A young possum will tame down quickly. Not a real active pet but they do interact a bit and enjoy being held and petted. I am much more afraid of a feral cat than I am a wild possum. I pick them up by the tail all the time and all they do is open their mouth and hiss but seem to calm down fairly quickly. I would say they they are interesting to watch snoop around the house for food but not overly affectionate. Raccoons at some point within the first year will usually sink their teeth into their master so are not really good pets if you want to handle them. As a kid I had a bob cat for a year. He was no different than any well mannered cat in the house. Extrememly affectionate and gentle. Animal control took him away because a kid said it bit him. He was rough housing and the cat would play rough if you pushed him but never really sink his teeth in.
I once worked at a radio station whose studio and towers were located in a rural area. Late one summer night I was taking a break outside, and a huge raccoon waddled up to me and tried to follow me back into the station (no idea if he was someone’s pet or just weirdly friendly). I was tempted to lead him into the station owner’s office and leave him there as a nice surprise for the morning, but at the time I valued my job.
As risky as it sounds to attempt to tame a possum, it’s nowhere near as insane as what this couple did.
[QUOTE=J
As risky as it sounds to attempt to tame a possum, it’s nowhere near as insane [as what this couple did]
(Rescued hyena Odi enjoys nothing better than a good bath | Daily Mail Online).
[/QUOTE]
Good article, the hyenas have such a radical method of selection I have to believe that they would change rapidly like a dog if selectively bread. I have no idea how closely they are related to canines but I have seen many examples of the hyenas making great pets, also a few bad examples of how dangerous they can be as pets.
The babies will start killing and eating each other as soon as they are able and the mother does nothing to stop this. This is an animal who is bred right on the edge and culled quickly.
Sort of. Our dog found a baby possum once, brought it home and raised it as her own.
A childhood friend had a domesticated Beaver (go ahead, make the joke). His Dad was a forestry officer and gad found the orphaned baby after a forest fire. The Mom was a local artist - they named him Bucky ( naturally)
Actually, more closely related to cats, but the rest of your point still holds true.
My only knowledge of possums is the most wonderful book by Frank Tashlin “The Possum That Didn’t”
My favourite book when I was a kid.
Find it and read it… you won’t be disappointed.
Our dobie knocked one off the fence a few months back…
Had to rinse that golf club a few times to get the blood off .
This is an animal I just can’t look at, even if it’s just googles pictures if the damn thing.
I’m getting the heebejeebees as I type.
A few people in NZ have tamed possums (Brushtailed Opossums, which are cuter than the US opossum).
The real risk is that if they panic, they climb the nearest tall object and then hang on for dear life - not good if you happen to be that tall object.
I’ve got a tribe of those bastards living in my roof. They’re protected so I’m going to need to get someone to do some serious work to stop them getting in.
I’ve also put boxes for them in the trees and have some living in my back shed. Those ones just sit there and watch me if I go in for something.
Unlike the american ones, I’ve never heard anyone but the Aboriginals refer to them as “good eating”.
My mother would love to have raccoons that could be kept in the house. As it is she feeds them outside.
In NZ they are a pest, and the best use for them is for their fur - possum/merino wool mix is awesome.
They carry bovine TB, so eating them is a risk, but some people do
Australian possums are quite different to their North American namesakes. The two main varieties that live in urban areas on the eastern seaboard are the Brushtail Possum and the Ringtail Possum. The ringies are considerably smaller than the brushtail possums, but they make just as much noise when they’re squabbling outside your window at night!
Anyway, many years ago the kids found a baby ringie in our garden.
It was so tiny that it fitted into the palm of my hand with my fingers all curled over! We hand-fed and reared the little tyke thinking that every day would be it’s last. But one week went by, then two, then a month, then three and we breathed a cautious sigh of relief that we (or he/she) may be out of the woods so to speak.
The possum wasn’t tamed as such, but it lived at our house. Each evening not long after the sun set, it would scamper outside to feed and play with the big (possum) kids living in a huge gumtree in our garden. Then when dawn broke, it would head back inside and curl up in a doona on the upper bunk bed of one of the human kids! It never seemed to mind the noise and kerfuffle of a busy household and was certainly not averse to being petted etc.
Alas, one Easter weekend a few months later we’d gone on holidays (left the windows open for him to get in and out) and on our return found the wee possum dead in the kitchen. It had taken a fancy to one of my pot-plants (a succulent, crassula) which we later learned was extremely toxic to animals. A very solemn burial ensued. 
I have trouble regarding even baby possums as cute.
To me they look pretty much prehistoric and Satanic at birth.
These little creatures are very useful in the environment, can make great pets (but maybe not) depending on your lifesytle and needs and your household (have small kids running around? not so friendly big dogs? - here is a very helpful website with lots of info about them and diet and the like - http://possumlover777.wixsite.com/opossumcare
Now that the possum thread has once again been revived (snerk), it is well to note that raccoons, however cute, have at least one trait that puts humans at risk - their ability to harbor raccoon roundworms:
*"After an animal or person swallows Baylisascaris eggs, microscopic larvae hatch in the intestines and then move into the bloodstream, causing damage to tissues as they grow. Symptoms of an infection in humans include nausea, liver enlargement, loss of coordination, loss of muscle control and blindness.
Human infections are rare, but children or those who are more likely to ingest dirt or animal waste have a higher risk of acquiring the parasite. Those diagnosed with pica disorder, which compels people to eat substances that contain no nutrition, such as ice, dirt, hair or paint, are also at risk.
Raccoons have a tendency to treat porches and stacked firewood as a restroom, Yabsley said. People can touch the firewood or children can crawl through the animal waste and become infected after putting their contaminated fingers in their mouths.
Although there were only 22 confirmed cases of human infection of Baylisascaris between 1973 and 2010, another recently published study in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports reported seven new human cases diagnosed over just the past two years."*
Deadly raccoon roundworm can infect humans without symptoms, new study finds"
Where did your dog get a golf club?
BTW, I remember seeing some videos a few years back and wondered if they were still around, and yep.
Damn, that guy can really put away grub.
What, this Frank Tashlin? Small world.