Opossum miraculously survives after being shot in the head and torso with crossbow arrows

DailyMail Online ^ | January 23, 2016 | KellyMcLaughlin

[Teotwawki]

Here in Tennessee, especially in the country, anyone who came upon this opossum would figure that someone was just trying to get rid of a pest and somehow it survived. Since people around here are generally kind hearted, they would shoot the oposum to put it out of its misery, with a gun they were likely carrying on them at the time. But in California, they waste resources performing surgery on an opossum and launch an investigation. Two different worlds.

The comments on the article all condemn the shooter and show great empathy for the oppossum.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Nasty little creatures.

[justlittleoleme]

Opossoms are not cute cuddly creatures either. Have you seen the teeth on those things?

[john drake]

Ugliest creature God put on this earth, well, next to Moochelle.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

[bolobaby]

Animal cruelty for a failed hunt?

More like remedial crossbow training!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

All the nasty varmints that get shot in other parts of the country get this treatment here in CA. We are absolutely nuts that way. I’ve “disposed” of close to 100 squirrels on my property. These same kooks will expend extraordinary resources to save just one squirrel...all the time murdering human babies by the truckload. It really makes me sick. I’m glad you feel the same way about this lack of common sense and proportion.

[PLMerite]

“... it was found trying to remove the arrows near an intersection...”

And then it was going back to find the guy who shot it.

[Islander7]

That ain't a possum!

[PAR35]

They aren’t human. You need a silver bullet through the heart to kill one dead.

The ones you think are dead? You ever hear of ‘playing possum’? They’ll shake it off and walk away when they think the threat is gone.

[Williams]

They used field points that’s why it lived. Not for hunting.

Check out the girl doctor attacking the uber driver on the same page. Cute.

[Popman]

-——Nasty little creatures.——

Yes, there are....

Last month, my dog was literally going bonkers at the back fence line...possum was on the top of the fence...

I poked it with the end of a shovel several ties to get it to move on....

It wasn’t budging....hissing and baring it teeth at me...finally pushed it over into my neighbors yard...

I preferred to have shot it, but didn’t want to hassle of the wrong sherif being called and arresting me for firing a weapon in the county....

[corkoman]

My beagle, jack Russell and Blue-tick hound "fenced" many possums and I finally got the right tool - a 6 foot wooden dowel - and I got so good I called myself Babe Ruth. One swing. Its not easy at first. But after a few months I was averaging 25 foot line drives. They just got up and walked off like nothing happened. But i dont think they came back.

The Blue-tick hound was the sweetest dog ever. A rescue pooch and I didnt know a thing about Blue-Tick Hound. A real hunting dog as I was to discover after an investiagtion of the carnage in my backyard.

Revelation came when I saw it corner a possum - scarier than a Velociraptor. The Jack Russell even got spooked - that never happens. Best dog ever.

[KGeorge]

grrrrr Some people REALLY SUCK. Love possums. We feed ours scraps. And they’re very polite. Skunks were pretty polite, too- very punctual at dinner time. But we had to give that up because of the rabies risk.
Now, raccoons, I REALLY don’t like. They are destructive & aggressive. I wouldn’t shoot one, though, unless I thought it was rabid.

Did y’all know possums can’t carry rabies? Their body temp is too low.

[Mastador1]

I'll tell you a CAlifornia story, many years ago I ran a fast food restaurant, we had a pigeon problem. Someone in the neighborhood(kids) started taking the pigeons out with blow guns and some of the survivors got in my lot. I had customers demanding that I call animal control so they would take them to a vet. I said no thanks but told them to use the pay phone if they thought animal control had time to save vermin.

[trisham]

[Mr. K]

WHAT “ANIMAL CRUELTY”???

Someone saw a rodent and tried to kill it.

Geez this has become a nation of pussies

[Mr. K]

Did you ever see an opossum ‘play dead’?

I came across one that looked so disgusting I did not even want to touch it- it looked like it had died last year..... so I walked away, and about 10 minutes later I came back around a bend and the thing was walking away.

Its a pretty amazing defense mechanism

[corkoman]

So you are a possum lover, eh? Fed them? You must have been lived in my neighborhood. I suppose I should thank you for all the batting practice I got at 2 AM.

[Daffynition]

If at first you don't succeed...