Sorry, Mr. Opposum :(

MacTech, I’ve never seen or heard of the rifle you used. I’m just wondering if the bullet would exit? I always thought rifles were quite powerful, and only pistol rounds would remain inside. I’ve used an M16, and I suspect that’s a bit more powerful than what you used.

To those who oppose killing possums, what is your stance on eating meat?

AaronX: The M16 delivers a .224" diameter 62gr jacketed bullet at around 930 m/s (~3000 fps). That’s enough to bring down a small deer if you use a good quality softpoint bullet.
A .22LR rifle, like the CZ452 delivers a .223" diameter 30-40gr lead bullet at 300-400 m/s. Many .22LR bullets are hollow-points, for reliable expansion. I wouldn’t shoot anything bigger than a jackrabbit with that round, unless I was close enough and had enough control to be sure to deliver a point-blank headshot.

I’d still assume that the .22LR bullet would pass through the head of a small critter like a possum, though. I know you’ll have to count on it not stopping inside a crow.

Only a small deer? I thought M16 rounds could take down a rhino! Good thing I didn’t go rhino hunting then. How come people use it in the military then? People are bigger than deer, right?

Vegan myself, but I don’t understand the question. He didn’t eat this possum.

Wounding an enemy is often better than killing him, since most armies will try to rescue the fallen soldier. A soldier rescuing another soldier isn’t shooting at you – and often presents another target.

Not that that is the intention of the 5.56 x 45 mm round. Though small, it tends to tumble in the body, causing quite a lot of damage. It’s meant to kill. The military use it because it’s an effective man-killer, is lighter to carry than 7.62 x 51 mm, and has less recoil.

Yup, but killing a deer usually means you’d prefer it to die close to the place you shot it, i.e. rather quickly. And game animals are usually harder to kill or incapacitate quickly than humans are. Remember, you’re not allowed to use expanding bullets like softpoints in war, but many places it’s the only type of ammunition you’re allowed to use for hunting.

You probably wouldn’t worry about of finding the carcass and gutting it before the meat spoils if you were killing a human, while I’d worry about that if I were killing a deer.

And now it’s time for;

Opposum II; Electric Boogaloo

Yep, another 'possum on the porch, even though we took the food dish in at night, this one was curled up in one of the “Cat Barrels”, this one appears to be juvenile (notice the lack of usage of past participles like “used to be” or “was”…)

for some reason, they’re still coming around, I wanted it to go away, leave us alone, so, I took the other cat barrel, put it in front of the “possum barrel” and went upstairs to go and get my…

(crowd thinking…) “He’s gonna’ say gun I just know it, even though he denies his bloodlust, he can’t resist killing a defenceless animal, I just know it, I bet you anything he’s gonna’ say gun

…Heavy leather gloves, oh, I’m sorry, you were expecting me to say gun, weren’t you? well, you’re wrong, I went and got my leather work gloves, as this possom was going to be live-released across the road

So, I pulled on the gloves, went out on the porch, and slowly tipped the PossumBarrel vertical, the 'possom cowered in the bottom of the barrel, trying to look as small and pitiful as it could, not even hissing, this one looked at me with a “Pweease don’t hurt me, Mister MacTech, I promise I’ll be a good marsupial…” expression…

insofar as an opposum can look “cute”, this one did

I took the barrel across the road, and put it down on the curb, facing the woods, giving the barrel a solid kick and making as predatory a growl as I could muster, I wanted to put the fear of Og into this one, and scare him off so he never returns

It seemed to work, I have never seen a 'possum run that fast, he dissapeared into the snow-covered woods, hopefully never to be seen again, if he does come back, I’ll simply scare him off again

as I said in my OP I AM a live-and-let-live kinda’ guy, the research I have done after shooting the first 'possom leads me to believe that shooting that one was unnecessary especially since 'possoms are not the only vector for EPM

Thanks.

You know, opossums come from South America (one of the few successful migrants that came north when the land bridge formed) and have been working their way north ever since. I wonder is it possible they’re suddenly showing up in Maine now because they’re just now reaching it as part of their original expansion?

Peace, brother, and good health to your horses.

When I first lived where possums were common I was 10. I thought they were like giant rats. Then I went on ab field trip at 11 to a local state park. The ranger there had an orphan possum he raised that could not be returned to the wild. I learned that they aren’t generally agressive, not likely rabies vectors and that they were omnivores.

His like to be petted and LOVED milk. After that I decided they weren’t so scary even with the creepy tail. I then liked them so much I convinced my parents that the possum eating our cat’s food was just dominant. She would eat till full while kitty watched. Then she would leave and kitty would eat. After our outdoor barncat died, we had outdoor\indoor kitties and always fed inside.

So, possums are cute.

I’ve killed my share when they burrow under the chicken shed to get in and steal eggs. That’s a really nasty surprise when you start checking nests and come eyeball to eyeball with a hissing possessed rat. And I love rats. Possums are Satan’s brood. And they don’t even taste good – way too greasy.

My neighbor told me yesterday that she saw a raccoon and a skunk on her back porch (getting into the cat food) at the same time recently. She didn’t really care all that much other than hoping they didn’t get into a fight in her back yard and stink up the place.

Your post made me think of a miniature titanic battle in her back yard; Like Godzilla vs King Kong in 1/250th scale.

My favorite reference to that movie was during the Donald/Ivana Trump divorce, when both parties were sniping at each other in the tabloids, and somebody (can’t remember who) said “It’s like ‘Godzilla vs King Kong,’ you don’t care who wins, it’s just fun to watch.”

Well, I admit they are a little homely, but that’s what makes them so cute. I can’t imagine killing one or having it done for any reason. Except on RARE occasions, I think killing any of Earth’s creatures is just wrong. Period. Oh, and having been raised on a ranch “in the country” I was taught healthy respect for all living things. Killing them was seldom the option or the answer.

I am much more tolerant of the wildlife, but I do recognize a pest. NTL, I would still exhibit a little patience and take a wait and see approach.

My SO doesn’t agree and yesterday made me evict a raccoon family from underneath the boat cover. Now that was neccessary, they were tearing up the seats! Yet I made the trapper relocate the week old babies up in the woods where the mom could find them again. He wanted to “take them with him” and tried to reason that they might get eaten by a predator. And your point is?..:rolleyes:

So it rained last night and I was hoping the racoon mom had found some new housing for her brood.