Last year I shot a ground hog on our farm with a 22 long rifle revolver. It took several hits to put the critter down for good.
We have more ground hogs around our property but I do not have the patience to "hunt" them but I have a 32 Fed mag SP101 sighted in for when I have the opportunity to dispatch one. The load is a 110 SWC loaded to 32 H&R Mag levels so we will see how they perform.
If the 32 caliber rounds are not effective, I'll give a 38 Special a try.
We have outdoor cats and opossums and raccoons sometimes help themselves to the cat food. I trap them then send them to Valhalla with a 22RF head shot. It is not as effective as I'd hope so maybe I need to up the caliber for these duties.
Opossums carry deceases that very bad for horses so they are not welcome on our farm. When our #1 daughter was five or six, she had a friend that thought there were live "possums" and road kill, dead "no-possums".