January 22, 2018 - Pam and I trapped our resident opossum ("Poss") yesterday and took him to his new home on Highway 21. His last meal at our house was an apple we used to bait the trap and when we found him in it he didn't seem to know he was trapped. The fact that he had lived under our house for over a year proved that he was eating regularly. He loved bird feed, scraps of every kind and had a particular liking for watermelon.
When we took him out on the highway, he calmly sauntered into the woods seemingly unaffected by the new move. On our way back home, we began reminiscing about Poss and his time with us. "Do you think he'll find enough to eat in the woods?", Pam asked. "You know he's never lived in the wild before". After a lengthy conversation about him, I Googled "Opossums" on the internet and found out things I had never known.
Possums are nocturnal, sleep 18 or more hours every day and are still considered a delicacy for some people. I learned how to feed them, eat them, and bathe them. But the thing that was the most surprising to me was discovering how beneficial they are to have around the house. The question "How can I trap a possum" was answered thusly:
"Do not trap! Opossums are normally transient animals, staying only 2-3 days in an area before moving on. Removal is neither necessary nor desirable. If opossums were eliminated from an area, the population of rats, snakes and other pests would proliferate. Opossums serve an important role by controlling the unwanted, harmful pest population around our neighborhoods. So now we should ask you a question. After learning about the benefits opossums provide, why would you want to trap and remove an opossum?"
Now I'm sorry I trapped Poss. I don't know why I ever thought I had to. And if he ever finds his way back to our house, he’ll be welcome. He can eat all the snakes and rats he wants and I'll feed him watermelon every summer….
…and we'll treat him like family again.
