Do it Yourself: Re: [DIY] Possums

18 February 2013

Re: [DIY] Possums

Wow, that is a great story...Plenty of reliving that over the yearts, what memories...

From: Dale S <dalu@hbcomm.net>
To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 10:58 PM
Subject: Re: [DIY] Possums

Cute, and it reminds me of our days when we were at war with the possum's down in Oklahoma. They seem to have a real appetite for for eggs and chicken, so besides being ugly they can become a real nuance and back in those days my wife was a crack shot with the pistols and the rifle. One evening she found Mr possum in one of the chickens nests and using the 22 revolver decided to do away with the problem, but what she did not know was that I had the magnum cylinder and loads in the gun. She stepped just inside the door of our very small chicken house and nearly deafened herself. She shot not only through the possum and the chicken house but also through the old chest freezer against the back of the structure in which she kept her feed stored.

However the one that we have laughed over for many years now was when she caught one up in a tree fixing to have a roosting chicken for supper. Once again with her trusty revolver and flashlight in hand she stood directly under said varmint and nailed him with her first shot, not realizing her mistake until she felt something warm dripping on her forehead and beginning to run down into her eyes. I don't know how many times she washed her face and hair that night but I'm guessing she only stopped when she ran out of shampoo. Fortunately she was out from under the branch by the time he let go and fell out of the tree or no telling what would have happened.

Now this is a girl that had never held a gun before we were married, but she caught on real fast and used to pride herself with being able to pick walnuts out of the top of the tree with the rifle.

Dale in the Flatlands.

Cindi Wass wrote:

One day I was traveling in Kentucky, and heard this most marvelous song about possums. Hope you enjoy it, and don't mind that I gave a link to it. Won't get rid of possums, but maybe will get a laugh about 'em. Cindi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co-d1m8MWhQ

From: subprong mailto:subprong@gmail.com
To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 8:26 PM
Subject: Re: [DIY] Possums

As many times as I've wanted them dead, I agree with Ron. These guys have made their way in my garage at times seeking shelter. They pee, poop and sometimes rip things up. They smell like hell too. But from experience they pretty much seem harmless and will run away from you unless they feel cornered at which time they will "hiss". In areas that I've seen them before, I simply lay down a barrier of prickly stuff. I've actually even seen this type of thing recommended for gardens or foliage for which people are trying to keep out animals.....so this might work well for your compost. Lay down some garden wire (flat) raised above the bed. Or throw on some scraps of garden wire with pointy ends poking about sporadically (that's what I did). Or throw some pine cones throughout. ....anything that makes it hard or uncomfortable for the animal to walk.Or be patient. Possums don't stick around for long. Soon enough he or she will move along.

On Sun, Feb 17, 2013 at 7:03 PM, Ron Johnson <l0c0l0b0@hotmail.com> wrote:

I'm never for killing something if you don't have to. CHeck out the co-op or TSC or maybe even Lowe's to see if they have tiger urine, or something like that. It's actually a chemically made product. That should get rid of the little guy and he can be someone else's problem.

To: DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.comFrom: nanmaas@sbcglobal.netDate: Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:09:07 +0000Subject: [DIY] Possums

At 4pm today while it was nice and sunny I found a possum on my compost pile. I got about 4feet away before I saw the thing. I thought they came out at night. It only moved when I threw something on it. It didn't run, just slowly left.Ok, you might tell me to get rid of my compost pile but that won't happen. Years ago we had one on the roof of our dog kennel, way before I started composting. I honestly don't remember what my husband did at that time to get rid of it.I am now widowed and have no dog so it's up to me. I really would like to kill it and there is no way I will be using a live trap! I checked the old posts and some talked of using fox urine as a repellant. I don't want to repell it (or them). I want it to never appear again.Any suggestions? I live in the city and know there are skunks and possums around but I don't want any in my yard.Nancy