# Possums



## Jdhunttrapfish (Jan 14, 2016)

What's everyone's thoughts on opposums. Some people say they're good because they eat ticks and say dont shoot them, others say they're bad because they eat turkey and other birds eggs and say shoot them all. Seems like my area is overrun with them nothing to see a few in a single feild, I see way more than *****, not sure if I should be trying to shoot or trap a few of them or just leave them be, what does everyone else do?


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## Djtoutdoors (Jun 15, 2019)

I personally dislike those nasty critters. 

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## shaffe48b (Oct 22, 2019)

I don't know. My one Brittany brings them back alive and drops them at my feet. Crazy pooch wont retrieve birds worth a damn but retrieves possums. 

Seems like being over run can't be a good thing.


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## U D (Aug 1, 2012)

Dj, help me understand. Why are they nasty?


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## shaffe48b (Oct 22, 2019)

Just look at em


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## TheCrawdad (May 9, 2009)

Well, are there a bunch of ticks in your area? If not, maybe those possums are mopping them up!
They sure are nasty critters though.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Anything that will get into my dog kennel and eat dog s**t is nasty.they will eat anything they can get their teeth into.


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## Swampdog467 (Jul 6, 2017)

I shoot em near the house. I've had them kill my chickens in the past

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## scubajay (Jun 9, 2003)

According to Granny, they make for a pretty good pie.


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## RDS-1025 (Dec 1, 2008)

I remove about a dozen every year and have very few ticks around my place.
Works for me.


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

I just let em be anymore.
But am not over run with them either.

Used to chase em down and catch em. Then let them go. Usually...


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

A possum around the barn could be detrimental to a *horse*'s health because possums are carriers of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), a neurological disease they acquire from eating dead birds. The disease itself is caused by a single-celled protozoa by the name of Sarcocystis neurona.


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

Swampdog467 said:


> I shoot em near the house. I've had them kill my chickens in the past
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


Just smoked 3rd one this year caught snooping around the chicken coop. 

I’ve declared war on them. And *****. 


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## Swampdog467 (Jul 6, 2017)

d_rek said:


> Just smoked 3rd one this year caught snooping around the chicken coop.
> 
> I’ve declared war on them. And *****.
> 
> ...


I've killed about 15-20 in the past 3-4 months. So many I lost count. Around 8 or so in the chicken coop, 5 or 6 right on my front deck and a few others around the yard in general. Not sure why so many, but it's getting better. 

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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

Swampdog467 said:


> I've killed about 15-20 in the past 3-4 months. So many I lost count. Around 8 or so in the chicken coop, 5 or 6 right on my front deck and a few others around the yard in general. Not sure why so many, but it's getting better.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


Wow. That’s a lot! 

What do you do with the corpses? I was thinking about using them as yote bait. Not sure if yotes will eat them though... 

Neighbors are telling me they are seeing a lot of possum around too. I’d probably have let them be if they had stayed away from the hens.


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## Swampdog467 (Jul 6, 2017)

They end up as compost. Nothing else has been messing with them and we have a fair number of coyotes here as well. 

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## Thirty pointer (Jan 1, 2015)

I would have to see a video of a possum eating a lot of ticks to believe they actually target them .They are dumber than a box of rocks and overpopulate easily .They and raccoons are responsible for the great decline in ground nesting birds in Michigan .I keep them thinned out around me but realize they do have a purpose in nature .


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

I get rid of them. Do not like them living under the shed. They really stink, you will know if you every have to dispose of one.


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

Thirty pointer said:


> I would have to see a video of a possum eating a lot of ticks to believe they actually target them .They are dumber than a box of rocks and overpopulate easily .They and raccoons are responsible for the great decline in ground nesting birds in Michigan .I keep them thinned out around me but realize they do have a purpose in nature .


New studies on possum show they are meticulous groomers and cant stand to have any sort of bugs on their body. Researchers say they consume the bugs that land on them and they get 96% of the ticks that land on their body. The number of ticks a possum will eat would likely be determined by the number of ticks in your area.







There is another researcher from NY that has blamed the lack of fox for the spread of ticks around the country. Fox eat mice and moles. Mice and moles are one of the biggest carriers of ticks. Her theories have been well recieved amongst her peers.


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## hungryhollow (Jan 16, 2013)

I wondered why people thought opossums ate ticks.


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## Scadsobees (Sep 21, 2006)

My neighbor found a plastic bin just a little bigger than the cage and fills that with water when he catches one of the little lawn scratchers. Thankfully it's worked out and he's not been sprayed.


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## Justin (Feb 21, 2005)

Luv2hunteup said:


> Throw a feed sack over the trap then rinse the trap and contents out in the horse trough. You will not have to worry about getting sprayed.


Best solution. Also legal. Relocating and then releasing them is not.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

Martin Looker said:


> How far do you have to take it so it doesn't come back to your chicken coop?


You release it under the mean neighbor's deck.


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## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

Lots of good ideas for them little stinkers. I haven't had any real problems with in a long long time. They eat the grubs in my yard but don't bother anything else, even my dog seems to avoid them.


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## hungryhollow (Jan 16, 2013)

Martin Looker said:


> Lots of good ideas for them little stinkers. I haven't had any real problems with in a long long time. They eat the grubs in my yard but don't bother anything else, even my dog seems to avoid them.


 I wish my dog avoided them.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

Luv2hunteup said:


> Throw a feed sack over the trap then rinse the trap and contents out in the horse trough. You will not have to worry about getting sprayed.


Bet the horses love that


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## Paul harper (Feb 23, 2019)

look up baked possum trap one feed it corn for about week bake with sweet potatos


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## RDS-1025 (Dec 1, 2008)

Paul harper said:


> look up baked possum trap one feed it corn for about week bake with sweet potatos


NO!


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## shaffe48b (Oct 22, 2019)

Yum yum yum


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## d_rek (Nov 6, 2013)

Paul harper said:


> look up baked possum trap one feed it corn for about week bake with sweet potatos


Out of curiosity I googled “do people eat possum” after I shot the 2nd one this year. 

The results did not disappoint. 


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

I always heard to get possums out of fruit trees in the fall for best eating.
I killed one one winter and put it in the slow cooker.
Tasted like a wet dog smells...
I'll blame the cook on that one.
But will need better incentive to pursue eating another.


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## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

*****, possum and cats will kill anything they can catch on the ground. The ****, possum along w/ skunks will also eat eggs. Yes skunks do eat some grubs but Id forgo em all.

If you want pheasant, turkey, rabbits get rid of em all.
I dont know about the problems mentioned above about possum/horses but perhaps that is another GOOD reason.


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## Justin (Feb 21, 2005)

Waif said:


> I always heard to get possums out of fruit trees in the fall for best eating.
> I killed one one winter and put it in the slow cooker.
> Tasted like a wet dog smells...
> I'll blame the cook on that one.
> But will need better incentive to pursue eating another.


Yup...like starvation.


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

Justin said:


> Yup...like starvation.


A hearty appetite at least...


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