How Tall Is A Opossum?

[Lawdwaz]

Apparently just a little shorter than a Toyota Tacoma TRD.   I was traveling west on Sumner Rd from 77 and as I was coming over a slight rise, I looked at my speedometer briefly as I thought I was going too fast......I looked up and this fat opossum is right in my sights.  Somehow I breezed over the top of him and he, other than some wind burn, escaped a darn close call.

Edited January 3, 2021 by Lawdwaz

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

Apparently just a little shorter than a Toyota Tacoma TRD.   I was traveling west on Sumner Rd from 77 and as I was coming over a slight rise, I looked at my speedometer briefly as I thought I was going too fast......I looked up and this fat opossum is right in my sights.  Somehow I breezed over the top of him and he, other than some wind burn, escaped a darn close call.

Good thing you missed it. They eat lots of ticks.  I started releasing the ones that I catch in box traps (set for coon) unharmed after learning that.

[mowin]

I'm just the opposite.  Stinking, disease carrying, chicken killing, egg eating varmints.  Shoot everyone is see. 

[ny hunter]

I always let them goalso....................

[wolc123]

44 minutes ago, mowin said:

I'm just the opposite.  Stinking, disease carrying, chicken killing, egg eating varmints.  Shoot everyone is see. 

I killed lots of them.   I even came up with a possum-tailored dispatch method.   A single .22 to the head, to the center of an "X", formed between the eyes and ears, has always done the job perfectly with coons.

Several possums appeared "dead" after that treatment.   It turned out that they were just pretending to be dead. after I left, they went back about their business.  The name of that trick escapes me now, playing something I think.

They have such a small pea brain, that it is tough to hit.   Back in the days of cheap ammo, I would give them a second shot, behind the shoulder.  That always got the job done.  If the tick problem ever gets licked, and I go back to killing possums, I would skip that first head shot and just use the single double lunger.

I never minded catching and killing possums, but it always pisses me off when I have a skunk in the traps, and most years I get one or two. That makes me return to the house and exchange my .22 with a shotgun. A load of #6's, to the head from 10 yards upwind, has always prevented a spray, and has never caused much damage to the traps. I just dont care for the extra time, energy, expense, cleaning, and noise, that the shotgun blast entails.

  Some brave folks that  I know just throw a blanket over the trap and carry it to a pond or creek to drown the skunk.  I was always too scaired to get that close to a live skunk.  If the ammo situation stays nuts, I might grow some and give that a try this year.

Edited January 3, 2021 by wolc123

[Bigfoot 327]

10 hours ago, wolc123 said:

Good thing you missed it. They eat lots of ticks.  I started releasing the ones that I catch in box traps (set for coon) unharmed after learning that.

Do they really? Yes, I also saw it repeated numerous times on FB. Probably started by some PETA devotee. I have lived places where the possum population was high and the tick population was annoying higher. If you want to control ticks you need to control their food source especially MICE! For that reason I don't shoot fox. Another excellent  control for ticks is guinea fowl who eat insects 24/7. Possums eat everything in their path and won't bother eating ticks if it finds a turkey or grouse nest. They are an invasive species and about as useful as carp or lamprey eels.

[crappyice]

I killed lots of them.   I even came up with a possum-tailored dispatch method.   A single .22 to the head, to the center of an "X", formed between the eyes and ears, has always done the job perfectly with coons.
Several possums appeared "dead" after that treatment.   It turned out that they were just pretending to be dead. after I left, they went back about their business.  The name of that trick escapes me now, playing something I think.
They have such a small pea brain, that it is tough to hit.   Back in the days of cheap ammo, I would give them a second shot, behind the shoulder.  That always got the job done.  If the tick problem ever gets licked, and I go back to killing possums, I would skip that first head shot and just use the single double lunger.
I never minded catching and killing possums, but it always pisses me off when I have a skunk in the traps, and most years I get one or two. That makes me return to the house and exchange my .22 with a shotgun. A load of #6's, to the head from 10 yards upwind, has always prevented a spray, and has never caused much damage to the traps. I just dont care for the extra time, energy, expense, cleaning, and noise, that the shotgun blast entails.
  Some brave folks that  I know just throw a blanket over the trap and carry it to a pond or creek to drown the skunk.  I was always too scaired to get that close to a live skunk.  If the ammo situation stays nuts, I might grow some and give that a try this year.

I have trapped a few skunks each year who like to try to live under my shed. Never a problem with the blanket over the top(I hear they can’t spray cuz they can’t raise their tail), right in the trunk of the Equinox (may be trying to subconsciously wreck this car since I have never liked it); and live release in some more appropriate woods(sshhh-don’t tell)


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[DirtTime]

Are they taller then @Pygmy is what I want to know.

 

I lost count on the rabbits I almost ended going to hunting areas last season. No possums, but there's a few areas where the damn bunnies are suicidal. I won't lock up the brakes for them, and was glad I didn't hear and feel that thump for a lot of them.

[Pygmy]

I'm rather fond of possums....Could be because I am a George Jones fan...