Possum question - don't know where to post

It's very unusual for an opossum to have rabies, but there has been a case (or more, it was years ago I heard of the first) documented. They also have had a positive rabbit, which is also a rarity.

We once had a possum running around our lower garden in the day time. He was just bold and rude about it and showed no fear of boys nor dogs. We left it alone and made a few calls. "Officials" said possums could not get rabies but that "sumpin" was most likely "wrong" since possums aught not be out in the daylight.

Few days later we found the possum dead in the garden! He was rude enough to die right smack in the middle of my mint bed so that meant no more eating the mint for the rest of the season. Just too gross.

Something must be "wrong" with the possum to be running around in the day time. Just watch and see if his dead body shows up in any mint patches.

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The first posum I ever saw was in brosd daylight, climbing the side of a dumpster..it was huge and in a bad mood..and so ugly. But harmless and just looking for a handout. Was fun watching him siddle up the side of a dumpster likeit was a tree.

A vet told me the possum is a marsupial and cannot get rabies.
By the way do you know the real reason the chicken crossed the road?
To show the possum it could be done.

Opossums may be harmless but they can put on a fierce show and dont always play dead. When we first moved here none of us had ever really been around opossums but I was trying to show the wife and MIL I knew my "country" stuff so when we had a large opossum in the bottoms floor of our barn I was going to "show" them how they would just play dead and I could pick it up by the tail and carry him out.

We all went into the barn with me in the lead, the wife behind me and the MIL behind her and I found him in a dark corner and approached only to have him hiss and scream like a ticked off wild cat and he was showing some impressive teeth. I screamed, the wife screamed, the MIL screamed and for an elderly lady the MIL almost beat me out of the barn.

We do see them sometimes during the day though, just usually not out in the open.

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http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/location/u...d_animals.html

This is from 2010, which is what I came up with on my search. There were 3 opossums tested positive that year alone.

Interesting to note that someone died from vampire bat rabies variant that year (Mexican immigrant) and that is also the year the 8-year-old girl survived after developing symptoms and being put into a medical coma. Her family and the nurses all had to get shots because they had possibly been exposed to her saliva....

If a usually nocturnal animal happens out in the day and finds it easier to get food (most people feed their animals outside in the morning) and less competition, they can change their habits. Look for signs of illness, like tremors, emaciation, staggering, circling, etc.

Want something else interesting? If an opossum is cross-eyed, it's because it is too fat! It's every opossums goal to be cross-eyed...

I just heard a story about a guy who died from rabies, but no one knew he had it.
He was also an organ donor, and at least one of the people who got transplants from him died also

http://www.digtriad.com/news/article...An-Outdoorsman

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/man-die...ry?id=18738264

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I do have a mint patch on the side of the house...will be watching closely. The thing has already broken one of my pretty flower pots.

Interesting thread, got me to look over the critter's wikipedia entry. I'd've thought their lifespan was longer, but there it was, 2 years or so in the wild, maybe 4 in captivity. My guess would be a real big one in the wild might start acting "funny" scavenging in daylight when it was nearing dying of old age of some sort of organ failure or such. But on the bright side, from Wikipedia, " In addition, opossums limit the spread of Lyme disease, as they successfully kill off most disease carrying ticks that feed on them. "

Yes they do come out in day light if they are hungry.We have one who comes on the back porch each nite.Put some bleach and some water in a spray bottle.When ya spray,they don,t like that at all.It was eating the cat,s food.

We used to live in a semi-rural area w possums, skunks, coyotes, foxes etc. And neighbors who wouldn't put up their cat and dog food. There was a big ol fat possum that we saw almost every morning as it crossed our yard and went into the elderly neighbor lady's yard next door. He had dug a way under her house and was staying there during most of the day. We offered to try to help her w the problem, but she didn't want anything done about it. When the bedroom over the possum sleeping quarters began to stink so bad she couldn't stand it she asked dh for help. He waited til the middle of the night and figured the possum was gone and boarded up the entrance with some metal. Possum came back for a few mornings before we didn't see it anymore.

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