Opossums

[Learning To Fly]

Originally Posted by stmelangell

I shudder to think how many opossums get tossed in a garbage can, survive on refuse til trash day, and then get crushed to death in the garbage truck.

'K, now I want to cry...that breaks my heart to think about.

And I know, I say that a lot...I have been told many times that I am overly sensitive because I will tear up over so many things...I just think to myself that if I ever get to the point where things DON'T get to me any more, it's time to change occupations.

[Getting too old]

Don’t even get me started on the things people have done to “rabid” opossums. I had one where a person had hired somebody to clean up her yard. In the process, he disturbed an opossum, and it ran across the street where some fool shot it because it was out in the daylight. I had some other moron beat one to death with a hammer. Those are some of the reasons I never pass up an opportunity to educate.

[ACO in Greenville,TX]

People in general are ignorant about wildlife. We had a day back in July when we recieved numerous calls about skunks being out in the daytime. It was one of those nice days, it'd been raining in the morning, was extremely overcast and the temps were still cool and not 100+. We don't get many of those but people just couldn't understand why the skunks would be out unless they were rabid.

Oh and then there was the afternoon when it rained really hard and we recieved another batch of skunk calls. Nobody understood when we told them that they were probably flooded out of their nest.

I really liked the skunk call from the casket manufactorer that wanted the skunk removed because it might spray. They really didn't like the idea that if we came to remove it, it would spray. I guess they just thought we would come out and pick it up and whisper to it and it wouldn't spray.

Oh and most of the filthy oppossums I've dealt with there either covered in cat food or garbage. I did take three nice and clean ones off my mom's porch one night, but that was off duty.

[Caninelaw]

I actually got a guy on a 597 once on an opossum. The reporting party said he had thrown rocks at it until he killed it. He claimed that he had uncovered it cleaning out the lot for him trailer and it scared him so he threw one rock at it. I had the Vet examine it and there were at least 5 different blunt trauma injuries to it. He pled guilty to a "lesser" charge. Don't remember what it was but he got a fine and probation.

[Learning To Fly]

I grew up near Portland, Oregon, where opossums were everywhere, and I miss that so much! We never got very near one that was still alive (though we saw countless HBC's)...but one once scared the CRAP out of me and my brothers-we were home alone, watching 'Salem's Lot on tv (which Dad had expressly forbid us from watching while he was gone, so of course...) For those unfamiliar, the movie is about vampires, and they could float up to windows to peer in with glowing eyes and call their victims to their doom. Well, halfway through the movie we saw two shiny eyes looking at us through the window, a window that was at least 8-9 feet off the ground! Then they disappeared, and reappeared a few minutes later! This repeated itself several times, and we, being around eleven, ten, and eight years old, pretty much decided 'Salem's Lot was a true story and we were about to be vampired! After a few rounds of 'you go look' 'no way-you're the oldest, you go look' we decided we would ALL go look, and what we found when we collectively peeked out the door was a 'possum sitting on the very tall woodpile we all had forgotten was under the window! Of course, we all claimed "I knew it all the time, I was just trying to scare YOU" but I will say we watched the rest of the movie with the curtains closed!

[stmelangell]

Originally Posted by Learning To Fly

... a 'possum sitting on the very tall woodpile we all had forgotten was under the window!

I can totally see that.

Originally Posted by Learning To Fly

'K, now I want to cry...that breaks my heart to think about.

And, you know, I thought about not mentioning that in the post, because if it hadn't occurred to people, maybe it was just as well it hadn't occurred to them. But then I decided y'all are professionals, and information sticks where it ought to. Well, no, actually. Truthfully, I decided to welcome y'all to the he11 of my head, sorry about that. They used to call it "morbid melancholia." I call it "thinking things all the way through," and it's a wonder I can look at a field being mowed or mechanically baled hay or a dumpster in the rain any more. Come, Lord Jesus! Creation weeps, all awaiting Thee.

[Learning To Fly]

Originally Posted by stmelangell

I thought about not mentioning that in the post, because if it hadn't occurred to people, maybe it was just as well it hadn't occurred to them. But then I decided y'all are professionals, and information sticks where it ought to

I think things like that ought to be mentioned...I don't wish to live my life shielding my eyes from the harsher parts of the world, because only when we face things are we able to change/improve things. Especially concerning things I have had little to no experience with, I appreciate even the sad stories, because I then learn how I can help to prevent such an incident in the future.

[BernCo_Geo]

Havent had to deal with Opossums yet. Plenty of skunks. Funny how alot of people believe more into myths then they do with actuall facts. LOL! had a man tell me if u pick up a skunk by its tail and it doesnt spray then its a female. Because only males have the tools to shoot out the stinky stuff.

[Getting too old]

I feel it is worth mentioning that of all the opossums I have pulled from trash cans and dumpsters, they have all gotten themselves in there of their own volition, dumpster diving for food, and then couldn’t get back out again. They were all discovered when a resident was taking out their trash, and saw something looking back at them from the can. Many of these people don’t even know what an opossum is, and they call up in a panic going “I have the mother of all rats in my trash can!”

I’m sure it is possible that people have trashed them thinking they were dead, but I have no first hand knowledge of it happening.

[stmelangell]

Originally Posted by Getting too old

“I have the mother of all rats in my trash can!”

I know, isn't that what we all thought the first time we saw one? It's like, "OMG, that rat must weigh 20 pounds!!!"

Originally Posted by Getting too old

I’m sure it is possible that people have trashed them thinking they were dead, but I have no first hand knowledge of it happening.

In five years at Marin, I went out to at least four or five "I threw it away last night and now it's making noises in there!" calls. But that was Marin, where the brains are few and far between, the hands are lily-white, and the opossums are nervous ...