Posted on 04/04/2008 1:14:48 AM PDT by rollo tomasi
Length 0:14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xcLJKeNFuk&feature=related
I thought your suggestion a dangerous idea, but here’s a guy wearing leather work gloves just to get the possum to growl. Nasty thing, I’d turn loose before it rounded on me too!
Rollo, a friend of mine used to do wildlife rescue. She was only allowed to take baby animals with low susceptibility to rabies, and opossums are in that group. She said the baby possums could become quite tame and looked fwd to contact with their human, though she tried not to let them get too attached so they could be released to the wild later. And that the stench of their poo surpasses that of kitties. If your daughter’s cat is up to date on her shots, she should be fine with whatever contact she’s had.
There may be a local wildlife rescue group near you...?
But I do know if they catch a possum (Not sure about rats) the base housing people release the critters back into the wild (If native to Florida).
The tail is thick for it’s size and I did get a good look at the top of the head as it peered over the baseboard. Pretty sure it’s a possum. Have not seen it for a couple hours, I will wait for housing to investigate further. Hope they find it or else the stench of death will permeate the place.
Thanks for all the info everyone!
Opossum are not considered a rabies vector species.
They can carry other things but usually it’s safe to say rabies isn’t one of them. Their metabolism just doesn’t assimilate the virus very readily. (Neither do rabbits) It isn’t impossible, but it’s highly unlikely at any rate.
Rats also, are not considered a rabies vector species (fox, bats, raccoons, skunks) and generally wouldn’t survive initial live contact with another animal that would have rabies, but being scavengers, any contact with infected CNS tissue on a recently dead animal could create an exposure problem.
Rats can carry other extremely dangerous viruses/bacteria however.
If you suspect the animal is still in your home, what you really should do is contact a *licensed* nuisance wildlife control operator in your area. If the cat brought the critter in, that’s one thing but if there’s a hidden point of entry that critters are using — a NWCO will spot it and make sure it’s repaired or tell you what you need to do so.
And you definitely do not want a dead animal in your wall, not only will it stink and cost you a lot more in repairs, but will attract other undesirables.
And yes if your kitty is up to date on shots, that’s a good thing but you might want to call the vet about a booster perhaps. Just let him know what’s happened. It isn’t unusual for wild animals to carry distemper which can mimic rabies as well.
You really are better off calling a NWCO though.
possums play possum.....rats do not
Possums sometimes open their mouths and hiss...
Possums tend to be gray, rats are brown and much darker color.
Behind the baseboard suggests a rat.
A fraidy cat won’t attack either
Possum:
I would lock the cats out of the room and open the door to the outside. Once the cats stop patrolling, the thing will probably bolt out the door.
Once when I reached in to get dog food out of a big bag in the laundry room, I grabbed something furry which hissed at me and which got saliva on my hand. I knew that whatever had done that definitely was not dog food so I did what any mom whose hair on the back of her neck was standiing out would do; I called my teenage son to the rescue.
He carried the offending dog food bag outside with its baby possum inhabitant who was gone a little while later.
LOL...
I am a country gal... some good protection for yourself, tail grabbing and a quick toss into a deep trash can usually gets rid of them.
This one had to be small since it was hiding in a baseboard pocket.
To play possum, To act possum, — in allusion to the habit of the opossum, which feigns death when attacked or alarmed.
here is a good one... the dude is petting it with his leather gloved hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdPwDJbO8Cw&feature=related
Oh, I’m a country gal too.
But I’ve also seen a possum who refused to play possum, yikes! All those spiky teeth ...
Doesn’t look like the possum enjoys it as much as the guy does. ;o) Pretty cool experience for him, though.
Note to self, read the whole thread before posting.
> Wow....is that the only solution you see?
It is the best solution. Once they are inside they will procreate inside your walls, crap all over the place, piddle on that nice textured ceiling in your living room from the attic, spread disease, and run around in the wee hours thru your attic, causing havoc and mayhem and preventing a good nite’s sleep.
> To kill it by poison or a rifle?
Or trap. Don’t forget traps. And disease — that works, too Fawn. Traps are messier: poisons are the cleanest way to kill them. Rifles are the most certain: you actually get to see the carcass and haul it off. With poison, you only know it is working by the sudden absence of varmints.
All methods are quite humane.
Disease needs to be administered by the experts. But guns, traps and poison are all good do-it-yourself remedies to a bad pest problem.
> IS there a reason why she couldnt just open the doors and let or chase the thing out the door and let it live?
Yup — it will come back and raise a family. They like the comfy indoors as much as you do, Fawn.
Now the varmint has found a home to squat in, you can count in it coming back in the same way it did the last time, and raising a family of lots of nasty varmint critters. Or it will find another way in — varmints are like that, ay.
> They are great bug eaters.
They are also great sport and great for target-shooting. Not particularly good eating, but NZ Possums have good fur that makes lovely wool and beautiful pelts. And, where I live, they are official varmints, to be exterminated to the last one nationwide: every one of them stone-dead.
Yup, sheer-eradicated is the plan for possums in New Zealand. Caused to become extinct, killed to the very last one. There are literally billions of them! So poison is the most likely way to achieve that. That, and possibly a designer-built disease, sorta like RCD or Mixamatosis for rabbits, which are also scheduled to be sheer-eradicated in New Zealand.
Rats, too: scheduled for sheer-eradication. Nasty little critters. Yuck!
And all mustelids: stoats, weasels, minks — traps and poison for them. They are now illegal to have as pets, once the present generation of (compulsorily-sterilized) pets are gone, it will be open-season for these critters too.
Just think of all the Karma we will be creating DownUnder, Fawn. Amazing, ay! ‘Tis an ambitious plan to be sure, but it is entirely necessary if New Zealand is to preserve its unique wildlife habitat.
PETA would freak if they knew what we were up to DownUnder! (hee hee hee!)
After destroying the baseboards could not find the sucker. Since the housing I am in was built 40+ years ago there was a lot of deterioration and holes in the corner.
The new baseboard did not cover everything. About 2 feet of space has a 3 inch opening. I am thinking about throwing poison in the opening.
How long does it take to kill the critters? If the critters venture out after digesting the poison, circulates in the blood stream and the cat starts “playing” with the animal (By sinking her teeth into the critter), could she be harmed by the poison?
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