[9 m&m]

I live out in the country and opossums are everywhere!!! I usually kill them with one of those dinky daisy pump BB guns but it doesnt seem to kill them fast enough. A .22 would be too loud (unless if you use colbris and they are about the same as a pellet gun) so i need a quiet and powerful something to kill them with . Any suggestions??????:D

[Carlos Cabeza]

Why is the noise level an issue if you live out in the "sticks" ????? A BB gun ain't what I'd call humane for an indigenous marsupial but hey 't'ain't none "o" my bidness . :)
I live in rural OK. myself, the last 'possum I euthanized was with a .223, It kinda went "POOF" .:D I mean POOFPOOFPOOFPOOFPOOFPOOFPOOF !:D

[sm]

Have used a variety of firearms. Out in the country where I go...firearms discharging is part of the natural setting.

Model 70 in '06 is effective and quiet...Oppossum couldn't hear a thing:p
"Misty"
( thanks Art , I really like this term :) )

Single shot 22lr are just great for critter control, mine has "dispatched" critters with 22 shorts,longs and long rifles.
Marlin 60 is another staple to have in the country.

[Greybeard]

Crossbow. Thwack/Thump! Then go get the shovel. (If you've done your part properly.)

[NRA4LIFE]

Can you use Connibear traps where you are? 220's or even 110's would work. Possum are about as easy to catch as anything. Even a live trap would work. Bait it with something stinky. Canned sardines usually do the trick.

[Greybeard]

Yep, quite easy to catch in live trap. Just caught one last week using dry cat food in "squirrel-size" box trap. Possums, in my environment, are a critter that get released if caught while traps are set for skunks or 'coons. Unless they are of such disposition that they intentionally show me a bunch of teeth. ;)

[mete]

A subsonic 22lr in a rifle is VERY quiet. Other than that use a bow.

[MeekandMild]

Possum is a low tech critter, more of a reptile than a mammal in its ability to avoid death. Any native with a knife, club or spear can kill one. The difficulty comes in making it edible.

[Sisco]

Meekandmild beat me to it.
Baseball bats are quiet.

[9 m&m]

I have to be very quiet because even though i live in the country i still have close neighbors all around me. The BB gun i am using goes about 750 fps and goes clean through their skull, but it just doesnt make enough thump to kill em good enough plus its too small, .177 caliber

[Double Naught Spy]

So why are you killing them? 'possums don't carry rabies and do a good service of eating a lot of unwanted things like carrion and larvae on carrion. Additionally, they compete with 'coons for many of the same resources and 'coons can carry rabies like most other less primitive mammals. There isn't much threat of other zoonotic diseases (a disease that can cross species lines) as 'possums are either too different to carry many of the potential maladies that might transfer, or they have developed immunity to them. That is the case with rabies. Rabies in 'possums is extremely rare. You are probably more likely to encounter a family of albino 'possums than one with rabies.

'possums are definitely on the low tech end of the scale, but hardly reptilian. While they may be low tech, they have biologically managed to remain viable. In general, marsupials (an 'possum is one) have a good 125 million years of evolutionary history, about 31 times longer than that of the hominids (such as humans and direct and indirect ancestors).

So while 'possums may never make MENSA and are terribly well prepared to deal with fast moving environmental threats such as cars on roads, rifles, etc., they have survived for a very long time. They are very good at being 'possums and the strategy has worked well enough to make them one of the absolute longest running chains of mammals that exist today. Contrary to the scientific creationists who put humans with dinosaurs, marsupials did actually exist at the same time as dinosaurs.

[Carlos Cabeza]

I don't kill them uneccessarily. I only killed the one recently because it wanted to "move in" around the house and the darn thing really agitated my dogs. I don't want or need the additional vet bills. When the garbage gets strewn all over the yard the dogs forget everything they have "learned" about "STAY OUT OF THE GARBAGE !!!!" :D So I fertilized the yard with it. If you see them during the daytime, there is probably something wrong with it. They are a nocturnal creature and rarely show themselves in daylight. Didn't know they don't carry rabies, thanks for the additional info DNS.

[redneck]

A subsonic load out of a longer barreled .22 isn't really any louder than the daisy BB gun pumped up all the way. I've been pretty happy with Remington Subsonic HP's, 38 grain lead hollowpoint going about 1100 fps.

[mete]

"'possums don't carry rabies " ?? Any mammal can carry rabies. There have been deer ,horses, sheep etc with rabies. The major carriers however are racoons and foxes. And you don't have to be bitten to get rabies since the disease is in the saliva .If he licks his fur and you touch the fur you can get it.

[Matt G]

A BB gun will NOT kill an opossum reliably. They will, however, try to convince you that they will, by rolling over and "playing 'possum."

Having shot a couple with .22's and finding them scuttling away a while later, I can tell you that they're tougher than they look.

That said, opossums are pretty harmless nocturnal bug and carrion eaters. I let 'em be, these days. (Lord knows I can't bring myself to imagine eating one of those oversized rats! I know it's done by some, but... shudder)

[bobby68]

are possums mammals?... is a marsupial a mammal too.. ?

[c_yeager]

are possums mammals?... is a marsupial a mammal too.. ?

Yes, and yes.

By definition a marsupial is a mammal with a pouch, thus all marsupials are in fact mammals.

Oposums have a certain amount of resistance to rabies (and many other diseases) as a result of a body temperature that is too low to support the virus. Now, resistant is not quite the same thing as immune. They CAN get rabies, but it is pretty rare.

[Zeke Menuar]

'Possums get a bum rap. They are a simple harmless creature. Unless they are trying to set up shop in the trash can or under the house I let them be.

Now if I could only hunt seagulls. F**king flying rats. There is a bona-fied grade A pest.

ZM

[Kingcreek]

'Possums get a bum rap.
I agree. What other animal do you know that will grin at ya while eatin the bunghole outta a skunk!

[trapperjohn]

And you don't have to be bitten to get rabies since the disease is in the saliva .If he licks his fur and you touch the fur you can get it. :scrutiny: :scrutiny:

[Art Eatman]

Rabies is transmitted via saliva into the bloodstream. A bite can accomplish this. Absent open sores or cuts on one's hands, mere handling of licked fur won't transmit anything into the bloodstream.

Art

[Zeke Menuar]

I agree. What other animal do you know that will grin at ya while eatin the bunghole outta a skunk!

He's waiting for you to get him a bottle of Tabasco. Ketchup probably isn't strong enough to drown out the skunk scent.

I don't know about you but I have had to remove skunks from under the house. Take 'Possums under the house anyday.

I used to shoot pests like 'coons, feral cats and the odd garbage can raiding
Possum with 22 shorts from a Winchester M62? pump.

ZM

[hillbilly]

If'n ya run acrost the possum in the middle of this h'yar web site, make durn shore yew's packin' enough GUN!

http://www.possumpistol.com


hillbilly

[El Tejon]

Why kill them? :uhoh: Because they are critters and critters need to be shot. :cool:

9, from my personal experience I would recommend a slide-action .22 with CB longs. Unlike coons, cutting the head off of a possum and spiking does not clear out the rest. You have to shoot them all. :)

[joebogey]

Well... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the opossum can also carry a disease called EPM which can be very lethal to horses.
It is most times contracted when the horse eats hay, grain, or grass that contains possum fesces. The horse contracts a nureological problem which can easily lead to death.
My stallion contracted EPM and was given a death sentence by one of the top vet clinics in the state.
Only the fact that the horse and I both refused to give up saved him. Well, that and a $3,000.00 vet bill. :rolleyes:
The horse is a dead end host which means it cannot be passed from the horse to any other animal.

The best thing I've found to eliminate them is a Chevy Silverado HD. I do my best to never miss and once they're hit, they don't get back up. ;)

[Leadbutt]

CCI-CB longs, take a file flatten the nose and fire in a rifle with at lest a 20" bbl