# Sorry, Mr. Opposum :( **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969 "2011-02-11T00:34:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/41 "2011-02-12T04:10:43Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > You could kill [these](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_NOXa1CXNsxg/SW3driNkG8I/AAAAAAAAD6w/jGkdLLKeyj4/s1600-h/Possum-Babies.jpg) Speaking as someone who sort of admires opossums (as survivors, anyway) and wouldn’t kill one, those critters in the link look like Satan’s own brood. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/42 "2011-02-12T05:05:21Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Well of course! Can you imagine was it was thinking..? > > ya know, I’ve scrounged this ‘burg from the White Mountains to Canada. I’ve stole trash from back-woodsman & Boston Elite alike. Hell, I’ve stole the batteries out of a transistor radio just for playing Frank.FM. Just to be Mean. > I’m not sorry. Yeah, I know I’m bad. Yeah, I know I deserve to die; I’m not complaining’ about that. An AR-15 I could take. An AK I probably deserve. A Mossberg is probably better than I deserve (too quick). But a [CZ-452 Scout!?](http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=CZ-452+Scout&hl=en&prmd=ivns&resnum=1&wrapid=tlif129747930445810&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=17632533081264406919&ei=hfZVTZSDLYSDgAfPmJ3XBg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CFQQ8wIwAQ#) Dear Og, That Thing’s Pink!!! > No, Don’t send me to Hell with a Pink rifle. What would all the other Possum say? For all eternity? No. No! _NO!!!_" I don’t do pink, this one’s got the standard factory “Walnut tinted” Beech wood stock and back to the horse thing, bear in mind, not only does the stable house my sister’s and mother’s horses, but they also board horses for other equestrians, if a client’s horse came down with EPM, that would be a bad thing, as it happened under the care of Sis’s stable I’ve talked to both of them numerous times about , well, you know, perhaps getting their own rifle to take care of the necessary varmint removal duties, I’ve even offered them range time at my rod and gun club to familiarize them with rifle safety and usage, you know, get them self-sufficient, but nooo, it falls to me to be the designated varminter, and in all honesty, I’m getting sick of it… part of the reason for this thread was me venting frustration at ending the life of a critter that was doing me and mine no harm, all based on the tenuous _possibility_ of it having EPM, if it was up to me, I’d have either chased the critter off, or just ignored it, it wasn’t hurting me, or the cats… I even confronted Mom after the fact, let her know that I was getting tired of doing their “dirty work” in removing “undesirable” wildlife, and asked her what she would have done had the possum been there on the porch and I was not available for varminting duties? would _SHE_ have had the temerity to pick up a rifle and dispatch the critter? “Oh, I’d probably go get your Dad to do it for me, he could have shot it with his revolver” (Ruger Single Six .22 Magnum) …nope, not willing to do the dirty work herself, just pawn it off on others just because they happen to have the skillset and tools needed Okay then, Mom, why couldn’t I have just chased the critter off the porch then? “they carry EPM and it’s a danger to horses, I didn’t want to take the risk of having a horse infected… I know you don’t like shooting animals and I apologize for asking you to, but EPM is just nasty and I don’t want to risk the horses” So, you’re saying you wouldn’t have shot the possom yourself then? “no, I wouldn’t need to, you or Dad could do it” [grumbles to myself and walks away, shaking my head] the more I think about it, the angrier I get, the next time she asks me to kill a varmint, unless it’s a definite risk, like a rabid animal, the answer will be “no, shoot it yourself, you need to take responsibility for your own varmint removal duties, stop pawning it off on me” ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/43 "2011-02-12T05:15:07Z")
I don’t know. I don’t think I really have a problem with what **MacTech** did. The dispatch was just as quick as what happens to cows slaughtered for meat - arguably moreso. I do know that what he did was nicer than what I did to two opossums accidentally. I bought a storage unit for the back lot at the animal shelter where I work. At the time there were two opossums hanging around the area, which some of the softie shelter workers were throwing scraps of food sometimes. (of course!) The storage unit I bought is a half of a shipping container, airtight, watertight, and with a specially treated wood floor that I don’t know what it’s infused with, but apparently kills anything that chews on it, insect or animal. I think the opossums tried to dig under it or otherwise managed to ingest some of the wood, and we found them out in the parking lot a day later, one dead and the other dying. It was not a nice way to go, and though it wasn’t really my fault, I still feel guilty about it. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/44 "2011-02-12T08:31:41Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > You can’t scare hell out of possums and drive them away - I’ve tried. > > … > > I know there are people that think there must be a way to not kill any living thing, but possums? They are just big rats and need killin’ I’ve succeeded! Lock down your garbage so they can’t get in it, _don’t put food out in the backyard_, if they have no reason to stick around they will leave. Why would they stay otherwise? Your manicured Bermuda grass? If they don’t leave, well, shoot them with a clear conscience. But maybe try a different option or two first. Why not? If you don’t want to do that, be sure to say sorry before you extinguish their life, it’s important! ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/45 "2011-02-12T08:34:10Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > … if it was up to me, I’d have either chased the critter off, or just ignored it, it wasn’t hurting me, or the cats… Also, I just saw this. It _was_ up to you. You chose to do what you did. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/46 "2011-02-12T09:24:24Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > One of the first rules of true hunting, is that you eat what you kill. Considering you admit that you are novice to this, I’ll help you out with a couple of recipes. > > [http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1652,150172-240200,00.html](http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1652,150172-240200,00.html) > [http://www.justgamerecipes.com/gam-0104556.html](http://www.justgamerecipes.com/gam-0104556.html) > > And don’t use the excuse that you wish he would have stayed in the woods. Remember you could have not built your house in his woods. So own it. Enjoy the stew. Remember this the next time you set out mouse traps or roach motels or even swat a fly or a mosquito. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/47 "2011-02-12T12:03:51Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > I don’t do pink, this one’s got the standard factory “Walnut tinted” Beech wood stock > > and back to the horse thing, bear in mind, not only does the stable house my sister’s and mother’s horses, but they also board horses for other equestrians, if a client’s horse came down with EPM, that would be a bad thing, as it happened under the care of Sis’s stable > > I’ve talked to both of them numerous times about , well, you know, perhaps getting their own rifle to take care of the necessary varmint removal duties, I’ve even offered them range time at my rod and gun club to familiarize them with rifle safety and usage, you know, get them self-sufficient, but nooo, it falls to me to be the designated varminter, and in all honesty, I’m getting sick of it… > > part of the reason for this thread was me venting frustration at ending the life of a critter that was doing me and mine no harm, all based on the tenuous _possibility_ of it having EPM, if it was up to me, I’d have either chased the critter off, or just ignored it, it wasn’t hurting me, or the cats… > > I even confronted Mom after the fact, let her know that I was getting tired of doing their “dirty work” in removing “undesirable” wildlife, and asked her what she would have done had the possum been there on the porch and I was not available for varminting duties? would _SHE_ have had the temerity to pick up a rifle and dispatch the critter? > > “Oh, I’d probably go get your Dad to do it for me, he could have shot it with his revolver” (Ruger Single Six .22 Magnum) > > …nope, not willing to do the dirty work herself, just pawn it off on others just because they happen to have the skillset and tools needed > > Okay then, Mom, why couldn’t I have just chased the critter off the porch then? > > “they carry EPM and it’s a danger to horses, I didn’t want to take the risk of having a horse infected… I know you don’t like shooting animals and I apologize for asking you to, but EPM is just nasty and I don’t want to risk the horses” > > So, you’re saying you wouldn’t have shot the possom yourself then? > > “no, I wouldn’t need to, you or Dad could do it” > > [grumbles to myself and walks away, shaking my head] > > the more I think about it, the angrier I get, the next time she asks me to kill a varmint, unless it’s a definite risk, like a rabid animal, the answer will be “no, shoot it yourself, you need to take responsibility for your own varmint removal duties, stop pawning it off on me” This simply sounds like a lot of post possum-killing justification to me. Really, I think you just got all excited about being able to use one of your guns off the shooting range. One of the EPM links says cats, rats, skunks, eagles, many birds, cockroaches and otters can spread EPM, too. In fact, it seems possums get it from eating birds. Maybe you should get rid of your cats and all the birds that fly onto your property. And, since the pathogen can be found in soil, I’d recommend getting rid all your dirt. Even though I’ve posted several times in this thread, I’m really not all that upset about your shooting the possum, and I’m glad you are having second thoughts about killing animals with scant reason. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/48 "2011-02-12T13:04:28Z")
1. Possums and horses co-exist just fine in all the other states east of the Rockies and all of Central America. Yes, there’s some disease - there’s always some disease. There’s no need to panic over it. 2. Possums are extending their range northwards. There are possums in Toronto, for example. (Possums, like rats and squirrels, are perfectly comfortable in cities.) 3. Unless you’re planning to go all Agent Orange on your rural area, you’re not going to be able to make a dent in all the possible disease vector populations. 4. Possums, while cute, are vicious bastards. The real danger is to your cats. A possum won’t attack an adult cat but a cat that attacks a possum is in for a very bad time. A possum might prey on kittens or very small cats. 5. If you’re really serious about not having vermin around, you need to stop leaving cat food outside. Also, put your garbage on lockdown. You spotted this one possum - but I guarantee there are others, (not to mention raccoons, rats, squirrels, coyotes,) all dining regularly at Chez MacTech. ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/49 "2011-02-12T13:11:20Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > I think you just got all excited about being able to use one of your guns off the shooting range. Y’know, people who hunt or are willing to engage in pest control do generally **not** get a hard-on from loading a .22LR and killing an animal when it’s considered necessary. It’s just a question of being willing to accept the responsibility others won’t accept. Hunters don’t even get “all excited” about “being able to use” a gun for _hunting_, even though hunting is done for pleasure and not out of duty. Just FYI. And since this is MPSIMS and not the Pit, I’ll refrain from saying what I think about your snark. ---
**Author:** ![Xandroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/91b2a8/32.png) [@Xandroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xandroid)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/50 "2011-02-12T13:36:07Z")
In order to balance out you karma you’ll need to give the next opossum a pedicure before shooting it in the head. How to give your opossum a pedicure: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1MRE2K3x-AY/hqdefault.jpg "Proper Opossum Pedicure") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MRE2K3x-AY) Hope this helps! ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/51 "2011-02-12T14:12:24Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I love animals. Except possums. [They’re evil little bastards](http://www.aaapestandwild.com/Wildlife/Opossums/tabid/83/Default.aspx). A stray cat had three kittens in our garage, and before we could catch more than one of the kittens, possums killed one of the remaining two, and severely injured the other (we were able to save the second, though her mom abandoned it for dead). They also killed a toy dog that belonged to my aunt’s friend while the owner looked on in horror. In all my years driving, the only things I’ve ever killed were one little bird who flew into my tires and one possum that darted in front of me. I feel bad about the bird. Do you suppose the stray cats feel bad about the baby birds they kill? Aren’t they evil little bastards then as well? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/52 "2011-02-12T14:58:32Z")
**MacTech** , I only teased you about it being ‘pink’ to make a better story. I Googled the model number, saw one of several pictures, and my mind made up a story from there. I posted it just for the humor though; not for hurt. Yes, Opossums are varmints. Yes, in your neck of the woods, they are a danger to livestock. I take none of this away from you. It was there. You saw it as a threat to the animals. You made a decision. Its dead. No one’s throwing you a parade; the way you explained it was that it was a farm chore that had to be done. But it Is done. And letting peoples hand-wringing into your head won’t bring anything back. Its not easy to pull a trigger, to take a life. Its even harder to own afterwards having taken a life. Its not easy to carry that around and to quiet the “what ifs” that come to call. Its a chore just as much as mucking a stable or feeding livestock. And now its a chore you’ll do as well. Some decisions, even when they are the Right decisions, are hard to live with. But we do. What makes people good people (and you are a good person) is not that they make the perfect choice every single time, but that they think about their decisions, learn from their choices, and work it out. I think its why you posted about it here. Were you wrong? Probably not, but there’s no way to know now and its pointless to constantly speculate. Would you make a different choice the next time is the only meaningful question, but thats for you to decide. That said, is Saturday & I hope all that snow isn’t getting you down. And there’s nothing wrong with listening to “Frank FM”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/53 "2011-02-12T15:43:00Z")
The logic that MacTech’s mom uses is worrisome. She’s concerned about varmints infecting her horses. I can guarantee you that if she’s only killing the ones that get on the front porch, she’s leaving hundreds more run loose in the woods surrounding her place, that can just as easily get to the horses in the stables as the sole one on the front porch can. If your mom is really worried about the transmission of disease from varmints, she needs to move her stable closer into town. Dude, don’t feel guilty about killing that possum. They are overpopulated across the country. I would have killed it whether there was a risk of my horses getting some transmitted disease or not. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/54 "2011-02-12T15:48:25Z")
I’m gonna’ let the whole thing drop here, I’ve made my decision in the matter, and I’m not gonna’ re-hash it out here, besides, I have other issues I’m dealing with now that are more pressing than “was I right to kill Mr. Possum”… Last night, my car was in an accident due to another driver pulling out from a driveway obscured by a 5-6 foot snowbank, classic “t-bone” accident, he just appeared out of nowhere, I swerved to avoid him, but my car ended up taking a hit from the passenger side front door all the way back to the rear bumper, tearing off the rear bumper and flattening the right rear tire Looks like Mr. Possom got his revenge from beyond the grave, eh? 😉 “ha!, shoot me will you, I’ll show you, I’ll wreck your car \” thankfully, no one was hurt, the officer on scene said this filled all the criteria for the classic “true accident”, and that he had seen plenty of these this week, no one was cited and it was written up as just a plain accident so, now I’m in a rental Hyundai Sonata ('09, not a bad car, actually), while my poor little Saturn Ion is at the repair shop getting put back together Touche’ Mr. Possom, you had the last laugh indeed 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/55 "2011-02-12T16:08:09Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > The logic that MacTech’s mom uses is worrisome. She’s concerned about varmints infecting her horses. I can guarantee you that if she’s only killing the ones that get on the front porch, she’s leaving hundreds more run loose in the woods surrounding her place, that can just as easily get to the horses in the stables as the sole one on the front porch can. > > If your mom is really worried about the transmission of disease from varmints, she needs to move her stable closer into town. > \ I know, I tried pointing out the flaws in her thinking/logic to her, but she just didn’t listen, that’s why I’m going to draw a line in the sand with her and tell her that I’m not going to be her designated varminter, if she wants to get rid of a nuisance animal by shooting it, she’s going to have to step up to the plate and do it herself, she can use my rifle, but she’ll be the one pulling the actual trigger… the only time I can see myself voluntarily raising my rifle against an animal would be if the animal in question is rabid or posing an immediate threat to either a family member or a pet (E.G. a coyote-dog hybrid going after the cats or my sister’s mini-dachsund) Foxes/raccoons/possums/etc going after my sister’s chickens?, sorry, not an immediate threat to family or pets, you want it killed, get your own smegging gun and learn to use it, or build a more secure chicken coop, possom minding it’s own business (but potentially harboring EPM?) once again, grab your own gun or shuddup about it, don’t ask me to kill it for you because you’re too wimpy/timid/spineless to do the job yourself, don’t own a gun? well, you know, Kittery Trading Post is a mere five minutes away, and last I checked, they _do_ sell guns there, go and get your own gun, don’t ask me or Dad (who is in his late eighties and suffers from hand tremors) to do any more of your varminting for you Sorry, but I have to draw the line somewhere, and it ends here… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/56 "2011-02-12T16:46:46Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Do you suppose the stray cats feel bad about the baby birds they kill? Aren’t they evil little bastards then as well? Unlike the possum, a stray cat eats the baby birds. The possum just killed the kitten, and attacked the second one, and left them, so it obviously wasn’t killing to ward off starvation. It’s overfed pet cats, not strays, that kill birds for no reason, and yeah they’re bastards too. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/57 "2011-02-12T18:03:16Z")
My over fed cats kill birds and eat them. Just sayin… ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/58 "2011-02-12T19:43:47Z")
To those who are protesting the OP’s shooting of the possum, I have a question. If this had been a rat, in your house, in the cat’s food, would you not have trapped and killed it? If you _ **would** _ trap the rat(or mice, or that bat I had once) then I further ask, what’s the difference between the two animals? Why kill one and not the other? What difference does a few inches of wall make to killing vermin? Oh, and if you \ ***don’t** \*try to trap rodents inside your house, or poison the cockroaches, ants, and so on, please don’t ever ask me to be your guest at home. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/59 "2011-02-12T20:52:46Z")
One opossum isn’t going to turn into 20 opossums in a matter of months. They don’t procreate like rats and cockroaches would. An opossum is likely to just keep on truckin’ if there’s no food around to keep him there. Also MacTech, while I obviously disapprove of your possum killin’, I don’t think you’re a terrible person or anything and I’m sorry to hear about your accident. I’m glad nobody was hurt. Just be wary lest ye rouse more unearthly marsupial justice. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/60 "2011-02-12T21:07:37Z")
Ignore the city slickers MacTech. I would of done the same thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969.md?page=4)