2: The 410 has a real tight pattern and shoots a might high @ 10 yards if you don't have your cheek tight on the stock
3: These cotton gloves I have to wear over my hand dressings are really slick
4:If you wedge a piece of said cotton glove between the fore end and receiver, the pumper doesn't fully pump.
5: If you drop your flashlite due to said slick gloves, it doesn't improve the outcome very much.
The entire episode would have made a good "This is NOT the way to defend your home against intruders" video. In the end, I did recover in time to spank possum in the butt with a load of 6 shot as it reached the yard fence.
 
Joined
Nov 21, 2022
Messages
924
Location
Mohave County, Az
soon to be in Ruger catalogue as the possum model (I have been using in rimfire challenge matches minus the light back on a Glock), happy Thanksgiving
 

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Midas11

Sergent
Joined
Feb 25, 2022
Messages
80
Location
GA
Possums and racoon are the dumbest animal every... Nothing a .22 can't solve.
 
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
277
Location
Indy
Until about 2010 we had opossums and racoon then the yotes moved in. Today all the ground animals are gone. I carried a Ruger SS .32 H&R Mag when working around the barns getting a shot at raccoon or opossum just about every day. Haven't seen a raccoon in 9 months and a possum in 1 1/2 years.
 

kcsteve

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
208
Opossum have such a short life span, I feel sorry for them.
Trap and release to more rural location works for me.
Raccoon and feral cats get the same. Skunks are tricky. I just prop the trap door open and let them go.
 

contender

Ruger Guru
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
25,142
Location
Lake Lure NC USA
"Trap and release to more rural location works for me."

While the concept may seem humane & proper,,,it can be illegal, dangerous,, or inhumane. I'm a State Certified Animal Damage Control Agent. In many places,, it's illegal to relocate wildlife without proper permission or permits. It can be a felony if you relocate wildlife to Federal property w/o the proper permit.
And a "more rural area" is often PRIVATE property. Nobody wants problem or diseased animals put on their property without their knowledge. You wouldn't want someone to drop off a rabid dog at your house. Rabies is a big concern. It can be in an animals system,, be dormant, yet it's still transferable.
Here in NC,, our rabies problems came from the illegal relocation of raccoons from Fl & Ga. The state knows because of DNA testing. As a result,, we now have stricter laws due to this type of activity.
Yet, I still get guys asking me all the time to "bring me any coons you catch so I can train my dogs." Not happening. I'd lose my license.
I love cats & all wildlife. The worst part of my job is killing animals I can't legally relocate. With feral cats,, you can look into the local Humane Society to see if they have a program where they spay or neuter strays or ferals to where they can be re-released in places where they won't reproduce & people want them around.
I own 4 cats, and have had cats most of my life since I can remember. Almost all of them were strays found on my property. In fact, 3 of the 4 here currently were found here. They were found, quarantined, taken to a vet for shots, adopted into the home, spayed or neutered, kept indoors since.

Please remember,, while it may seem the right thing to do, (relocation) you may NOT be doing the best thing.
 
Joined
Nov 30, 2016
Messages
133
Location
Midlothian, Va.
Possums eat ticks so they get a pass until they become a problem then they get put into the PRP
(Possum relocation program) New name, address, and identification where hopefully they make better decisions in the future, shame I can't do the same with the local democrats and liberals, unfortunately they have no redeeming qualities like eating ticks
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
3,205
Around here opossum are so slow you can just walk up and hit em with a shovel or wait a few minutes and they'll walk out in the road and
get run over.
 

shoot to thrill

Single-Sixer
Joined
Oct 1, 2022
Messages
182
Location
ny
"Trap and release to more rural location works for me."

While the concept may seem humane & proper,,,it can be illegal, dangerous,, or inhumane. I'm a State Certified Animal Damage Control Agent. In many places,, it's illegal to relocate wildlife without proper permission or permits. It can be a felony if you relocate wildlife to Federal property w/o the proper permit.
And a "more rural area" is often PRIVATE property. Nobody wants problem or diseased animals put on their property without their knowledge. You wouldn't want someone to drop off a rabid dog at your house. Rabies is a big concern. It can be in an animals system,, be dormant, yet it's still transferable.
Here in NC,, our rabies problems came from the illegal relocation of raccoons from Fl & Ga. The state knows because of DNA testing. As a result,, we now have stricter laws due to this type of activity.
Yet, I still get guys asking me all the time to "bring me any coons you catch so I can train my dogs." Not happening. I'd lose my license.
I love cats & all wildlife. The worst part of my job is killing animals I can't legally relocate. With feral cats,, you can look into the local Humane Society to see if they have a program where they spay or neuter strays or ferals to where they can be re-released in places where they won't reproduce & people want them around.
I own 4 cats, and have had cats most of my life since I can remember. Almost all of them were strays found on my property. In fact, 3 of the 4 here currently were found here. They were found, quarantined, taken to a vet for shots, adopted into the home, spayed or neutered, kept indoors since.

Please remember,, while it may seem the right thing to do, (relocation) you may NOT be doing the best thing.
kill every animal you see and nuke them from orbit just to be sure
 

Mike J

Hunter
Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
4,204
Location
GA
The possums her haven't really caused us a problem. My boys 50 pound terrier mix tends to go after anything smaller than him though. A couple of months ago we found one dead in the back yard he had nailed. My oldest girl was upset & mad at the dog. I went out there & disposed of the possum & noticed there were some of the table scraps she had given him the day before still on his dish. I told her if she didn't want that happening she should go take anything left in the dish after he eats & dump it over the fence as he was hunting over bait.
 

Mike J

Hunter
Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
4,204
Location
GA
Opossum have such a short life span, I feel sorry for them.
Trap and release to more rural location works for me.
Raccoon and feral cats get the same. Skunks are tricky. I just prop the trap door open and let them go.

I remember some kids I grew up with catching a possum. One of my friends kept it in a 5 gallon bucket for a day or so before he decided to take it to the patch of woods ,(probably about 40 or 50 acres), that was in between the subdivisions. He took it to the woods, reached in the bucket & picked it up by its tail. The possum responded by promptly raising up & biting him on his hand. He did let it go but I believe it hit a tree or two before it got to the ground.
 
Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
9,810
Location
Woodbury, Tn
I don't have chickens or ducks anymore, so I no longer harass possums, but my dog does. Here is a picture of one she started to chase, and lost it, thinking it had gone through the fence. Nope it climbed the fence!
 

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kcsteve

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
208
"Trap and release to more rural location works for me."

While the concept may seem humane & proper,,,it can be illegal, dangerous,, or inhumane. I'm a State Certified Animal Damage Control Agent. In many places,, it's illegal to relocate wildlife without proper permission or permits. It can be a felony if you relocate wildlife to Federal property w/o the proper permit.
And a "more rural area" is often PRIVATE property. Nobody wants problem or diseased animals put on their property without their knowledge. You wouldn't want someone to drop off a rabid dog at your house. Rabies is a big concern. It can be in an animals system,, be dormant, yet it's still transferable.
Here in NC,, our rabies problems came from the illegal relocation of raccoons from Fl & Ga. The state knows because of DNA testing. As a result,, we now have stricter laws due to this type of activity.
Yet, I still get guys asking me all the time to "bring me any coons you catch so I can train my dogs." Not happening. I'd lose my license.
I love cats & all wildlife. The worst part of my job is killing animals I can't legally relocate. With feral cats,, you can look into the local Humane Society to see if they have a program where they spay or neuter strays or ferals to where they can be re-released in places where they won't reproduce & people want them around.
I own 4 cats, and have had cats most of my life since I can remember. Almost all of them were strays found on my property. In fact, 3 of the 4 here currently were found here. They were found, quarantined, taken to a vet for shots, adopted into the home, spayed or neutered, kept indoors since.

Please remember,, while it may seem the right thing to do, (relocation) you may NOT be doing the best thing.
That's great advice. From now on, I'll just blow their brains out.
 

bookemdano

Single-Sixer
Joined
Jun 10, 2012
Messages
178
Location
East TN
Possums eat ticks so they get a pass until they become a problem then they get put into the PRP
(Possum relocation program) New name, address, and identification where hopefully they make better decisions in the future, shame I can't do the same with the local democrats and liberals, unfortunately they have no redeeming qualities like eating ticks
I used to kill possums. Heck, as a kid, we ate possum now and then. We'd catch 'em,
pen them in a rabbit cage, fatten the up on table scraps and have it for dinner. But now,
that I live in the woods I leave them alone. Ticks are bad in East TN. We usually see
the first ticks as early as January if it was a mild winter and they stay bad all the way
thru October. Possums eat thousands of ticks each year and are a heck of a lot
less a nuisance than the ticks and Lymes disease. Had a friend die due to Lymes
disease, an aunt that nearly died of it. Wild turkeys are another tick killer. My advice
is to leave the possums alone to do their thing and you and yours will be safer for it.
Dano
 

buckaroo

Banned
Joined
Oct 8, 2022
Messages
360
Location
U.S.A.
It can be a felony if you relocate wildlife to Federal property w/o the proper permit.

We almost lost our shooting privileges on BLM land in my area because of the backwater-jacks not picking up their garbage like t.v.'s and such they dragged on there to blast not to mention all the spent shells. We set-up a clean up party and went through it. The progressive Liberals made a Big stink about it as they had to jog by most of it, and being it's a college town to begin with we are on thin ice to start with.

If you even bury your poop the wrong way and the wrong place on BLM land while out camping and get caught you paying for it.

The backwater-jacks don't like it when they see me coming. I have zero tolerance or respect for these mofo's who are getting our gun rights taken away.
 
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