Studies in Suburban Wildlife

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We had a visitor on the back fence this morning, when my daughter went out to let the chickens out of the coop …

Smile, 'Possum - you're on candid camera!
Smile, ‘Possum – you’re on candid camera!

10 thoughts on “Studies in Suburban Wildlife”

  1. You probably know, but just in case, those things kill a lot of chickens. People say raccoons are worse but I’m not convinced.

  3. We keep ours in at night, and the coop has hardware mesh sides and is set on concrete pavers, but yeah, opossums can be a danger to chickens. This is why we have kept Larry-Bird the rooster around.

  4. I liked the possums when we lived in Oz: we had one that lived in the lemon gum by our front door; he used to pee a proprietorial circle on our paving early in the morning. The Aussie one is a quite different creature of course. In terms of “nature” Australia is a different planet.

  5. My mother has a grape arbor next to one of her kitchen windows. A possum would occasionally visit at night, climb up the arbor and peer into the window. From the inside, a white face with red eyes against a black background. Rather creepy looking. Good photo.

  6. They come up on the deck every now and then, checking I suppose, to see if by chance we put anything out for the cat. Did see a mother transporting about six of her young (they rode side-saddle) in the middle of the day. Strode right across the yard, crossed the road headed I’d guess, towards the retention pond down the road.

  7. I think it’s coming around to eat the leftover chicken crumble, so it might be ready to lay an egg soon. It had the most interesting “oh s**t, not you again” look on its furry face when we met this morning when I was going to the chicken yard.

  9. Shoot on sight near the coop. A Crosman 760 with a .177 pellet pumped 10 times will kill them. That’s what I use here as one of my sons did not want to haul his (9 yr old Xmas present) around while he is in the Marines. When he eventually takes his, I’ll go buy a nitro venom airgun.

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