Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Biggest possum I ever saw

My dog started raising hell a while ago, which is something that he'll do three or four times a day. Hardly anything escapes his notice, and especially anything out in back of the house. There's about an acre and a half of open area, then a tree line and some woods and a creek. I see plenty of deer and other stuff back there pretty frequently. I've never seen hogs back there in the 18 years we've been here, and had never seen coyotes until earlier this week (I've always known they're around, they get crocked and sing at night with some regularity). I've made up my mind that the coyotes' days are numbered...I just won't tolerate 'em. Other critters I've seen include lots of squirrels, armadillos, and the occasional fox and even a bobcat now and then.

So anyway, Rocky stated raising hell so I went to investigate. The biggest possum I ever saw was crossing the clearing and headed out of the woods and up toward the house. I figured he was probably coming this way to get under my house, and I do not approve of that. I headed out there to run him off. By the time I got out there he had gotten under my boat. Yelling and throwing a few stones at him seemed to make no impression, so I grabbed a stick and started poking at him and he came out from under the boat but was adamantly refusing to vacate the area. More pokes with the stick elicited only lots of slobbering and hissing, him facing me head-on the whole time. I think this critter was acting a little strange for a possum, displaying no fear, being out in broad daylight, slobbering all over the place, and showing NO tendency to "play possum," which is supposedly an involuntary behavior for them.

I didn't want to harm the thing but I didn't want him hanging around, either, and poking him with the stick was making no impression on him so I started bopping him lightly between the ears with the stick. The first few times he did not react much, so I whacked him just a little harder four or five times---not enough to harm him, just enough to change his attitude for the better. He finally took the hint and trotted back down into the woods about 50 yards away and disappeared.

This darned thing was about twice the size of any possum I had ever seen before. Maybe I had only seen juveniles in the past, I dunno...could be, but I'd guess he weighed about 20 pounds. His head was nearly as big as Rocky's (American Eskimo, or Spitz), and Rocky weighs about 28. According to several conflicting sources, possums do not ever or do but only very rarely contract rabies. The atypical behavior has me wondering.

I don't want to have to kill the thing, but no one or no thing stays under my house without paying rent.

I wonder just how big these damned things can get.

Last year i had the front door open, just the glass storm door closed
I worked a late shift so was maybe 1 am, chillin in front room w TV.

Light from the room shining out the door, illuminating something passing by. It was a possum
When his head exited left of the door, his butt had yet to appear on the right.

Ive seen big possums and this was the biggest.
Ran into back room and grabbed a recurve and jumped outside.

He was gone. Dunno where he went

Neighbor lady said shoot em w .22 no matter the time of night. She hates em.

It was explained to me that a possum has a lower body temperature than other mammals, so low that it cannot support the rabies virus.

I have no hatred towards possums. To me, they're inoffensive critters that pose no threat. But then, I don't raise chickens or ducks. I wouldn't mind if one made a snack of the noisy rooster across the street. LOL!

They get a pass on my property.

After my last possum experience that got a little western with a .22 inside a garage, all possums will now be dealt with via centerfire, preferably one starting with .4. Just saying, they can be harder than you think to kill. Or maybe that one was possessed, regardless, bigger hammer.

We have an opossum rather large that lives under the jenga of our 15 cord wood pile.

She/He eats cheap cat food with our 3 barn cats. All seem to ‘get along’

Only time I’ll kill them is when theyre caught in my sweet corn.

I have ponies, so I’d kill every one that crossed my fence if I had the creepy things

They're pretty chill for a wild animal... all bark, no bite. I seriously think the only way one would ever bite is if you stuck your hand in thier mouth. If you pick them up by the scruff, they just go dead limp.

Last one I shot came walking out of my shed with a green smile and a rat poison block in his mouth. I went ahead and spared him the pain.

We've got a big old scraggly one now that comes around the yard several times a week. I had to walk out the other morning and tell him to beat it, as he was digging around about 10 yards in front of the front porch and there was about to be a rowdy little PitBool coming down the steps to do her business. He blinked at me for a while before I finally convinced him to climb a sapling. Not sure how those things survive their full 4-5 year life expectancy.

Hate em.
Bastards would get in my coon sets when trapping as a kid.
$25 dollar coon? Nope, a $1.50 possum.

Nest predators, ground nesting birds numbers are extremely low.

Friend had one get into the garage and turned the seat of his snowmobile into foam pieces an inch square or so.

I was hoping for pics Rider

If he comes back, I may well post pics...but I won't guarantee his health status.

I thought briefly about pics as I was trying to persuade him to leave, but there wasn't anything nearby to provide perspective for judging his size. Now, if I can get my wife to---ohhh, never mind. LOL.

Honestly, I'd leave him alone if Rocky wasn't so alert and vocal. If that damned thing gets under the house Rocky will know it and he'll never stop yelling about it. He can hear what's going on down there through the duct work.

My labradors rough up several a year. They do the “play possum” game.

I’ll haul em down to the dead end road minus the dogs.

One exception, I tossed one in the back of the pickup and decided I would show my daughter that it wasn’t deaddt, I gave it fling out into our catfish pond. Well bout the same time that possum hit the water, my black and yellow labs cleared the bank and did what labs do. Facepalm🤦🏻🤣
We had to haul that one to the end of the road too. ✅

LOL!!



Ooops.

I used to hate them. Still don't like them. I trapped a lot in my younger days. As hookeye referenced, there are few things more frustrating on the trapline than finding a worthless possum in that perfect raccoon, mink, fox, or coyote set. I think they are so hard to kill because their brain is so small.

True tale:
My dad grew up in the Ozarks during the Depression. Routine activity for him was catching live racoons and/or opossums. Late one night put a coon AND a opossum under a wash tub to keep til next morning. When he removed the tub next morning the coon was dead and opossum just grinned at him... and was given it's freedom!

I was expecting a pic of Stacy - oh wait... not a possum?

Yeah, ^^^ ditto