Dead Possum

[Double Naught Spy]

Back when I did zooarchaeology (analysis of animal bones from archaeological sites) we did the analysis of bones from a historic well (used as a trash dump) that contained the remains of a lot of animals. Apparently, hunters would skin out their kills and dump the carcasses in the well. We found lots of skinning marks on the bones and such.

One of the things that was really interesting was the number of opossum ribs that showed signs of healed fractures, along with a couple legs bones. In checking our comparative collection, we had opossums with healed fractures on the ribs as well. Turns out, opossums occasionally fall from trees, sort of like squirrels and monkeys. Those not killed as a result of the fall will often have healed fractures. Those that suffer enough damage won't live long enough for the bones to heal.

The dead opossum may simply be another such example of one that died as a result of injuries from a fall.

 

[skfullgun]

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

 

[BRD@66]

Yep, I prefer to let them do their thing. Only time I take one out is if it figures out that chickens are tasty. And I go through some effort to keep them from figuring that out.

^This. I'm dealing (right now) with one that APPARENTLY is satisfied with eating the chicken feed left outside the hopefully-possum-proof coop. It's very fat & I've convinced myself it's a vegan possum mamma-to-be.

 

[TxStetson]

^This. I'm dealing (right now) with one that APPARENTLY is satisfied with eating the chicken feed left outside the hopefully-possum-proof coop. It's very fat & I've convinced myself it's a vegan possum mamma-to-be.

It might just be fat from eating all that chicken feed

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Rabies?

 

[Coiled]

Unlikely, another good reason to let them be.

Question: Do opossums carry rabies?

Answer: Any mammal can get rabies. However, the chance of rabies in an opossum is EXTREMELY RARE. This may have something to do with the opossum’s low body temperature (94-97º F) making it difficult for the virus to survive in an opossum’s body.
https://opossumsocietyus.org/faq-opossum/

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Coiled,

Thanks for the update.

 

[deemus]

My dog used to kill them and never left marks on them. Never saw him in action but I imagine that he shook it or jumped on it until it gave up the ghost.

Their game never seemed to work where he was concerned.

Dogs instinctively know their game. My dog had one cornered. Finally the possum played possum. Bad mistake.

My pooch started behind the head and went down the back crushing his spine.

 

[TX OMFS]

Keep those stories coming. I love it. I'll tell you my skunk story after I fix me a gin martini...

I'm a gin guy myself.

 

[Vaquero]

 

[skfullgun]

Granny used to pull a swig or two from the moonshine jug!

 

[Whistler]

Possums get a pass, sometimes the cats gang up and run them off, sometimes they'll eat from the same bowl.

They eat snakes and I like them less, raccoons on the other hand...

 

[skfullgun]

My skunk story:

When I was about ten, I went to visit my grandparents on their farm. One night the dog started barking, and grandad grabbed his 410 and ran out the back door in his bathrobe and into the darkness. He yelled for granny to follow with a flashlight. About the time I got there he was looking around for the skunk, asking granny to shine the flashlight around the yard. Suddenly, he quietly asked where the dog was because something furry had brushed up against his leg. Granny said she had put the dog in the house so it would quit barking. She shined the light between Grandad's legs and there was the skunk! He screamed and started jumping and running at the same time. How he did not get sprayed, I'll never know. By the time things settled down the skunk was nowhere to be seen.

 

[skfullgun]

Grandad said when he looked down at the skunk all he could see was his white teeth and that they looked like they had just been brushed with Pepsodent!

He was a funny man.

 

[Vaquero]

Heh

 

[jbandcj]

I was out in the woods yesterday, well before the storm, and encountered a dead Oppossum right in the middle of the trail. It was only about 200 yards from the house. It was an adult and didn't have a mark on it. It wasn't PLAYING dead. It WAS dead. Still is.
I poked it with a stick and it had not been dead long. No sign of struggle or injury.
What do you think? Old age? Natural causes?
I've never encountered a freshly dead animal without signs of the cause of death.
It's private property and I did not hear any shots to indicate a trespasser hunting. Nor did I see blood.

Caught one in my shop, it had been making a mess and eating copious amount of rat poison, never seemed to slow it down. Finally set a trap and baited it with, you guessed it, rat poison. Took him to the woods and let him go. Years ago caught another one in my garage eating plastic worms in my fishing tackle box... stomped his head flat! I'm not a possum fan but they aren't "bad" animals as "bad" goes... :-)

 

[jbandcj]

Dead skunk here...freaking buzzards won't even touch it.......luckily those not paying attention are running over it and hastening decomposition.....

Amazing, never saw anything a buzzard wouldn't eat.
Shot a skunk last spring in the yard, waited until it was "way out there" to shoot though, then went back that afternoon to dispose of it. It was in 2 pieces w/ nothing left but the head and backbone. 2 buzzards flew off.

 

[karlac]

I had that happen with a squirrel when I was young. Shot it with a .22 and it hit the ground. I bent down to pick him up while trying to keep my eye on his buddy, still jumping from limb to limb. He clamped down on my finger and bit right through the tip!
I got the last word and had him for dinner...with a band-aid on my finger.

Back when I held the title "World's Greatest Squirrel Hunter", at 9, I had a few resurrect themselves in my game bag.

Didn't take long to get out of it ...

 

[Reinz]

About 15 years ago I had a opossum problem. They walk along the top of the fence in the backyard around 2-3 am. The problem was my Alaskan Malamute was a non barking dog with the exception of non domestic animals.

Once the dog ran up to where the opossum was, he would freeze as the dog barked. Thus the dog would bark all night long if not remedied. Did I mention this was 2-3 am on numerous occasions. I would grab the 12 gauge and dispense the opossum and remove the evidence at daylight since I live in city limits.

One time I came home at midnight and there was a opossum across from the garage. A 12 gauge would be too loud out in the front of the house so I thought I would have mercy on my sleeping neighbors and not attract the police either. I opened the safe in the garage and pulled out a Russian target pistol that I had just traded for. I aimed at the critter and “BRRRRRRRRRRP”!! It went full auto! So much for being quiet. The opossum shot like rocket into the garage, took a 90 degree right turn and ran inside my safe with me in pursuit. He was wedged in between the long guns. As I pulled his tail and lifted him up, he was horizontal and grabbing long guns as they tumbled against each other.

Besides the scratched up guns, he pooped, peed, and bled all inside the safe. With the pistol in one hand and the critter in the other, I had no choice but to put a fresh mag in with one hand and hold the full auto pistol to its head and throw him in the dumpster.

Ever since then, I always close the safe even if coming right back, and I ALWAYS use the 12 gauge - one shot, one kill. As far as the full auto pistol- it’s long gone.

 

[V-Tach]

We have vultures roosting next door nightly.....I think our vultures are just too well fed and are picky......dead deer, possums, squirrels, raccoons armadillos or dead skunk.......

I don't blame 'em.....