Co-existing with Possums

[downen]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I’m shocked that there are apparently killer possums out there… the few I’ve see over the years seem very laid back.

Rest assured, I have secured my barn against the possum onslaught, and will not be feeding them or providing them with heated possum huts or such. I’m sure they will get tired of discarded bird seed and move on down the road, or get killed on it, as we live on a busy road.

My takeaway from this thread is that maybe 85% of you think possums are monsters who kill chickens, cats and possibly small children, and 15% think they are the accidental EPM plague-spreaders who only kill bugs and have super cute babies that sometimes need to be orphaned.

Just keeping it light, I really do appreciate the feedback. I told my husband, if there are possum experts out there, they’ll be on COTH.

Happy Holidays, All!

[4horses]

I like possums. Just not on my property or near my horses. I saw one the other night and promptly herded him off the property. He can roam the neighbor’s woods.

The local state park desperately needs possums because you can easily pull 100 ticks off your horse after a ride. It’s only the one park with a tick problem…but the deer flies are so bad at the other park, everyone ends up riding there. I have to dip my horses legs before and after riding…check myself after every ride. The horses need sports boots to protect from chiggers or mites. I would prefer possums to that!

[S1969]

Possums are nomadic. It’s not natural for them to stay in one location and it goes against their other (primordial) instincts. So without getting into the discussion about horses and EPM, I would not encourage feeding them because it’s not how they live. They aren’t very intelligent to begin with, so I would leave them alone to fend for themselves.

Whether you can peacefully co-exist with them – most of us already do. The idea that people “shoot them on sight” is silly, since most of their activity is at night - therefore you rarely see them. But they are there. I definitely would not want them in/around my barn, since that is how my horses could be affected - so keeping feed and cat food locked up is important. But I’m sure they wander through on occasion though. Since I see them every now and then, I can only assume many other nights there are opossums around that I don’t see.

[moonlitoaksranch]

S1969, that’s a good point. When I was going through the possum orphan training, they said they spend only about 2-3 nights in the same nest before moving on. I should mention that, because they are omnivores, their poop stinks. They love bugs, fruit, cat food, garbage, etc… You would know if it was in your hay. Their poop is akin to pig poop.

The urine is going to be in any and all pastures in states where possums are common. That’s a fact of life. The university vet told me that every horse down here in the Southeast is exposed to possum urine, especially in Florida. Some get EPM, but most do not. But, if you feed your horse in feeders, you lessen the risk significantly. The possums that come into our barn aren’t interested in new, fresh hay. They root around in the old fallen hay in the cow barn, where the bugs live.

One more thing to remember; possums don’t get rabies (actually, I think there has been one reported case in the last 100 years). Their body temperature is too low. That’s why I like rescuing them.

More possum info:

https://opossumsocietyus.org/faq-opossum/

[wildlifer]

Possums are not the devil. - Wildlife biologist

Also, just FYI, outdoor cats can also carry EPM as an intermediate host.

Securing feed is just a good idea in general.

[dotneko]

I am thoroughly sick of seeing the opossum memes on facebook about their redeeming qualities and how they are North America’s only marsupial as if carrying their vermin spawn in a pouch somehow gives them a pass. They are the devil as far as I am concerned and the only good one is a dead one. The last 8 years of his life my Grand Prix horse was affected by a neurological deficit. It cost me tens of thousands of dollars and heartache trying to fix him. EPM is a horrible disease.
And cats cannot spread the virus to horses - they are an intermediate host, not the definitive host.

[S1969]

@dotneko

I am thoroughly sick of seeing the opossum memes on facebook about their redeeming qualities and how they are North America’s only marsupial as if carrying their vermin spawn in a pouch somehow gives them a pass. They are the devil as far as I am concerned and the only good one is a dead one. The last 8 years of his life my Grand Prix horse was affected by a neurological deficit. It cost me tens of thousands of dollars and heartache trying to fix him. EPM is a horrible disease.
And cats cannot spread the virus to horses - they are an intermediate host, not the definitive host.

Well, for everyone aside from horse owners, there is nothing bad about opossums. Sick of the mems or not, it’s true.

[McGurk]

And poultry owners. If you raise poultry, you are not a fan of possums either.

I have horses and poultry, so I’m really not a fan. I don’t go out of my way to harm them, but it there’s a possum breaking into the chicken coop, it’s gone. In the hay barn? Also gone. Anywhere else? Live long and prosper, little weird dude - just don’t come around my chickens and horses.

Someone has finally posted a wonderful refutation of the possum PR; debunking the tick eating claims and mentioning the EPM link.

[dotneko]

@S1969

Well, for everyone aside from horse owners, there is nothing bad about opossums. Sick of the mems or not, it’s true.

True, but horsemen shouldn’t be glorifying them. Most of the time the meme is spread by a horse friend.

[pn]

I lost my beloved, special horse of a lifetime to EPM last summer. It’s a horrible, devestaing crippling disease. It absolutely broke my heart to see this magnificent, powerful horse succumb to this horrible disease. Until then, I was of the live and let live nature. NOW, I hate, hate hate opossums. Once you see a horse die from epm, you can never unsee how their body wastes away, they have to slowly get organized just to walk, can lo longer move freely in their stall to pee and poo,
pits just horrible and broke my heart

[S1969]

@McGurk

And poultry owners. If you raise poultry, you are not a fan of possums either.

Yes but if you own chickens, you need to fence out predators of all kinds. I don’t have chickens and one big reason is I think the birds of prey in my area would pick them off one by one. (This happened when I kept pigeons for hunting dog training). Every area has specialized small predators that will kill chickens…for my best friend it was foxes and hawks. Other people I know have had bigger issues with fishers and smaller members of the weasel family.

[Ruth0552]

@wildlifer or @Moonlitoaks I’m just curious. If you know you have a possum around, is it possible to use a dewormer on the possum to lessen the chances of it spreading the EPM parasite in it’s feces? Obviously that would have to be done very carefully, but if it was possible I would definitely consider lacing some cat food with a dewormer.

[moonlitoaksranch]

That’s an interesting question. My orphans get the recommended dewormer from our local wildlife vet before they released. I should ask if it is effective against the protozoans that commonly cause EPM. I suspect not, though, since protozoan infections are difficult to treat.

Another source of infection for horses is streams or ponds in pastures. If you block these off and feed off the ground, clean up old hay in sheds and stalls, (which attract bugs that possums eat) you really reduce the risk.

[McGurk]

@S1969

Yes, owning poultry means you have to be constantly vigilant against all sorts of predators. In my neighborhood, it’s hawks, owls, skunks, raccoons, coyotes, fox and weasels as well as possums. We’ve had poultry for 10 years, up to 100 birds at a time and are constantly refining our predator proofing. If we have a predator loss (which is rare) the first step we take is to reinforce and secure the enclosure, not go on a predator killing rampage.

The thing that bothers me is that the positive possum PR that was making the rounds on FB contained a lot of inaccuracies: yes, possums eat ticks. The ones that they find while grooming. They don’t hunt ticks; and ticks are not a major part of their diet. So saying possums are wonderful because they eat ticks is silly. And the “up to 4,000 ticks a day” is just ridiculous. (If you live in an area where it’s possible for 4,000 ticks to land on a possum’s body per day…move. Immediately.)

No, they don’t carry rabies because their body temperature is too low. Yes, they carry lots of other diseases. As do lots of other wild animals.

The possum PR makes them sound cute, cuddly and Disneyfied. The facts are that they are ominvores, predators and carrion eaters. They absolutely will eat poultry, especially young poultry, if they can get at them.

So if I see possums in the woods or anywhere on the property EXCEPT inside the poultry enclosures or the hay barn; I am fine with it: live and let live. I am not fine with them in the hay barn or inside the poultry enclosures.

[SLW]

The way I co-exist with possums is to live trap them then relocate them to a state wildlife area. They get to live and I’ve reduced my horses EPM risk. There is no other way to coexist, IMO.

[endlessclimb]

@SLW

The way I co-exist with possums is to live trap them then relocate them to a state wildlife area. They get to live and I’ve reduced my horses EPM risk. There is no other way to coexist, IMO.

Please note, relocating nuisance animals is illegal in many parts of the US.

[tabula_rashah]

We have one who has taken up residence under our front porch. We don’t feed it and we don’t leave any type of feed out that it could be getting into- cats and dogs are fed inside only and horses are boarded. Other than the dog barking at it occasionally, I just ignore it. Come next summer when the kittens will start to be allowed short outside visits, the possum will get evicted somehow if it hasn’t left on its own.

[Mosey_2003]

@McGurk

@S1969The thing that bothers me is that the positive possum PR that was making the rounds on FB contained a lot of inaccuracies: yes, possums eat ticks. The ones that they find while grooming. They don’t hunt ticks; and ticks are not a major part of their diet. So saying possums are wonderful because they eat ticks is silly. And the “up to 4,000 ticks a day” is just ridiculous. (If you live in an area where it’s possible for 4,000 ticks to land on a possum’s body per day…move. Immediately.

Yes, that’s what I mean. I’ve seen the word “hoovers” used in regards to their tick-eating, I mean come on. They aren’t out there sucking up bugs like an Aardvark. I get that they don’t want people shooting them all on sight just because they’re an opossum, but I don’t like the over-Disneyfied stuff going on either.

@SLW

The way I co-exist with possums is to live trap them then relocate them to a state wildlife area. They get to live and I’ve reduced my horses EPM risk. There is no other way to coexist, IMO.

Not only is that illegal, it’s not really a kindness to the animal either; they don’t know where to find food and water where they’re taken, and they might be getting dropped right into another animal’s territory and end up fighting or being killed.

[dog_amp_horsemom]

I have lived on the same farm for over 27 years and so far, knock on wood, I have not had a case of EPM , and nobody in my very horsey neighborhood has either. we have Many opossums and raccoons as well as a fox family and a transient coyote from time to time. Many hawks also. I am facebook friends with a opossum rehabber and expert as well as she has horses. She wrote a paper about the Unlikely fact that your horse will get EPM from opossums and that a barn cat is just as likely to carry EPM as any mammal. I asked my equine Vet if this was true and she said Yes. I have two cats, but, they are NOT barn cats, they live indoors. If I did have a barn cat I would provide a litter box as I have seen a friends cat constantly use her hay room as a bathroom ( ugh ). EPM exists in areas where there are zero opossums. It is illegal to trap and transport wildlife and it is also equivalent to taking a neighbors nuisance dog and dumping it somewhere else. If an opossum gets in your chicken coop - well, you need to practice good husbandry and build a better one or secure it better. Bring your cat good in at night. Our neighborhood has very little cats, all feral cats are trapped and taken to the shelter. That could be why we do Not have EPM in our neighborhood. We have lots of horses in the area, different types of feeding methods and enclosures and many opossums. I have no problem from them what so ever.

[McGurk]

She wrote a paper about the Unlikely fact that your horse will get EPM from opossums and that a barn cat is just as likely to carry EPM as any mammal. I asked my equine Vet if this was true and she said Yes. I have two cats, but, they are NOT barn cats, they live indoors. If I did have a barn cat I would provide a litter box as I have seen a friends cat constantly use her hay room as a bathroom ( ugh ). EPM exists in areas where there are zero opossums.

All that is true, but that leaves out the KEY fact that possums are the intermediate host that transmits the disease to horses. Cats,skunks and raccoons can’t transmit the disease to horses directly, it must pass through the intermediate host.

Yes, most horses are exposed and only a few get the disease, but in all cases in horses, possums are the vector animal.