Oh my goodness!!
 

I just took Marty and Madeline outside and while I was out a big HUGE possum walked by! This thing was bigger than Marty and Maddie combined! I think it must have been pregnant. It really scared me and I brought the puppies in, but I think it's just building a nest. I hope it isn't carrying anything that my babies could get... I don't think I want baby possums running around here....

They are not the prettiest animal are they?..lol

I think I would have freaked out. We have a lot of critters coming through our area, but we have not come across one of those yet. Thank goodness.....

Angie,

Read this. I googled getting rid of possums and found it:

Getting Rid of Possums
Post By ashlee (Guest Post) (01/07/2008)
I've done this many times nothing works except leaning a trash at a 35 to 40 degree angle on something with ripe fruit in it the possom will climb in for food but can not climb out thanxx this really works :D ily

Thanks Judy! I think I'd feel awful doing that if it's pregnant, but at the same time, I can't have a whole bunch of possums out there that could hurt or spread diseases to my Marty and Madeline. It's just a sad situation. :(

Yes, it is quite ugly! :p Especially with that huge belly...

I have a pregnant raccoon that lives with her hubby in the big tree behind my house, I can't let the girls out there alone, even with the big fence, it's very scary.

Opossoms young are born very, very small and are carried around in the mother's pouch for a while. I don't think that you'll have to worry about your babies finding a "nest" because there isn't one. Here's an article that explains about opossoms. If she looked pregnant then the babies are probably getting some size to them.

http://www.opossumsocietyus.org/opos...life_cycle.htm

You're right! I completely forgot about the fact that they wouldn't have a nest. Bren and I were talking about how they are the only marsupial in the US just this morning (while watching it come in and out of the neighbor's garage). So I guess that's why she looked so big. Wonder what she finds so interesting in the garage? :confused:

mm never saw posssums.. I don't think I did. Just becareful Angie..

I know what you mean about not wanting to hurt her if she's pregnant, but Maddie and Marty come first.

How about asking one of the science professors how to deal with the problem?

She's probably eating dog or cat food. I know that a lot of people will see them at their pet's dish.

Oh my!

Maybe if we tell the neighbors, they'll take care of it.

Judy, I don't know any of the science professors. I had an auditorium class for biology (way back in my first semester) and my geography weather and science professor probably wouldn't know what to do in this case. I might ask him anyway. He was a fun guy. I would like to find a way to get her to leave without hurting her or the babies.

I was a Biology major in grad school and brought in a (dead) bug I kept finding around the edges of my carpet. Yuck. He spent quite a lot of time finding a way for me to get rid of them without using toxins. Jessie was very young, and I had cats, and so on.

I didn't tell him that I had already called an exterminator and they told me what to do!

You guys are so funny!!! Here's something that happened at our house once--

We had a cat that had had kittens and our dog, Mollee, will kill kittens so we put the babies in a nice wooden box in a cage and had the door propped open so the mama cat could go in and out. We usually locked the mama cat in the cage at night to be with the babies and we had food in the cage for her as well. Well, we came home really late and we didn't have any lights on outside. My husband picked up the mama cat and put her in the cage for the night and locked the door. Anyway the next morning my husband went to let the cat out and there was a opossom in the cage with her and she did not look very happy about it either! I bet that poor cat stayed awake all night to keep an eye on her babies!!!

Oh my! I'd be horrified. That must have been a shock for you that morning!

My husband just laughed!! I'm sure it was a shock for the cat to be thrown in with the opossom!!!!! I think that he just turned it loose and it went on it's merry way!!!

I can't believe it got IN your house! YIKES! :eek:

Possums eeewwww. We had one once that we thought was dead. Called animal control and by the time he got there it was gone. He told us they really do play dead, that is where "playing possum" came from. Angie did M & M see it too? What was their reaction?

No, no, no, it didn't get in the house. The cage was outside. We don't have indoor cats only outside cats! That would have been really hysterical!!!

That possum won't ever be back to your house Diana!

Ohhh! I see. That wouldn't be nearly as bad as if it were inside. I'm just not used to the concept of outdoor cats. Mom is allergic so we never had cats at all. How old were the kittens? I bet they were so scared! :(

The kittens weren't very old, I think. It's been quite a while ago.

Angie, the trash can idea might really work, and then you could relocate the critter to a safer more remote location for her to raise her young. They won't be as likely to get runover.