Possum in my yard

[leigti]

Last night when I went to take the dog out there was this gigantic possum just sitting there in my yard. It scared the heck out of me.
Once I scared it off, and calm down , I started thinking about how my friends were telling me I was building the tortoise pin more securely then it had to be. Now I'm glad I did. One pen and a new chicken coop are under construction. They are going to be very secure I can tell you that
How well do possum dig? My soil is all rock so it's difficult to dig in.
I might call animal control tomorrow and see if they could set the traps. I can't shoot it, I don't have a gun, and I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with an elephant.
My dog is too old and immobile to chase it away, but she might have given it a good shot if I let her. In her younger days she sure would have.

 

[Tom]

They can dig, but they aren't great diggers.

This is why I recommend welded wire and secure fasteners over chicken wire.

P.S. It would be awfully difficult to throw an elephant. I don't think I could hit the broadside of a barn with one either.

 

[leigti]

I heard that line in a movie once about the elephant in the barn and I thought it was funny. I would be a true menace with a shotgun.
I put hardware cloth below and above my tortoise enclosures. Overkill maybe, but I don't care.

 

[Tom]

I would be a true menace with a shotgun.

I believe you. I wouldn't want you pointing it at me!!!

 

[leigti]

I was only about two feet from it last night, I probably would have been able to hit it.

 

[Careym13]

I have a really large possum in my yard too. On Easter I am moving my chickens into their new coop and my tortoises into their new "runs" where they will spend their days while the weather is nice. I'm putting down wire mesh under the runs and 12" pavers along the perimeter of the coop, chicken runs and tortoise "runs". This was the advice of the person I bought the coop from after I told her of the various creatures that roam my backyard. All of the runs are covered with 1/2" wire mesh. Along the perimeter of the area where all the animals are being housed, I'm making a fence out of welded wire and t posts and using aviary netting over everything.

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, Leigti, if you can wait 2 years, he'll be dead. Opossum life span is just 2 years. I also heard that they don't stay in one territory all the time, but keep moving. So eventually he'll be gone.

A couple years ago I was cleaning possum poop out of my box turtle waterers every morning. That kept up for about a month, then he was gone. And I never saw any dead box turtles. Now skunks are a different matter. Every summer the skunks dig up my box turtle enclosures looking for eggs or babies.

 

[Careym13]

Well, Leigti, if you can wait 2 years, he'll be dead. Opossum life span is just 2 years. I also heard that they don't stay in one territory all the time, but keep moving. So eventually he'll be gone.

A couple years ago I was cleaning possum poop out of my box turtle waterers every morning. That kept up for about a month, then he was gone. And I never saw any dead box turtles. Now skunks are a different matter. Every summer the skunks dig up my box turtle enclosures looking for eggs or babies.

Have you had any luck finding a way to keep the skunks out?

 

[leigti]

Knock on wood, no skunks around. I think raccoons would be my biggest worry here in town. As big is that thing was last night I'm sure it's close to two years old. That doesn't make me feel any better though. Thank God for hardware cloth and rocky ground.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

You can get a safe trap from the SPCA or whatever animal group you have. Put some peanut butter on a lid, in the trap and you'll have him the next day. Believe me, I have to trap rats on a nightly basis, so I bought my own trap. Then a bonk on the head with a baseball bat and one more rat down. I have spread so much rat poison under my house that recently the cable guy hadda go under there and he said, hey lady, you know you got about 30 dead rats under your house? Yep, I know what dead smells like.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

My 10 minutes was up. Or you can buy a 'scarecrow', it's a motion sensor water gun thingy. It goes off about 20 feet and it scares away any animal. They all hate to be sprayed. It shoots out a stream of water. I want one. I have 'coons, coyotes, rats, cats, snakes, and more, but I'm forgetting what now, so I'll have to go....

 

[Pearly]

I see one using my backyard fence as a superhighway at night sometimes. I used to give shelter to a ferral cat. He became fairly tame over the years but never wanted to spend a night in the house, so I made him a insulated cathouse in the garage and had to keep one of the doors crac open for him. Well, Nicky would go "chasing the ladies" every spring and would be gone for few days/nights and I found little juvy possum in Nick's bed couple of times. When discovered he didn't seem much bothered by me, just left Nick's house and slowly walked off which was very funny. I never see skunks or raccoons around the house, but will be working on making the babies' outdoor pen predatorproof which will slow the progress of the construction. The vet said that likelihood of predation in my area is very low, still I will not leave the babies unsupervised without knowing that other hungry critters can't get to them

 

[leigti]

My 10 minutes was up. Or you can buy a 'scarecrow', it's a motion sensor water gun thingy. It goes off about 20 feet and it scares away any animal. They all hate to be sprayed. It shoots out a stream of water. I want one. I have 'coons, coyotes, rats, cats, snakes, and more, but I'm forgetting what now, so I'll have to go....

I like the scarecrow watergun idea. I can always bring the tortoises and at night. And the chickens will be locked in the coop at night. Maybe I'll put locks on the new tortoise pen as well. I put some on the old one, again people said it was overkill but that's OK by me.

 

[Yvonne G]

Have you had any luck finding a way to keep the skunks out?

No. I tried wild animal urine - doesn't work. Tried some sort of granules sprinkled around the outside - didn't work. Tried a motion activated sprinkler - didn't work.

 

[Careym13]

I like the scarecrow watergun idea. I can always bring the tortoises and at night. And the chickens will be locked in the coop at night. Maybe I'll put locks on the new tortoise pen as well. I put some on the old one, again people said it was overkill but that's OK by me.

I'm with you..overkill is better than your tortoises getting munched on.

 

[Careym13]

No. I tried wild animal urine - doesn't work. Tried some sort of granules sprinkled around the outside - didn't work. Tried a motion activated sprinkler - didn't work.

Well shoot. I'm bringing the tortoises inside at night but I'm more concerned with the chickens.

 

[leigti]

Just make sure the coop is secure and lock them in every night. The coop and pens I have right now are not very secure, but the one I'm building is going to be. Then I won't worry when I lock them in the coop at night. The run doesn't have to be as secure if you're locking them up after dark. My chickens free range in my yard during the day behind a six-foot chain-link fence.

 

[ColleenT]

Opposums cannot see very well. but they love the same kind of foods we feed our turts/torts. They are not really dangerous to you, they will open their mouth wide to scare you away, but since they cannot see, they rarely attack a person who is a few feet away. you can usually get a broom or a rake and herd it where you want it to go. if it plays dead, you can them grab the tail at the base and carefully move it.

 

[Careym13]

Just make sure the coop is secure and lock them in every night. The coop and pens I have right now are not very secure, but the one I'm building is going to be. Then I won't worry when I lock them in the coop at night. The run doesn't have to be as secure if you're locking them up after dark. My chickens free range in my yard during the day behind a six-foot chain-link fence.

I do plan on locking them up at night. Everything has latches and I'm putting down the pavers so I'm hoping that will be enough for night protection. I live about 40 miles east of the Shenandoah mountains so I am sure theres coyotes and such roaming in the creepy woods behind my house. Do you have a lid over the free range area or are hawks not an issue where you are?

 

[enchilada]

possums are like little angels compare to raccoons.
a gang of raccoons had raided my house 2 years ago and killed more than 10 turtles and all my koi fish
i took care of them in the old fashion way.....never see raccoons again for 2 years