Why do you pest? Or not?
- Thread starter rangur1
- Start date
We keep our horses at my father in laws farm. Barn is over run with giant rats he refuses to have cats, so that's what started me into airguns. I haven't actually pested but it's coming soon. My setup is complete.
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I had my roof reshingled 20 yrs. ago when I lived in city. I lived beside by business. They replaced the vents. Squirrels ate through 3 of 4 and got in my attic. Close the causing a short by chewing wires. Four+ years ago they got in my store attic. I was introduced the the Weihrauchs when I moved here. Now I donāt give them a chance. Crow
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Yeah, but other than her liking the squirrels, they tend to just pass by my house on a fence. My house having three adjacent houses, a dead squirrel will fall into neighbors yard instead.
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Does anyone have any reason to shoot opossums? I was told that they should not harmed for many of reasons, by several people. But they come by and eat up a ton of chicken food and I have been chasing them away for months, getting up close and yelling at them. But now they don't even run away. They just stare at me blankly while chewing food slowly, as if I am there to cheer them on.
But the worst of it all is that.. I want to shoot rats, and rats do not come when opossums are around. I've been tempted many times just to shoot a pellet between their stupid eyes.
But the worst of it all is that.. I want to shoot rats, and rats do not come when opossums are around. I've been tempted many times just to shoot a pellet between their stupid eyes.
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Opossums are omnivores. They eat both plants and animals. They look like a giant rat. I think in SC where I live they are classified as fur bearers and there is a season for them. Them being out of season is the only reason I can see for avoiding shooting a pest opossum. They are not typically 1-2 lbs like squirrels, however, so more penetration is in order.
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Opossums are not very pleasant to look at. I have several that pass through. They never cause any problems and clean up the dead mice I shoot. I keep them from loitering with a well placed pellet to spray dirt on their butt. If you have to take one out for some reason, they are not very tough. For their size and appearance, they are wimps.
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@Puppadore None went into a stupor when you yelled at them? Opossums will eat the eggs and chickens too. They also raid trash cans. Theyāre pretty opportunistic animals, but scavengers mainly. Any that get into the chicken coop or hen house get lead sammiches from me. My grandfather would bludgeon them with an ax handle when he caught them in his hen house. He told me once, āYou like to shoot too much.ā
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The opossums here may act different because for years people have been handing out fliers and neighbor hood posts showing why you should not harm opossums, and their benefits like eating bunch ot ticks or something. So everyone in our town has been super nice to opossums. Racoons and rats got bad treatment, but not opossum. At first they ran away when i got close, now they dont even flinch.. they literally stare at me while chewing food. I might just start taking them out. Would a .177 take them out at 900fps?
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@Puppadore Iām not the person to ask. Iāve never shot one with a .177. Theyāre pretty laid back animals until they get into the garden or the chicken coop. I generally wonāt bother them unless I or another person has an issue with them. They can get your heart racing when they hiss at you.
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I heard they eat ticks also. Donāt know how they can seek out little tiny ticks. I can grasp chickens pecking away at them like little seeds but who knows, until animals can talk I guess we will never know what they are capable of. Yes, a 900fps .177 will take one out. But just like shooting any animal with an airgun, itās all about shot placement. They donāt possess the flee in terror even if your dead programming like other animals have. They are kinda like, oh my what was that. Hmm, Iām sleepy. The end.
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They have thick fur and groom themselves daily so the ticks jump on opossums when they go through the weeds and brushes, then the opossums would find them on their fur and eat them. I leave the opossums alone until they ransack my garden and fruit treesā¦..sadly they all seem to have a taste for my tomato, peaches and figs.
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Shoot the possums. The tick eating thing is a lie based on faulty science. There was a government grant that paid an animal rights group to put a dozen different species in cages and infect them with a hundred ticks each. Then count the ticks that fall off of the different animals. Then they extrapolated out the ridiculous number of ticks that a possum could potentially eat in a year...junk science by scientists with an agenda. I can find the study paper if you're interested.
Possums will eat your chickens, their eggs and their feed. We have horses and possums have protazoa that lives in their feces that can harm/kill horses. It's called Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). No possums get a pass around here.
Your 177 should take them out fine. The brain in a possum is small and is primarily located between the ears. It does not carry forward towards the eye as much as other critters. Put one in the ear and follow up with a couple to the chest to prevent them "playing possum" on you.
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Them eating them off their fur makes more sense. An opossum loving group with an agenda? Now thatās interesting. Or is it absurd.
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Look it up. Do some research on their background and who these people are. If you don't have enough interest to do some reasonable work, I'm not going to argue further. Here's the study link to get you started. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2825780/ Regurgitating their propaganda furthers their cause. These people don't want you shooting rats or anything else.
Animal rights people are absurd. It doesn't matter which critter nor what kind of damage said critter does- possums, coyotes, wolves...there's a " __________ loving group".
ETA- Absurd!!! https://opossumsocietyus.org/ Don't be a fool!!! (Fool defined - One who has been tricked or made to appear ridiculous; a dupe.)
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Easy now. I didnāt mean to push your animal rights hater button. Iām not arguing and I donāt need definitions quoted to me. I stand by my statement. That group is absurd. Go shoot some pellets and relax.
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I really don't need to get rid of pests. However, I did have to get rid of a starling that made a nest in my neighbor's dryer vent.
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