# 'Possum in My Yard... What Do I Do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933 "2009-01-05T13:09:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/81 "2009-01-08T13:19:52Z")
Possum update: I have not seen hide nor hair of him since the morning he was sitting on the fence. The dogs are no longer going ballistic, so I am HOPING he has moved on to more possum friendly digs. He kind of took a back seat in my mind because I came home from work Tues. night to find that my furnace had gone out. :rolleyes: It’s always something. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/82 "2009-01-08T14:01:41Z")
That’s a great story **AquaPura**. They are nasty looking creatures. I opened my front door one early morning to find one in my recycle bin. Scared the bejeezus out of me. But he ambled off after I made some threatening noises and I never saw him again. Glad yours seems to be gone with no bloodshed. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/83 "2009-01-08T17:13:25Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I opened my front door one early morning to find one in my recycle bin. They love milk. They used to drag my milk jugs out of the recycling bin and I’d find them chewed to pieces behind the house. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/84 "2009-01-08T18:21:31Z")
> [@AquaPura](#): > > Next time? > > Metal Trash Can. Wrapped with chains, and kevlar… and barbed wire… > > Hell, next time, she can bring the crossbow as backup. Best opossum story I’ve ever heard :D. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/85 "2009-01-08T18:26:23Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I opened my front door one early morning to find one in my recycle bin. Scared the bejeezus out of me. But he ambled off after I made some threatening noises and I never saw him again. Does screaming like a little girl count as a threatening noise? If it does, then I’m covered if an opossum ever shows up in my yard. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/86 "2009-01-08T19:42:38Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Maybe I’m stupid, but I don’t see the problem with this. No, scratch that; I see why you’d be vexed at being separated from your dog, but I think it’s worthwhile. Opossums CAN carry rabies, and rabies can be transmitted to other dogs and to humans. A quarantine of a few weeks to determine whether your dogs are infected is quite reasonable. Rabies is rare not merely because of the vaccine but because of aggressive measures such as those you decry. The problem is that animal control has no way of knowing if the 'possum or whatever has rabies unless they can capture it. Therefore, if you call AC and tell them that your pets interacted with a wild animal then you pets must be quarantined for 6 weeks. So if a wild animal comes near my yard more often than once every 6 weeks, as is the case, then my dog would be quarantined for life. Even the most urban home has squirrels, bats and mice. Give it a try: call AC and tell them that your pet got in a fight with a squirrel. Yes, safety would suggest that a pet always be quarantined for 6 weeks at this point and so AC needs to do that when they know about it, but that just isn’t realistic. Note that when I say quarantined I don’t mean that they take the pet; I mean that the pet is not allowed off the property and non-family humans are not allowed on.(!) This is in Northern VA. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/87 "2009-01-08T22:14:27Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > They love milk. They used to drag my milk jugs out of the recycling bin and I’d find them chewed to pieces behind the house. In my case it would have to be beer - I can’t remember when I last had milk in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/88 "2009-01-08T23:40:47Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > The problem is that animal control has no way of knowing if the 'possum or whatever has rabies unless they can capture it. Therefore, if you call AC and tell them that your pets interacted with a wild animal then you pets must be quarantined for 6 weeks. What if your pet has been vaccinated for rabies? I’m pretty sure that in NC no quarantine is required if the shots are up to date. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/89 "2009-01-09T03:40:11Z")
This has got the be the funniest damn thread I’ve read in some time. …I really need to get out of the house more often… ---
**Author:** ![AquaPura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AquaPura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AquaPura)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2009, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/90 "2009-01-09T08:08:32Z")
I still wanna know what the trooper thought he was going to do with an ice auger… ---
**Author:** ![Susan\_g](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ab097/32.png) [@Susan\_g](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susan_g)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/91 "2013-05-29T01:38:00Z")
I had the same problem. Possum hissing and trying to get near my dogs. Fortunately, my county allows shooting the problem. Otherwise that possum was going after my pups. Simply put, I had to dispatch. Those rodent won’t leave and become a painful niuisance. Just check the code where you live to see if you can shoot it ourself. If not what other options you have such as trapping it and having it removed and relocated . They will never leave on their own ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/92 "2013-05-29T01:43:05Z")
> [@Susan\_g](#): > > They will never leave on their own [Ahem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum#Reproduction_and_life_cycle). > [@](#): > > The opossum lifespan is unusually short for a mammal of its size, usually only two to four years It’s probably gone now, one way or another. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/93 "2013-05-29T02:10:15Z")
Wow, a Playing Dead Thread. 🙂 We need an opossum smiley, with lots of teeth. ---
**Author:** ![HeavenlyRose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecb155/32.png) [@HeavenlyRose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeavenlyRose)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/94 "2014-01-23T17:31:55Z")
I have the same problem well … kind of. Today when I woke up my dog was barking at the glass door I thought “it’s a cat”. Then after another 10 minutes of them barking I finally get up and look out the glass door. There was a huge possum drinking my green pool water :eek: . Next thing I know it starts walking up to the glass door. Like anyone I get up and grab my camera because in Florida you don’t really see possums in your yard. My grandmother wakes up and decides to grab her camera. We took pics but she decides he looks cold let’s give him a blanket. The thing growled at her I’m telling her not to but she doesn’t listen to me. So now we have a possum in our backyard and we have no idea what to do. I looked up animal control but my grandma want’s to wait to see if it leaves. Will it leave ? I think it’s cozy where it is and might think hey lets stay. Also if it doesn’t leave who should I call besides animal control because I hear that they KIll them and I don’t want it Dead but Gone. 😃 God Bless you all and have a awesome week. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/95 "2014-01-23T18:21:35Z")
I live near a bayou in Houston TX, so we see lots of Opossums in the yard, but not nearly as many as when I lived in Carlsbad, CA. Carlsbad is next to a huge marsh, and I saw Opossums and Raccoons nearly on a daily basis when I lived there. They will fight a small dog or cat, but a big dog will usually shake them like a toy and kill them. The slingshot idea sounds like the best advice. If you pester them enough, they’ll move on. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/96 "2014-01-23T18:29:03Z")
zombie or no let the dog out. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/97 "2014-01-23T18:31:28Z")
**HeavenlyRose** , I’m sorry, but you lost me at “He looks cold, let’s give him a blanket.” ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/98 "2014-01-23T18:35:55Z")
> [@HeavenlyRose](#): > > My grandmother wakes up and decides to grab her camera. We took pics but she decides he looks cold let’s give him a blanket. The thing growled at her I’m telling her not to but she doesn’t listen to me. So now we have a possum in our backyard and we have no idea what to do. Did I read that right? You gave him a _blanket_!? That’s hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/99 "2014-01-23T19:53:59Z")
I knew this was a double-zombie, but I read the whole thing anyway. Hysterical!! HeavenlyRose, hopefully it will just go away on its own. Make sure there are no food sources in your yard, and no more blankets. Your grandmother, what a sweetie. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933/100 "2014-01-23T22:39:22Z")
Zombie or not, possums are target practice fodder. We tolerate the skunk family that lives in the forsythia patch because they are great at eating insects and stuff like that, but once the barn possum died [he was actually friendly, we think he had been a dumped pet. He got along with his little life and left us alone. But then again our barn was effectively empty for the first few years we lived here. We didn’t start getting animals until '95] Coons and possums get shot and dumped back in the woods. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/possum-in-my-yard-what-do-i-do/479933.md?page=6)