Dear readers: The below article was written by a freelance writer with no real expertise , so it contains several mistakes. A nice woman who is a wildlife rehabber wrote to me with some corrections. Here's what she wrote:
Most possums are docile; when they show their teeth, those of us who know FACTS about possums call that their 'smile'- possums will not usually bite but will smile in hopes that you will be intimidated and leave them alone. I have handles a lot of possums that my dogs have cornered in my yard and moved them to a spot where they can escape. The ONLY possums that have threatened to actually bite are adolescent possums. And like many teenagers, they have an attitude. Even so, a properly scruffed possum will not be able to bite you and can be safely moved.
Possums do NOT carry a plethora of diseases and in fact have a body temperature too low to get rabies. I don’t generally have heavy leather gloves available to pop on and they would in fact make it more difficult to safely scruff the possum to control it. With a baby you can just scruff. With bigger possums they need support under their butts so the scruffing is more control than full support. Please learn the truth about possums. The only disease they carry that causes problems is something that affects horses. I have no problem with possums in my yard. They eat ticks and are harmless to most animals. There y usually bite as a last resort and usually faint before biting (yes, their playing dead is an actual physiological response, bony a chosen action). Possums have complicated diets and so are not good pets- they are prone to metabolic bone disease and if fed only dog or cat food it will cause them to develop mbd.
And who told you it is illegal to relocate a possum? What do you think wildlife rehabber do once it is old enough to take care of itself? You should educate yourself before putting up a website of poor advice and misinformation. Did you know that if you see a dead possum that is fairly fresh you should check her pouch to see if she has babies, and if she does, remove them to take to a wildlife rehabber? Can't do that wearing heavy gloves. Nitrile yes, but not leather.
Possums are a useful and good part of a healthy ecosystem. Nuisance possums should be relocated to another area, not killed. There is no such thing as an area having "too many" possums. They will relocate themselves to another area on their own if there isn’t enough food.
Here is the original article written by the freelance writer who lacks real knowledge:
here are many wild animals that you may come in contact with where you might feel compelled to grab it with your hands. For example, people frequently find birds that are hurt or sick, pick them up and carry them home to care for them. They nurse them back to health, and the bird flies away to live its life with great success.
It is a good feeling to know that you have helped this animal to be nursed back to health and to be able to go and live its life free and healthy once again. However, you should be aware that there should be some limitations to your generosity and your desire to be acting as a nurse made to these animals. You can get a lot of illnesses or get hurt by picking up a wild animal, and the opossum is a great example of this.
While many animals have been domesticated, this is not one of them. What this means is that these animals will act as any wild animal would; meaning they will do what they need to so that they can protect themselves. This should be your first warning about not picking them up.
Some are forced into a circumstance where they have to get a possum out of their home or other property building. The animal may get into their attic or actually enter into the home and so they are forced to try to capture it and get it out of the house. This leads to the question of if it is safe to handle an opossum with your bare hands?
Let’s go back to the wild animal premise to start out with. A wild animal will scratch and claw and bite to get free. If you are using your bare hands to try to grab that animal, you can be sure it is going to attack and bite you. The last thing you want is a bite or scratch mark from one of these animals. This cut can easily get infected or the opossum can cause a very serious injury to you. This is why you should never use your bare hands.
You should also be aware that many opossum’s carry diseases such as rabies. If they bite or scratch you, you have just been infected with whatever it is that they are carrying as a disease. This makes it incredibly dangerous for you.
Some may think that they are all brave or tough and so they don’t need to use gloves, but if you are considering doing this you should be aware that the health risks to yourself are numerous and quite serious. This is not a risk that any intelligent person should take.
If you are forced to handle an opossum with your hands, then you need to ensure that you have on very thick, durable gloves that would not be easy to penetrate. All of your exposed skin should be covered with a durable material as well.
Read more:
Opossum Control,
How to Get Rid of Opossums,
Opossum Feces.
