Anybody Raised an Opossum??
Just saw a huge Oppossum hit in front of us on the road. My wife got out and pulled about a dozen babies out of its pouch. Probably about 5 weeks old. Any tips?
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There should be a wildlife rescue in your area.
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jimdeere: 29939983168539/comments/29939963689243
There should be a wildlife rescue in your area.
Jimdeere,
We’re actually away from home visiting family in your area. You happen to know any rescues in the Pearisburg/Pembroke area?
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cute little critters.
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Never raised one but have them all around the place. Life expectancy of an opossum is only one to two and half years. Very rare they carry rabies. But can carry leprosy, tuberculosis, tularemia, spotted fever and toxoplasmosis. My tip would be. Don’t handle them, let them go, they will not make a good pet. May sound cruel but it would be the best thing to do.
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I raised one a little bit bigger than that.... Whole milk and fruit, veggies and dog food. Grew up to be a huge male. I'm sure he's around somewhere. For a little while I would leave Dog food and water in the shop in case he came back.
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somebody disagreed with my comment about them being cute ??
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Nasty nasty critters, just like buzzards in my opinion. They've got a place & purpose here on earth but it's not around my home.
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Lot of people have them as pets living in the house with them
Go to youtube and search
They do have short life spans 2 to 5 yrs and can carry some diseases I would wager picking up any from them is low
The baby's are very resilient mom will drop them off and they are left to fend a lot of interesting reading on them
Wr have them around us They eat the cats fod and as stated any thing really
I have handled dozens large small and in-between never been bit
Lot of people use to or may still eat them also
Agre it's posibe to rase it as many are but many states have laws about wild animinals safe bet call the local wildlife agency or rescue shelter
Good luck
Will add not a Peta member however getting older and now just live and let live the older I get I have sent many to a better place but have gave many a fee pass
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@...: 29939983168539/comments/29939956701083
somebody disagreed with my comment about them being cute ??
It wasn't me.... We would have a little one come on the porch with the neighbors ancient cat Stuart it was pretty cute.
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Junkballer: 29939983168539/comments/29939981165723
Nasty nasty critters, just like buzzards in my opinion. They've got a place & purpose here on earth but it's not around my home.
What is nasty about them?
About the only nasty thing they eat is road kill when they need calcium in their diet. And not all species of possums eat road kill. They also eat insects mainly ticks, rats and mice, birds, eggs, frogs, plants, fruits and grain. It is very rare for them to carry any type of virus or rabies.
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They are cleaner than cats and if you read up are a benefit rather than a problem
But I don't judge any one on how they feel about a opusom
They Have a reflex to save them self they will poop exert nasty smells and will act dead they have no control over that it's automatic when scared
Knowing most predators do not eat dead animinals its a self preservation act and serves them well
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Junkballer: 29939983168539/comments/29939981165723
Nasty nasty critters, just like buzzards in my opinion. They've got a place & purpose here on earth but it's not around my home.
Haha! Well, my girls don't mind buzzards either. There's been one with a broken wing in our town hanging out by the the roadside. Too fast to catch, so my girls have been feeding it scraps every time we drive by that way.
As for the possums, I don't feel right just leaving helpless things to die, and my experience with the critters is that possums don't bother much of anything.
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They are cute little guys. I'd find a possum rescue group and hand the little guys over.
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@...: 29939983168539/comments/29939956701083
somebody disagreed with my comment about them being cute ??
Wasn’t me either that disagreed. All new borns are cute.
PeeBob, I forgot about that. They will eat around 5000 ticks in a year, very beneficial in that regard.6 -
Ditch-Runner: 29939983168539/comments/29939981675803
They are cleaner than cats and if you read up are a benefit rather than a problem
But I don't judge any one on how they feel about a opusom
They Have a reflex to save them self they will poop exert nasty smells and will act dead they have no control over that it's automatic when scared
Knowing most predators do not eat dead animinals its a self preservation act and serves them well
I believe that "most" predators will eat dead animals but maybe not ones that stink like a possum does.
We have a lot of them here but they have never been a problem, they are nasty creatures though.
The most damaging animal we have is the armadillo, like a mini excavator in your yard.
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bass bait?
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MIKE WISKEY: 29939983168539/comments/29940009845915
bass bait?
That was my initial thought but …………………………………
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Frogdog: 29939983168539/comments/29939983431963
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11436990#Comment_11436990
Jimdeere,
We’re actually away from home visiting family in your area. You happen to know any rescues in the Pearisburg/Pembroke area?
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…still on my first cup this morning & I misread "an" for "on", and yes I had a friend, a true Arkansas Ozark hillbillie that was raised on possum…he still eats em'….
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jimdeere: 29939983168539/comments/29939985618203
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11436992#Comment_11436992
Very informative, thanks for posting.
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jimdeere: 29939983168539/comments/29939985618203
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11436992#Comment_11436992
Thanks. Found same, and we just got them all off to a big wildlife rehab outfit out of Roanoke. Possum free and headed back to GA!
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Texas1911DE: 29939983168539/comments/29939997786267
…still on my first cup this morning & I misread "an" for "on", and yes I had a friend, a true Arkansas Ozark hillbillie that was raised on possum…he still eats em'….
Yep, we have them here in western Washington, and guess who brought 'em here. Yep, the tar heel invasion that happened a hundred years ago.
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Several years ago, I took the cover off of my deck boat to make ready for the upcoming season. Under the cover, a momma racoon had had her litter of 6 babies inside.
She took off like a bullet, so I went and put on some gloves and gently picked up the cute little buggers and placed them nearby into a wooded protected area.
When I checked on them a few hours later I sadly discovered that the momma came back and killed them all. They were about the same size as those little possums pictured above.
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Tried a couple times to no avail.
Wrong diet maybe.
Wife carried one around in her bra, talk about strange looks when it popped it head out.
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I'd like to have a baby one to raise up. Just one. Maybe two.
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My daughter's husband raises them. He feeds them chickens. Well, he doesn't anymore. They ate them all. He gave up on the chickens.
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