6yr old ID's wood & Possum takes over woodpile

[WOODBUTCHER]

As I was just finishing up filling my wood bin (like every Sunday) my 6yr old son says, hey daddy is that hickory on top? Those hairy looking ones.
Put a smile on my face....then later on that evening, our local Possum likes to watch TV while sitting on some wood stacked outside the stove room.
Pretty funny, he stays there for about 20 minutes then makes his rounds around the yard.


WoodButcher

 

[stejus]

I'm thinking I have one of these living under my shed. Last night my daughter was freaked out when she took the dog out. She said a large animal came out from under the shed and ran because our dog went after it. They don't seem to be a threat, but I would imagine if they panic and bite, it could be a bad thing.

 

[tfdchief]

I'm thinking I have one of these living under my shed. Last night my daughter was freaked out when she took the dog out. She said a large animal came out from under the shed and ran because our dog went after it. They don't seem to be a threat, but I would imagine if they panic and bite, it could be a bad thing.

They do have a set of teeth and will use them if cornered. My Jack Russel got into it with one, one night last summer and although she won, it was a bloody battle.

 

[gzecc]

Man they are ugly.

 

[mbcijim]

Possum's are harmless, didn't you ever see someone playing asleep/dead and it was called 'playing possum'?

Anyway, possum's were incidental catches in our hunting traps. When you got close they would act dead, I'd remove the trap from their leg, back off and they would walk/run away.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Any animal, even a mouse, will bite you if it's completely cornered and desperate. But possums are about the most harmless of wild critters. They're also pretty nomadic, so it's unlikely to hang around for very long unless you're giving it a good food source. They do seem to like wood piles, though, for some reason.

 

[bjkjoseph]

that's a great picture..my cat caught one once..he was a big cat....the possum just played possum,and my cat quickly lost interest,and the possum got up after about 2 minutes and walked off..

 

[NH_Wood]

Any animal, even a mouse, will bite you if it's completely cornered and desperate. But possums are about the most harmless of wild critters. They're also pretty nomadic, so it's unlikely to hang around for very long unless you're giving it a good food source. They do seem to like wood piles, though, for some reason.

+1 - no need to worry about that critter. It will open is mouth, show some scary teeth, and hiss - but all bark no bite. Cheers!

 

[Thistle]

About 10 or so yrs back I was in the shop one Spring early morning just after sunrise.Shop is in the 2 car garage,thats underneath my 90yr old house.I was working at my bench,was completely quiet except for the sound of the wooden mallet striking the chisel handle.I stopped for a minute,heard a noise that was coming from the northwest part of shop,in my lumber storage area,underneath my old shelving.

I grabbed a flashlight,shined at the bottom shelf in the dark.It was a possum,snoring & fast asleep back up in the corner.Grabbed my welding gloves & a stick,reached in there & drug him out by the tail,while holding it away from my body.Walked out the shop pretty quickly,opened the garage door & gave him a toss out on the grass.He looked at me,wandered over to this old mulberry tree next to driveway,climbed up about 6 ft then stared at me again,finally disappearing up in the leaves.


At times there's been one living part time underneath my storage shed in the backyard alsnce in a while I see them at night on the front deck or wandering through the backyard when returning home from someplace.

 

[ChrisNJ]

Possum's are harmless, didn't you ever see someone playing asleep/dead and it was called 'playing possum'?

Anyway, possum's were incidental catches in our hunting traps. When you got close they would act dead, I'd remove the trap from their leg, back off and they would walk/run away.

Exactly, let plenty go as a kid also, now adays I get them in my cat trap and I have to shake them out, always liked them and I think they have the most teeth of any mammal.

 

[thewoodlands]

WoodButcher, nice picture and what shows does the possum like to watch?


zap

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That possum should be holed up now.

 

[Jags]

Ya ever wonder why they live in holes under sheds? Because they DIG those holes. No love for them things in/around my sheds. Ever see one kill a cat? I have. Dang thing was eating out of the same food bowl. I watched for a few and bam, grabbed the cat by the neck and killed it. Again, no love for those things in my yard. Ka-POW!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

You are right Jags. When we raised chickens and rabbits, the possum bit the dust fast. Nasty things to have around when raising small animals.