# 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:** 4
**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, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/61 "2011-02-12T21:59:26Z")
Yeah, everybody who disagrees is obviously somebody that has never lived in a rural area. Lord knows you can’t live in the country without putting a bullet in everything you see! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/62 "2011-02-12T22:06:06Z")
[Yeah](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/42/81856647_d0fea09edb.jpg)! ---
**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, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/63 "2011-02-12T22:11:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Yeah](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/42/81856647_d0fea09edb.jpg)! …you mean those aren’t ‘Nevada Desert Termites’? ---
**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, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/64 "2011-02-12T22:16:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Yeah](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/42/81856647_d0fea09edb.jpg)! That sign was just asking for it. Sitting there all smug, posting information. ---
**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, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/65 "2011-02-12T22:21:11Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > 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. If you are suggesting that possums kill for sport, and feral cats don’t kill birds, I’m going to have to ask you to back that up, as well as the claim that only overfed domestic cats kill birds. ---
**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, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/66 "2011-02-12T22:32:39Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > 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. A rat or mouse or possum in my kitchen is a different situation (although not a different animal) than one on the porch, but no, I still would not kill it. I certainly would not shoot a rat in my kitchen! I thought I could have a mouse in my kitchen once many years ago, so I bought a live trap at the hardware store. After many days, I never trapped anything, nor did I see any droppings, so I put it away. But if I had caught a mouse, I would have released it. For a larger animal in the house, I would either ‘encourage’ to go out have to get a larger trap or hire someone. I did have a raccoon set up shop in my attic once by climbing up a wooden post and breaking through the mesh in the soffit vent. I still did not feel any desire to kill the animal. I replaced all my soffit harware cloth except the raccoon’s entry point and then set up a method where the raccoon could only exit and not re-enter (by covering the post with a garbage can dusted with ash powder so I could see if it left). I worked fine. It left, I repaired the last of the soffit, and all was well. I’ve seen skunks in my area within the past few months. I heard through the grapevine that a kid on out street got sprayed by a skunk at school while out near the tree line. Do I want to kill all the skunks? No. I think it’s odd that because some posters here find possums “ugly” that that ugliness somehow justifies killing them. I find Pugs ugly, but I don’t bump off my neighors dogs. (I know, not equivelent..) I did have my house sprayed for wood boring ants once, but then, they were chewing up my wood. That is- being destructive, which the OP’s possum was not. I don’t have roaches or ants, but I keep it pretty clean in there, so it is safe for you to come over if you want. Also, my one neighbor broke the possum’s neck with a broomstic/tail maneuver. Others say possums are vicious and bite. I guess different possums must have different personalities. The ones that come around my house are pretty mellow, I guess. Plus, I’m supposed to be one of those dumb, red-necked Texans that everyone hates and I still don’t wanna kill the wildlife in the area. I just don’t know how to explain that- LOL! I hope they don’t kick me out! ---
**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, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/67 "2011-02-12T22:36:14Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > 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? Feeding your cats indoors is not a lure to wild creatures; feeding them outdoors is. The op was shooting in a baited field. ---
**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, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/68 "2011-02-12T22:36:45Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > If you are suggesting that possums kill for sport, and feral cats don’t kill birds, I’m going to have to ask you to back that up, as well as the claim that only overfed domestic cats kill birds. She said ‘kill birds for no reason.’ Feral cats will eat their kill because they’re hungry, house cats might eat them or they might just bring the headless carcass (or the head, sans carcass) to the welcome mat as a ‘gift.’ ---
**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, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/69 "2011-02-12T22:40:40Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Feeding your cats indoors is not a lure to wild creatures; feeding them outdoors is. That explains why the mice that occasionally inhabit my garage chew through the catfood bag, right? ---
**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, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/70 "2011-02-12T22:41:36Z")
> [@Terraplane](#): > > She said ‘kill birds for no reason.’ Feral cats will eat their kill because they’re hungry, house cats might eat them or they might just bring the headless carcass (or the head, sans carcass) to the welcome mat as a ‘gift.’ But only the overfed ones, right? And who are the possums bringing their gifts to? As far as that goes, I suspect that whenever any cat kills a bird it does so with a reason. At least as much of a reason as a cat can be expected to have. Carnivores kill other living creatures. None of them are any more evil than any others for so doing. ---
**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, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/71 "2011-02-12T23:11:25Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > But only the overfed ones, right? And who are the possums bringing their gifts to? > > As far as that goes, I suspect that whenever any cat kills a bird it does so with a reason. At least as much of a reason as a cat can be expected to have. > > Carnivores kill other living creatures. None of them are any more evil than any others for so doing. I think ‘overfed’ was just an extraneous adjective that you could probably ignore if you want to see the actual point of the post. Possum kills kittens but doesn’t eat them. House cat kill birds but doesn’t eat them. These things can appear pointless and mean if you look at the actions as though a thoughtful actor committed them. For myself, I assume the possum was eliminating competition and the house cats are just practicing their skills. It’s still distasteful to me but I can understand it and I can’t blame an animal for doing what it’s supposed to do. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/72 "2011-02-12T23:48:48Z")
Um, did you check the opossum’s pouch? It’s breeding season. She could be carrying around up to 7 babies. ---
**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, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/73 "2011-02-12T23:53:44Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > That explains why the mice that occasionally inhabit my garage chew through the catfood bag, right? If your garage door is open it is effectively outdoors. But you understood the distinction, didn’t you? C’mon, 'fess up now. If the doors to your house are open as wide and as often and for as long as your garage door, your house is effectively outdoors as well. Especially if possums occasionally inhabit it. [QUOTE=Terraplane] I think ‘overfed’ was just an extraneous adjective that you could probably ignore if you want to see the actual point of the post. [/QUOTE] Feel free to ignore any words that might weaken my points as well. > [@](#): > > Possum kills kittens but doesn’t eat them. House cat kill birds but doesn’t eat them. You are arguing from the specific to the general here, only not very well. One data point hardly makes a trend. So far, we have absolutely no idea how often possums and house cats kill for food, overfed or not. Or for that matter why the specific possums left their kill. Or even if it was possums, instead of one possum. Or possums at all. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/74 "2011-02-13T02:17:48Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Feel free to ignore any words that might weaken my points as well. I’m sorry, I was just trying to clarify what any normal person who read that post would understand. Hopefully Dr. Spock or maybe a robot will be along soon so you can get the argument you’re after. Boop boop bleep boop. > [@](#): > > You are arguing from the specific to the general here, only not very well. One data point hardly makes a trend. So far, we have absolutely no idea how often possums and house cats kill for food, overfed or not. Or for that matter why the specific possums left their kill. Or even if it was possums, instead of one possum. Or possums at all. I’m arguing the information contained in the post. I have no clue nor do I care what the overall ‘kitten-killin’ possum’ rate is. It was one person’s anecdotal experience, not a fucking peer reviewed document. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/75 "2011-02-13T04:35:16Z")
> [@Terraplane](#): > > I’m sorry, I was just trying to clarify what any normal person who read that post would understand. Hopefully Dr. Spock or maybe a robot will be along soon so you can get the argument you’re after. Boop boop bleep boop. I think that normal people believe “overfed” to mean “overfed”, and therefore distinguished from all things not overfed. I also think that normal people mean what they say. > [@](#): > > I’m arguing the information contained in the post. Then you are not doing it very well. Nothing in the post supports the contention that possums are evil. > [@](#): > > I have no clue nor do I care what the overall ‘kitten-killin’ possum’ rate is. It was one person’s anecdotal experience, not a fucking peer reviewed document. I never said it was. But normal folks understand that those are not the only two choices. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/76 "2011-02-13T06:40:14Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I think that normal people believe “overfed” to mean “overfed”, and therefore distinguished from all things not overfed. I also think that normal people mean what they say. I think normal people would have read it as “house cats” written by somebody with an ax to grind but I’m willing to be wrong here. > [@](#): > > Then you are not doing it very well. Nothing in the post supports the contention that possums are evil. I… don’t think possums are evil? I _like_ opossums. > [@](#): > > I never said it was. But normal folks understand that those are not the only two choices. What the hell? I’m saying that the person who wrote the original post you quoted was relaying her own experience. For you to ask for a cite of that is ridiculous as it’s completely anecdotal. Are we arguing past one another here or am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/77 "2011-02-13T16:03:05Z")
I confess I’ve wanted to post a couple times here and decided not to, but after reading the OP’s follow-up, I’m still somewhat confused: 1. I’m uncertain what the intent of the OP was. If killing possums is no big deal and just pest control, why post? I killed a silverfish yesterday and I didn’t post about that. Sure one can use the defense that it’s “MPSIMS.” 2. The way in which the killing was described seemed like there was an extra attention to detail which is inconsistent with the stated intent. 3. I admit I like possums quite a lot. However I’m a scientist and so I can understand possums being a possible disease vector for horses. Nonetheless, I question: a) What is the actual likelihood of disease from a possum, especially in an area where the OP admits they’ve “never seen one before.” They must be incredibly rare, if you live in a rural area and haven’t seen them. b) How common is EPM anyhow in the area? Does it even exist there? Are horses dropping like flies, is there 1 case a month, or is it rare enough to be noteworthy? c) The OP’s own link also states that birds can be vectors, and a brief look on my University’s database shows that cats - the same animal owned by the OP - can be vectors, although the evidence seems weak for that. No note was made about killing birds and cats to protect the horses, so obviously the OP is weighing risk-reward in their head and made a judgment about relative risk. So now we come to… d) …was this a solution looking for a problem? From my perspective, 1,500 miles away across a sea of electrons, it appears that way. I’m not going to judge the character of the OP like some have, but it seems at first blush like the possum execution and the posting about it were a bit hasty. Finally, 1. I’ve lived in the country and been around a lot of possums; we had a possum here just the other night. Anyone who wants to call me a “city slicker” is invited to lovingly tongue my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/78 "2011-02-13T16:31:41Z")
[Our latest possum, about two weeks ago. Who would want to shoot this cute critter?](http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/possum.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/79 "2011-02-14T17:24:48Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > [Our latest possum, about two weeks ago. Who would want to shoot this cute critter?](http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/possum.jpg) Are you kidding? That looks like something out of a Lovecraft story, waiting to drag my soul to Nyarlathotep. I’d kill it with fire. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969/80 "2011-02-15T14:58:28Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > [Our latest possum, about two weeks ago. Who would want to shoot this cute critter?](http://www.coalgoddess.net/files/possum.jpg) Awwwwwwww (except for the tail.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-mr-opposum/570969.md?page=5)