Possums...

[JonnyReb]

 Ever since i got a few backyard chickens, i've had trouble with possums. The problem was slightly compounded by the fact that i'd leave their door open some nights so they could bolt out at first light, which they loved to do. This bad habit ended the first time i went into the backyard early one morning to throw them some feed and i noticed their pen was a wreck, everything turned over and the girls were skittish. One hen had a chewed spot on her neck and wing, something had tried to eat her. I doctored her and set a live trap. The next morning. their was a possum in it. I hauled it off to drop down a nearby dirt road, then reset. The next night i'd caught another.
 I felt good about getting rid of them and not losing any hens. Went a month and caught nothing, kinda let my guard down and forgot to set my trap. Within a week i found a possum IN the coop, it had pulled a wire staple away at a weak spot and gained entry. My dogs heard the hens going nuts in the dark as they were accosted by the possum, who probably really wanted the eggs but couldn't resist the blind(night) birds. This time i was pissed and when the possum ran out i nailed him with a .22 airgun, dead possum.

 Since then i've installed infrared "driveway doorbell" alarms around the coop. They're a bit too sensitive and go off with mice and such sometimes but i hav'nt had any more possums in the coop since. They get busted just approaching the coop and my dogs have learned what the doorbell means. When it sounds off they hit the back door hard, ready to go. I open the door and they tear down to the coop, by their sounds i can tell false alarms from predators, i grab the light and rifle if they tell me too. Bug the mini pin knows the deal completely and is teaching moo the border collie mix the ropes. Both are natural hunters, least i think so

  Had one come again 2 nights ago and the dogs treed it in a live oak near the coop. Grabbed the .22 airgun and a light, dropped the critter with another single head shot. The 28gr pellet typically barely passes through and they drop just as quick as with a .22lr. No fear of shooting skyward either.

  I don't care to shoot possums and certainly get no pleasure from it beyond protecting my flock, not gonna eat possum...anyone want a mounted possum? 

[Oldshooter]

I say shoot em! Its not any special pleasure but you have dominion over your birds. That means you are obligated to protect them as well as feed them. It will take a while but some will return to fill the void. Then Shoot em again.

[Ranger99]

i had a problem a while back
with possums. no fowl to protect,
but they were getting in the shed
and "christening" all my stored
items with urine and feces.
finally started taking them out
with a conibear set up. got 13
in that one period. the neighbors
"have " cats that they leave food
out for on a constant basis and
needless to say, it attracts pests
of all kinds. i can't say i'm critical
of you live trapping them, if that's
what you believe, so be it. but they'll
keep coming back to your all-you-can-eat
chicken dinner buffet until you start
doing away with some of them, or
giving them to someone that wants
them. you'll have to chose- chickens or possums.


isn't there anyone around you that has a
hunting dog pack? a lot of times, dog
trainers will use possums in a cage to scent
a drag cloth to train their young dogs
with to get them used to trailing an animals
scent.


good luck whatever your decision.

[Hellgate]

I know how min pins are not afraid to tackle anything. We used to have more possums around here but as most folks started keeping their dogs in or on a leash the coyotes have moved back into the suburbs and they eat the possums. So now we have fewer possoms, less outdoor cats and more song dogs. Only good thing I can say is at least the possoms ate slugs. If they are mauled by a dog they "play possom" and the dog gets bored and moves on (usually). If a coyote gets a possom at least the poor old possom dies in his sleep.

[JonnyReb]

  Hellgate, you're right about a mini pin not being scared of much. As Bug the M.P has gotten older though, he's a lot smarter and stayed back from the possum even though he was making all kinda crazy noises like he was in the middle of a huge brawl or something . that little dog is full of it. Best dog i've ever had and i've had lots.
 Our coyote population seems to be steady for the last 10 yrs or so, which is puzzling to me. We have a resident pack behind the house and i hunt them here and there. i catch them on my deer cams most often..usuually at night. Still, we are overrun with coon and possum. The possums are climbing a 6 ft chain link before getting to the chickens coop. Probably a hungry time of year for them.

  Ranger, i'm gona do what oldshooter says and "shoot them", if they go up a tree. I don't have much choice at that point because no matter how, they gotta go. So shoot them i will and won't lose any sleep from it, although i have to say that one particular possum about 4 or 5 months ago, ran to the chainlink but had nowhere to go. I saw the fear in its eyes and instead of shooting it, put it in a cage and took it to my drop off spot, which by the way is over a large flowing river, when they go on that one truck ride of their life they are on a permanent vacation i think 

[dougk]

If you have opossum then there are raccoon's   I fall into the dispatch them school. 


I tried the .22 cal air pistol but ultimately go back to the 12/.222 combo gun.  12 ga BB  works great on raccoons in trees  and has taken running raccoon's out to 65 yards.  Lead BB is hard to find these days so I also use #4 shoot.

[kynardsj]

Don't have any chickens but we live in the woods and woods critters come around sometimes. Sometimes it's a possum and I have to run it off. My wife has a soft spot for critters and made mention of putting out some food for the poor hungry things. I didn't just tell her no, I told her " Hell No." Last thing we want is for the possums, coons and stray cats to think this is a buffet around here.

[Ranger99]

that's exactly what will happen
as soon as food is left out.
i can tell you that from experience.
a neighbor leaves food out all the
time for "their" cats, and that's
what brings the possums here.
if she wants disease and parasites
around, tell her sure, put out some
food honey. . . .

[Hellgate]

You don't want to leave food out that will attract raccoons. If we left our cat's food out it might make it til morning but rarely would it last 2 days without the dogs going nuts when they smell the 'coon on the porch. Here's a big reason to not attract raccoons: Raccoon roundworms. The worm eggs are in the 'coon feces. If the 'coon crap gets eaten by a dog (rolled in then licked off) or contaminated dirt is eatenby a kid the worm eggs hatch and the larval stages of the worm migrate to the brain and spinal cord of the unnatural host (dog, human or other) and cause permanent nerve damage. Tell the wives about that and suddenly their affection for the furry little bandits will fade. If you don't want to kill the 'coons, at least put dog & cat worming medicine in some food and deworm them. (Pyrantel pamoate liquid aka "Evict" dewormer, butterscotch flavored). Coon poop looks like cat poop at the base of a den tree but may have berry seeds or even crushed shells of crawdads or fresh water mussels in it and is never buried. I am a veterinarian and whenever someone tells me how they are feeding the cute little raccoons I give them the "worms causing brain damage" lecture just given.
Sorry to change the subject to raccoons when it started out as a possum thing.

[JonnyReb]

 Hey great posts all and Hellgate i appreciate that info. Kynards thats funny  , and my wife does the same thing. Problem is, i do too.

  No coons in the fence ever once in the 20 years i've had a fence. At least none i've ever noticed. I think the coons are more wary than the poor dumb possums and figure the 4 dogs(in a different fenced area) are too close for comfort. I have seen them several times though in a stupor, wandering around in the daytime and put them down, then buried them where they fall. I figured distemper, instead of rabies but really don't know what causes this condition. I know they are dirty critters though and would just assume they stay away. Been surprised the recent addition of the chickens hasn't lured them in.

  Thanks for the comments!  Jeff

[cwlongshot]

Hello my brother form another mother!! I have the SAME EXACT STORIES!!! Not putting up the ramp to the chewed on girls!!! 

I have plunked three now, one skunk and one coon... the girls are sure happier. 

Here is the last one... one of the biggest I have ever seen!! It had to be 20#!


CW

[JonnyReb]

 Haha well then thank you my brother for posting! That IS a big darned possum, one of those fat northern varieties. .22lr i assume? Nice shooting!

  Since you posted another "Possum Down!" pic, i'll add a few more. One is a lucky possum who got hauled off, The other one caught a .22 pellet, a jsb 18gr. out of a springer, a walther talon. Makes about 30ftlbs of energy and honest, this possum went down fast!

[cwlongshot]

I dont have the confidence in the air guns for bigger critters... Years ago I attempted to shoot a porky pine with a 600fps .177 springer... simply NOT enough it was ugly and the back of a shovel finished him off...

That was my PMR-30 22mag  its one of those EVIL 30 round mag guns... In light of recient events I guess I am lucky I WAS OK after using it.

Your Webly now my top choice for controlling the rats too. Its got 4 now. Head shots are easy! I need to get a green/red luminator as they are wise to the flash light...

CW

[JonnyReb]

 Hey thats pretty cool bout the Webley and i'm glad you survived the 30 rounder, heck i'll bet it was black too 

  I've been hesitant to use airguns too but so far so good. My Dad clears his barn of coon using a walmart phantom .177, Hes dropped 8 so far, seems a bit too light for my tastes but with perfect shot placement, it evidently does work humanely.

 Thumbs up on the illuminator, i want one of those too.  j

[Buckskin]

No point in moving them down the road, imo your just speading the seed for more of them to breed.  I shoot every grinner that I come across. They are of no value and are nest destroyers of waterfowl, turkeys, grouse, etc.  I don't think much eats them either...
 
 
Air rifle should be all you need for a grinner, even the big boys up here.

[hunt-m-up]

They don't move very fast and aren't vicious, I've dispatched them with axe handles, Maglights, etc. They do seem to love cat food. Can't see them messing with a chicken unless it got in their way.
 

[cwlongshot]

I dunno they seen to like my girls! "Grinners" that's a good one! Never here that before!!;)

Twice now the get in to coupe, rile the girls all up, both times they chewed them a bit. When I got out there they where sitting up in the last laying box like a judge. This last one was so big he actually had the lid lifted a bit when I got there! 
I opened the lid and he was sittin there on his rum kinda rocking like he was drunk. Then he looked over his shoulder at me. I put the barrel to his head and "changed his mind".

Funny stuff... No real problem. When a skunk got in THAT was a issue... Did not really wanna kill him in coupe... He decided to leave and I plugged him as he exited the chicken run.

Every time my little Lhasa Appaso tells us something is going on. She looks over those chickens like little a guard dog!

CW

[JonnyReb]

 Yup, the "Grinner" definitely chewed my hen up too. The girls are blind in the dark and they're an easy target for the possum. I guess though that even in the dark my hen and both of CW's managed to keep far enough away from the little monster to survive the night.  J

[Clodhopper]

When I was a kid living with my Grandmother it was one of my chores to get the possoms out of the chicken house.  Many a night my Granny would wake me up to go out with my little 410 double and shoot the possom and yes they loved the chickens, usually by the time I got there they would have one down and chewed.  One night in the rain I went out with my trusty 410 and my flashlight, that you almost had to strike a match to see if it was lit, and kicked open the chicken house door and there stood a big bobcat.  I don't remember pulling the triggers but ole bob got both barrels of that 410!  I think that I was about 12 at the time, long time ago........... 

[JonnyReb]

 Good story CH and i can visualize a 12yo kid taking care of whatever had to be done . Times have sure changed, few kids today would be able to do the same. Thanks for sharing.  J

[dougk]

They don't move very fast and aren't vicious, I've dispatched them with axe handles, Maglights, etc. They do seem to love cat food. Can't see them messing with a chicken unless it got in their way.

They rip off the heads of chickens.   

[Oldshooter]

Yep!

[Buckskin]

They don't move very fast and aren't vicious, I've dispatched them with axe handles, Maglights, etc. They do seem to love cat food. Can't see them messing with a chicken unless it got in their way.

They rip off the heads of chickens.

Not likely a grinner if it just takes the head. More likely that it would be a mink, weasel or owl that would do that.

[dougk]

They don't move very fast and aren't vicious, I've dispatched them with axe handles, Maglights, etc. They do seem to love cat food. Can't see them messing with a chicken unless it got in their way.

They rip off the heads of chickens.

Not likely a grinner if it just takes the head. More likely that it would be a mink, weasel or owl that would do that.

Your list is great, we should add raccoon's, hawks and I have seen with my own two eyes opossum rip off the heads.

[JonnyReb]

 From what i've read, raccoons will leave a big mess of feathers and possibly kill multiple birds while weasels/mink will nip the head off every chicken just for the joy of the kill and leave them laying otherwise undisturbed. Coyote and fox will leave with a single bird and return when convenient. Owls and Hawks i'm not sure about. Another serious possibilty is the blacksnake. My first loss was a young rooster who was killed by a blacksnake. I believe the snake probably suffocated the bird first but when i found them, the snake had eaten only the roosters head, leaving just a shiny pink neck. Was still wrapped around the bird when i shined the light in the coop.  J

[Buckskin]

That snake had big ideas!  He must have been sucking on the head like an all day sucker... I know black snakes can get big, but a whole rooster???

[Oldshooter]

I have seen snakes(6 ft) eat whole chicks, and seen dead hens that I could not find a mark on. Always wondered what did that, figgered they had just died like some humans. Wonder if they were constircted?

[JonnyReb]

 Its a possibilty Sir. I've wondered at what age my girls might kick the bucket naturally, i'd figure any under 5 or 6 should'nt just die in the night. Could be an ole blacksnake. I've had 2 in my hens coop, the one that killed my roo and a slightly smaller one a buddy spotted inside one afternoon. Those rascals will definitely seek a hens coop, possibly drawn in by mice and rats? Eggs? Not sure but i know they'll kill a young chicken if they can. They are, for the first time ever, not welcome around my yard.  j

[JonnyReb]

That snake had big ideas!  He must have been sucking on the head like an all day sucker... I know black snakes can get big, but a whole rooster???

 He wasn't a full grown bird but still pretty good sized, maybe 2 or 3 lbs and 4 months old. The snake was a 6 footer. After my 2nd blacksnake issue i put 1/2x1\2" hardware cloth around the nightime coop, hopefully it'll keep them out.  j

[Oldshooter]

I dunno johnny, I have seen Chicken snakes(what we call em here) climb a 2 inch galvanized pole 15 ft tall with a snake guard on it to get to some purple martins, and eat em all. they are like rats, any orifice they can get their head into they can enter.