Anyone else having issues with possums? (Los Angeles, Gardena: houses, crawl space, live in)

[SandyCo]

I had a lounge chair on our balcony near the stairs going down to the courtyard. A few years ago a opossum decided to rest underneath the lounge chair for a while. He or she even stopped to groom on the landing when leaving; they have very long, pink tongues. Opossums are ugly and a bit scary-looking, but they never bothered us and we never bothered them.

[calipoppy]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

I had a lounge chair on our balcony near the stairs going down to the courtyard. A few years ago a opossum decided to rest underneath the lounge chair for a while. He or she even stopped to groom on the landing when leaving; they have very long, pink tongues. Opossums are ugly and a bit scary-looking, but they never bothered us and we never bothered them.

I am just concerned that one day my dog will wage another battle with one of them and lose.

[joebaldknobber]

This thread sounds like the Arkansas forum. Possums don't fight unless provoked. Recently, I've been hearing a possum crunching on cat food I put to the side of my house. The cats just ignore the possum as the possum ignores the cats. Dogs are more likely to attack the possum, and if you've seen possum roadkill, they have vicious teeth. They are pretty shy, but will put up a good fight if attacked.

[calipoppy]

Just last night my dog started barking his head off and there was the (o)possum just sitting on the back fence behind a tree. I tried to shoo it away, scare it, and nothing. I tried hitting the fence to make it go...didn't even move. Finally, took a broom to try to scoot it away and it did meander down the fence back to where it came from (I'm thinking the neighbor's yard)

I just want to discourage it from coming into my yard because it makes my dog very anxious. If this thing happens to find itself within reach of my dog, the dog will definitely kill it(he's killed two little ones already), or at least challenge it. I don't leave dog food out. I keep the yard free of wood piles and brush, etc. If anyone has a good tip for getting rid of this little critter, permanently, please share. And yes, this feels like I'm in the South Cackalacky forum and not a SoCal forum.

[Delron]

Are you sure the opossums your dog took down were really dead, or were they just "playin' 'possum"? Sorry, couldn't resist.

But my dog came across a juvenile one in our yard once, the thing froze, and my dog snatched it up in his mouth. I told him to drop it, and it appeared dead so I took my dog back into the house. A couple of minutes later I came back out to find it gone. Must have been playing possum.

Also, is it true they and raccoons use Italian Cypress to nest?!? Yikes, I have a bunch of those. And I've seen plenty of raccoons and possums in my area. skunks too. Used to see coyotes too about 25 years ago but they are long gone now. Skunks are actually great because apparently they catch (and kill/eat) more rodent vermin - rats, mice, moles etc. than cats do.

[cynwldkat]

If you don't like bugs like cockroaches then let the opposums hang around. They keep insects at bay. People don't like the way opposums look, but hey, they do good things too! We had them and let them be--until one got into our attic and then I trapped it in a "kindness-trap", fixed the place where it was getting into the attic and released him again. Personally I enjoyed watching the mama opposum with all her babies hanging on her tail while she trotted across our wall in the back yard. I've found people often kill creatures out of ignorance....sigh.......

[ocean2026]

Well I know possums. We rescue babies when their mom gets run over. Alex Possum lived in our house for 9 months in 2002. Possums can make a "biting " face and say "come closer and I'll bite you" and then when you pick him up he starts purring. ( I won't make an analogy to dating here,but Im tempted). Alex had his own room, they are somewhat naturally potty trained going in one place, and they are easy to please as far as dinner. Alex preferred I cook him Salmon steaks with just a touch of lemon, but he wouldn't complain about eating what the rest of us ate. If you are feeding them Cat food, beware because over time will hurt their livers, just vary the diet and throw in the salmon steak every other day.

Possums are extremely clean animals. In fact baby Alex had Sepsis with is fatal if not treated and the only way to get him to take the Amoxyl- as he was too sick to eat- was to put it on his paws. He quickly licked it off. Later Alex developed a clean and soft coat. He looked great.

Possums have personality. Alex liked to get in my suit closet where he would swing from suit to suit until 2/3s of them were on the ground. In the 9 months we never got bitten once - two small nips were it. One when my son (he was 10) reached under a couch and startled him, the other when I was on my back in my room chatting on the phone and he was resting on my chest/stomach. I must have waived the phone near him one too many times and he wanted some attention. My son thought he was the champ at HidenSeek but Alex beat him every time. I designed this house yet Alex could find places ...

This didnt mean he was totally docile. Once when I was upset about the house being messy- I ranted at my son , who blamed it on his little sister- she in turn pointed to Alex and said "Its Alex's mess!' Alex looked around but there was no one he could turn and blame so he pounded his long tail on the ground for emphasis and said "Well Im just a possum SUE me (I'm an attorney)".

By Thanksgiving 2002 Alex had gotten huge. We made a pen outside with the help of a friend who said right in front of him "This is escape proof" I knew he shouldnt have said that, and that night Alex filled with Thanksgiving turkey left and never returned.

Since then we have gotten several more possums Speedy, Chirp and his unnamed sister but I have a wildlife area on a lake and we relocate them - once they are old enough.


Fact : there is no known case of a possum spreading rabies or any other disease. Sure we didn't want him to get his tail in our food when we ate, but really would anyone want anyone elses tail in their dinner?

[KnoxTown]

I've been seeing alot of these on trash day in NoHo.

[Winston Smith]

Opossums are marsupials, not rodents, and are good to have around. They prey on rats! Opossums also eat rotting fruit and carcasses of dead animals. They're highly resistant to rabies. Opossums are your friend, let them be.

[msnorman67]

Gretchen says: no opossums (the o means funny), skunks, rabbits, moles, cats, squirrels, low flying birds, rats, mice, bugs, snakes, and especially "badgers." No stinkin' badgers.

There is a skunk hanging around my neighborhood that needs to be driven to the county line.