My wife told me that she has been hearing things under the floor, so after a few days of putting it off (never get in a hurry to take on an new project), I put some cheese in a couple of rat traps and also put some in a live trap. This morning when I checked the traps, sure enough there was a possum in the live trap and he was not happy. Sort of looked like this:
BTW, I did not take the above pictures but found them on the internet. They look just like the one I caught. The one I caught was a male and tried to bite though the cage. I dispatched him to go visit his long dead ancestors and then I tried to get his remains out of the cage. He died with a death grip on cage so had to pry his teeth loose. I find no joy at all when I have to put an animal down, would prefer to relocate them to another location but sometimes, they come back. Well, that is what my morning involved, how about yours? Hope you all have a great day, you hear?
I think, if I remember from my (years ago) classes, that opossums have a double row of teeth. Vicious critters... and definitely not my favorite. If you'd like some entertainment I think you can Google the Bar D Ranch (in Durango, CO) and hear Slim sing "The Possum Dies at Night" ( a take-off of "the Lion sleeps at night"). Personally, I'll eat (and have eaten) most anything, but I draw the line at possum!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I will go listen to that. I don't know how many teeth they have but I sure wouldn't want bit by one. They can bare those teeth and look quite vicious.
DeleteIt seems like once you had it caught in a cage you could have relocated it rather than just killing it. There must be some wild places around you where you could have released it. Of all the creatures I have caught and relocated I can't recall one that came back.
ReplyDeleteI have done that many times. Drove them about 5 or six miles away across a bridge over a creek and let them go. I swore in a couple of days they were back. I even thought of painting their tales so I could tell if they returned (grin). I am getting way too old to mess with them anymore. When they damage my place and chew my pipes, they got to go. The last time it cost us thousands of dollars to replace all the damage they caused. Now that I am in my mid 70's, I don't feel like crawling under the crawl space and working on the plumping, etc.
DeleteI understand your need to dispatch. These things are ugly and do lots of damage. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do
ReplyDeleteThanks JO. Yes, when they endanger life or damage property.
DeleteAs mean and dangerous as they are, and if they have done damage to your property, I wouldn't think twice about doing what you had to do. I felt differently about it when I was younger, but now in the later years I think there comes a time when you should put yourself before such an animal. Ya done good, Diz!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gypsy, I really hate to hurt or kill anything, but sometimes it is better to do so.
DeleteQuite frankly I would have done the same thing. My well being and that of my home is more important than an animal.
ReplyDeleteI recall when John Wells drove some possum three miles ( I am guessing) away from his home in the desert and that possum came back and killed his rooster.
You did the right thing.
Just like I replied to Mr. Smith's comment, I have tried that several times before. Thank you for agreeing with me. I hate to kill animals, so thanks for your comment.
DeleteOur last invasion was a skunk. Having relocated a HUGE squirrel earlier in the year (don't know if it came back from 6 miles away), we did not want to either shoot or move the skunk. Had to hire a pro - $140, thank you very much. At least he did return our live trap.
ReplyDeleteI've been told that relocating is not so good anyway, as the new creature will probably be killed as a usurper by others already in that location.
Dang, I sure am glad I didn't catch a skunk in my trap. They can wage chemical warfare. . .
DeleteHad a few run-ins with Mr. 'possum myself. Got one in the house and it wasn't fun. Glad you got rid of it!
ReplyDeleteI hope it didn't have large family under my house. Everything is quiet now, so maybe he was just a bachelor.
DeleteAs the saying goes, better him than you:)
ReplyDeleteYou got that right.
Delete