Possum problem, need tips on hunting at night w/o night equipment

[JimD]

Many years ago I had a summer job while in college mowing overgrown lots in Kansas City Missouri with a small Ford tractor with a brush hog on it. We went out as two person teams with a helper using a manual weed whip to trim what the tractor could not get. I would put my weed whipper on the tractor and do his job sometimes so he didn't get tired and we could keep going and get bonus by mowing a lot of square feet. One day my whipper was finishing up a large lot and came flying across the lot in top gear wanting me to look at the worlds largest rat. He was a city guy and had never seen a possum. The possum must have been sleeping in the weeds and gradually moved towards the center until it got too small and he made a run for it. It was a good laugh.

I had an uncle growing up that kept coon dogs and would run them at night to try and get enough skins to pay for the feed for the dogs. If we were lucky we would get to go out with him. Mothers did not appreciate the damage to clothes and skin from running through the woods at night. We saw more possums than coons. Another uncle would climb hollow trees and grab either with a welders glove on his hand and throw them down to the dogs. Good old days.

 

[Emu]

Why would you want to kill the possum? Unlike raccoons, they don't carry rabies or distemper and don't generally tear stuff up.Eat lots of ticks and bugs and are beneficial. I would rather have possums around than raccoons and do. To each his own...

Agree !!!

 

[Vetmx]

"still has too much testosterone flowing"

Sorry no such thing. If anything we need more.

I don’t know about that. Now that the levels are dropping, I am less aggressive and don’t let the little guy make all the decisions concerning the ladies.

 

[qball]

I leave opossums alone until they tear up my tomatos crop, done side of them and tomatoes in the garden.

 

[Richieg]

They can get aggressive and kill domesticated animals. I have experienced that first hand. And they can spread disease to humans, at least where I live.

Opossums can carry a number of infectious diseases including, leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, and Chagas disease. -X County Vector Control-

Here's a short read about the dangerous, disease ridden opossum...

The Truth About Opossums - City Wildlife

Virginia Opossums Get a Bad Rap People often blame them for things they didn’t do such as tipping garbage cans or killing chickens. A lot of the time the only major complaint people have about them is simply that they are there. Opossums usually don’t tip the trash cans or dig up gardens but...

citywildlife.org

 

[Richieg]

Here's a short read about the dangerous, disease ridden opossum...

The Truth About Opossums - City Wildlife

Virginia Opossums Get a Bad Rap People often blame them for things they didn’t do such as tipping garbage cans or killing chickens. A lot of the time the only major complaint people have about them is simply that they are there. Opossums usually don’t tip the trash cans or dig up gardens but...

citywildlife.org

Here's another that's really interesting.

America’s Most Misunderstood Marsupial

The opossum might be snarly and a little bit scraggly, but she deserves our admiration.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[AmosBurton]

Well, he just ran one off. I guess it's a different one or it wasn't as bloodied as it looked. As a German shepherd he's on guard all the time...it's his job.

 

[MongooseV8]

Here's a short read about the dangerous, disease ridden opossum...

The Truth About Opossums - City Wildlife

Virginia Opossums Get a Bad Rap People often blame them for things they didn’t do such as tipping garbage cans or killing chickens. A lot of the time the only major complaint people have about them is simply that they are there. Opossums usually don’t tip the trash cans or dig up gardens but...

citywildlife.org

Yeah Im going to go with what I have personally experienced and the local Vector Control over a couple bleeding heart blogs lol. Opossums can be aggressive, they can spread disease, and they certainly can kill chickens/cats/birds/eggs etc. Sure there are benefits to having them around, but they arent the only critters that do the same jobs. Im not telling anyone they need to pest control them, but its kinda silly to insist others rank them the same as you might.

 

[HogKiller]

Just a little story about why you don't need a million lumens. I took a few firearms courses with some LEOS, at the end of the course we'd shoot at 100 yards with our handguns. Well they had a night time course, lots of great information and training. At the end one of the instructors 'lit' up the 100 yard target with a LED pen light, zero issues hitting that. Oh I forgot to mention that it was pitch black, only stars no moon up. It's amazing what you can see in low light with some practice. Try a red light at night, doesn't destroy your night vision and you can see the critters pretty well.

 

[HogKiller]

Yeah Im going to go with what I have personally experienced and the local Vector Control over a couple bleeding heart blogs lol. Opossums can be aggressive, they can spread disease, and they certainly can kill chickens/cats/birds/eggs etc. Sure there are benefits to having them around, but they arent the only critters that do the same jobs. Im not telling anyone they need to pest control them, but its kinda silly to insist others rank them the same as you might.

They also LOVE tomatoes, as to ^%$# rats.

 

[stewie]

The very best thing about possums is that they'd don't "play" possum. They actually pass out--like a 19th century matron collapsing on a fainting couch. Once I heard that, I left possums alone.

 

[Hal4son]

I have horses. Possums don't get a pass around here...ever.

I take an even dimmer view of those that relocate possums "out in the woods" where we live. If you won't kill it, don't trap and release it.

Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM)

What is EPM?EPM is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It is often caused by the parasite, Sarcocystis neurona, commonly found in the opossum. Research in other states suggests that about 10 to 33 percent of opossums are infected with the parasite in Michigan and Missouri. Horses...

extension.umn.edu

 

[thumper]

I have horses. Possums don't get a pass around here...ever.

I take an even dimmer view of those that relocate possums "out in the woods" where we live. If you won't kill it, don't trap and release it.

Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM)

What is EPM?EPM is a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. It is often caused by the parasite, Sarcocystis neurona, commonly found in the opossum. Research in other states suggests that about 10 to 33 percent of opossums are infected with the parasite in Michigan and Missouri. Horses...

extension.umn.edu

Why the hate on relocating a possum?

 

[Hal4son]

Why the hate on relocating a possum?

If it's enough of a problem that you need to catch it, don't give it to your neighbors.

 

[thumper]

If it's enough of a problem that you need to catch it, don't give it to your neighbors.

My neighbors don't live in the woods..... but possums do.

 

[Hal4son]

My neighbors don't live in the woods..... but possums do.

Your almost cute. The people that live in the woods don't want your possum. If it's a problem, take care of your own problem instead of crapping it on the people that live in the woods.

 

[MongooseV8]

My neighbors don't live in the woods..... but possums do.

Not really though. They mostly live around groups of people. So by taking an opossum out of the urban areas and dumping it out in the cuts, you make it somebody else's problem.

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

I have a rather portly possum that lives under my neighbor's shed. He never bother my hens, but he does eat the dead sparrows and squirrels that fall into the dense easement area... and also comes and eats the pecans I use to bring in the squirrels. I almost shot him one night thinking it was a raccoon on top of the coops, he's very dark and BIG.

The other day he decided to venture out and cross the street and almost got hit by a big ole truck. I actually got worried about him lol.

Now 20 year old me would swerve to hit them on the back roads... I've done my research on them and found out how beneficial they actually are... even if he does eat my squirrel bait and tomatoes.

 

[thumper]

Not really though. They mostly live around groups of people. So by taking an opossum out of the urban areas and dumping it out in the cuts, you make it somebody else's problem

Your almost cute. The people that live in the woods don't want your possum. If it's a problem, take care of your own problem instead of crapping it on the people that live in the woods.

There's a wildlife management area that's over 15,000 acres that I hunt in the county I live in. There are no houses on it, it's federal land.

A possum dropped off on the far side of Blackwell Swamp has a damn far walk to get back "home".

My neighbors are the worst anyway, their horses leave $#iT all over the road out front and the smell in the summer is pretty loud when the wind blows right. I've been thinking of tossing a dead possum in their trash can the day after the trash runs.

 

[Hal4son]

There's a wildlife management area that's over 15,000 acres that I hunt in the county I live in. There are no houses on it, it's federal land.

A possum dropped off on the far side of Blackwell Swamp has a damn far walk to get back "home".

My neighbors are the worst anyway, their horses leave $#iT all over the road out front and the smell in the summer is pretty loud when the wind blows right. I've been thinking of tossing a dead possum in their trash can the day after the trash runs.

Just another animal dumper...wild or domestic makes no difference. Worse than people that leave their old dead mattress on the side of the road. Not a surprise that you don't pay for trash service.