I was hoping to trap a raccoon that’s been trying to get into the chicken coop but instead, I caught this little guy. I also made a 34 second video of his catch and release below the facts part.
I didn’t know much about these marsupial creatures so I looked up some facts about them:
- The word opossum refers to the North American species (those found in other areas are called possums)
- The Virginia opossum is only found in the United States
- Opossums are related to Kangaroos, Koalas, Tasmanian Devils, and Brazilian Short-hair Pigmy Possums
- Opossums help gardens by eating snails, slugs, insects, snakes, rats and overripe fruit.
- Opossums are highly resistant to diseases such as rabies because of its efficient immune system and lower body temperature.
- Opossums are not a public health threat.
- There is far less of a risk of infection from opossums than from house pets.
- The opossum’s greatest enemies are cars and domestic pets.
- Another predator of opossums is people, who hunt them for food, sport, and pelts.
- Other enemies include owls, foxes, and larger wildlife.
- Opossums compete with sheep and rabbits for food.
- Opossums have more teeth than any other North American land mammal (50).
- Opossums are not territorial and move to wherever food is available.
- Opossums cannot hang upside down by their tail, but use their tail to climb.
- Marsupial refers to the reproductive system, which entails the very young embryos being born and attaching to the mothers nipples
- Opossums do not have good eyesight or hearing — they rely mainly on their sense of smell.
- Opossums are very clean animals and groom themselves much like a cat does.
- Opossums are also found in Australia and South America
These facts were found at: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/students/114-sum98-opossums/misc.htm
My favorite part of this video is at the end when I pan over to the chickens… They’re all like “What the heck was that?”
Two Barn Farm 
Very cute critter. Australian Possums are kind of a love ’em or hate ’em deal as they will steal fruit and vegetables from gardens. I just see it as ‘possum’s gotta do what possums do.’ I grow plenty so if they take a share, that’s okay. The possums and bandicoots here like my capsicums (bell peppers) and mangoes best of all.
Loved your hens’ reaction to the opossum, too.
Cheap entertainment for chickens. Now I am tempted to set up our live trap to see what has been stealing duck eggs.
I’m laughing so hard, looking at your chickens look at… 😀
The chickens attention and body language look like my cats would be – ‘what they hey…!’
This is a great video and blog post! We have them in urban Houston, in our backyard, and I am glad to learn all of those nice things about them. We call them possums, and they haven’t corrected us yet. I figure they get in my compost pile and turn it forme a bit .
Yeah, always thought our American variety must be Irish (O’possum)
We have caught 4 raccoon and one possum so far in our live traps. Love the fun facts about possums!
In my experience, these things are always crawling with fleas–not fun if they take up residence in your crawl space.
Cool facts. For the record, possums will kill chickens if given the chance. They will reach through chicken wire and pull their heads off. They are particularly annoying when it comes to chickens because they don’t even eat the whole chicken, just the head. We had a whole flock decimated one night. Not so much fun.
I was trying to catch some skunks a while back, and kept catching possums instead. They are good to have around here in the city because they eat rats. That one seems to have left your chickens speechless with astonishment.
Ha, it is funny that I posted about my possum on the same day you posted about your opossum – hemispheres away but similar garden issues. http://laurarittenhouse.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/possum-box-update/
I am truly skeptical about the benefit opossums offer to vegetable gardens by eating overripe fruit. Really? In my garden nothing gets over-ripe, the possums like their food just under-ripe. Maybe opossums are better in that regard.
Either way, both are darlings and I’m glad you let your little captive go.
Yep, your chooks were fascinated. Aren’t they fun little beasties.
Geez Danny! Did not know all that about these critters…It was funny how vocal he was wanting to get out of that cage…Good video Danny!
Interesting facts, but I’m definitely one not fond of possums. The nature shows make them look so cute dangling from things by their tails, but I’ve seen their not so nice side. We’ve lost more chickens through the years from possums than any other critters.
We had some issues with a baby opossum stealing our chicken feed at night when we first got our coop set up (silly us bought a coop with 2×4″ wire on it rather than hardware cloth). That little baby could squeeze right through!
I really do think opossums are some of the most endearing little creatures. I love their wonky gait.
I’ve always thought those critters were stupid–and disgusting. Just overgrown rats. But I now have a new respect for them!
They’re biggest enemy in Los Angeles is the car because they can’t seem to cross the street.
I like the chicken reaction too! Funny! Will an opossum go for eggs, chicks, or chickens? We don’t have them here in the mountains so I am unfamiliar with their habits.
Reblogged this on Life after work.
You brought back some memories from our home! We had a terrible time with skunks for awhile! We put out a special enclosed trap. We didn’t want to open the trap too readily for fear that it was indeed a skunk–but no worries. We never got the skunks, just opossums! Strange little animals! I enjoyed the facts. As familiar as they are to our yard, I really didn’t know much about them!
i’m so glad to see someone else knows that opossums are great creatures, but just very opportunistic. and if we, as responsible chicken owners, don’t properly protect our flocks, it’s not the opossum’s fault… it’s our duty to keep our girls safe. 🙂 good job! and i also did some research on opossums long ago, and found out sadly that the babies can live on in the pouch even after the mom has been killed — so if you see one dead, don’t be afraid to check the pouch. there are lots of opossum rescue organizations who will rear the babies, not to mention individual wildlife rescues. love your posts!
Despite the fact that they look like giant rats, I kinda like having the ‘possums around.
I remember my first encounter with an opossum when I was young… I was intimidated by the number of very sharp looking teeth. We each turned and went our own way that day.
I’d swap one for a fox any day. I’d also swap our weather for yours too. Things are starting to grow here, wishing you luck this year in your gardening.
Awww. We used to have an albino possum hanging around our old suburban house. We’d be out on the patio and he’d climb around right next to us, stealing the neighbor’s grapes. He was kind of fun to watch. ‘Course, we didn’t have any chickens to protect back then!
Lovely! We had one that visited us regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was an albino….Liked the chickens too!
What a great little fact sheet you’ve created! I have learned a lot about these critters from your post. I love the video, too!
When I was young i had the good fortune to raise one up until adulthood. My dog was a notorious for bringing live animals home in its mouth. Fascinating stuff!
I love this post because we had a possum too – in our attic. He accessed it through the garage but we had no idea how. We did catch him in a Have-a-Heart trap and released him further away. Thanks for all the information about them. Interesting!
About 30 years ago, after moving to a suburban home, I put table scraps out for a stray cat. My house cat would not tolerate a new brother or sister inside. After a week, an opposum began partaking of my home-cooking. I guess I pleased his taste buds, because he continued to visit for a couple years.
And thank you for visiting 1950 Memories of Suburban Adventures and liking Cheap Mowers. Much appreciated.
Hi guys – I was interested in your story and research about the oppossum.
We have a big problem with possums in New Zealand, because they have become a terrible pest here. Our native environment has been so healthy for them that they are now enormous by world standards, with few preditors other than man. They are aggressive, and they destroy native trees by the thousand, stripping them bare. They eat our native birds eggs, and also the many (but dwindling) ground dwelling birds. It’s such a shame. Their fur is incredibly soft and warm though…
Hi Mark, We have the Virginia Opossum here in the US. You have a completely different class in New Zealand. It appears you’re at war with an invasion of more than 30 Million. Wow! This was an interesting read, thanks for the info: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/03/new-zealands-war-on-30-million-possums/273606/
Thanks for sharing this stuff about Kiwi possums. I’d always thought they were natives to NZ but, now that I realise we exported them to you from Aus, I’m much more sympathetic to your plight. Funny how a pest becomes a sweet little protected thing when it’s native and a nasty vermin in need of eradication when it’s not.
We love possums. In fact, our dog Sheba had a friendly encounter with one. We find them to be okay here in the Northeast, as long as you tread carefully and leave them alone. Ellie
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