MacAR
Member
Mac
Your average possum will eat ticks and other bugs, but they also destroy the nests of turkeys, quail, and other ground nesting birds, eat the eggs and kill the chicks. Your average turkey will eat 3x the ticks in a year's time vs. a possum. Furthermore, they carry a disease known as EPM which is deadly to horses and is transmitted by the cute little possum when it craps on/in their feed.
Don't shoot possums
A possum eats 4000 ticks per DAY.
Opossums eat turkey and quail eggs? Oh no!!!! Oh wait, they have been doing that as part of nature for many thousands of years. It is part of the natural cycle of life.
Opossums carry disease that can make your horses sick? Oh no!!!! Every vertebrate and many invertebrates carry disease that can transfer to other vertebrate animals. The disease claim is downright naive considering we would need to kill all the animals to prevent the spread of disease, yet somehow we are perfectly happy with the diseases deer carry, turkey carry, etc.
Did you know that deer, antelope, bison, etc. trample the nests of ground dwelling birds? Yep. Cattle are particularly hard on ground dwelling bird nests. Horses can be as well. Goats aren't their friends, either.
Deer have been documented eating the eggs of ground dwelling birds as well...
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I hear the disease argument frequently about feral hogs. Yeah, they potentially carry a lot of diseases, about 80% or so that they have in common with deer. Deer get some that the hogs don't and vice versa.
The "they carry disease" is a narrative at the opposite end from the PETA narrative, and just as wrong.
The bottom line is that ALL WILDLIFE, FERAL, AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS ARE POTENTIAL DISEASE CARRIERS. People create all sorts of rationalizations to kill animals, some of which may be valid, some of which aren't when you consider the fact that if applied equally, would mean that we had to kill everything, LOL.
I'm not at all certain how the tick eating
myth got started.
Opossums eat turkey and quail eggs? Oh no!!!! Oh wait, they have been doing that as part of nature for many thousands of years. It is part of the natural cycle of life.
Opossums carry disease that can make your horses sick? Oh no!!!! Every vertebrate and many invertebrates carry disease that can transfer to other vertebrate animals. The disease claim is downright naive considering we would need to kill all the animals to prevent the spread of disease, yet somehow we are perfectly happy with the diseases deer carry, turkey carry, etc.
Did you know that deer, antelope, bison, etc. trample the nests of ground dwelling birds? Yep. Cattle are particularly hard on ground dwelling bird nests. Horses can be as well. Goats aren't their friends, either.
Deer have been documented eating the eggs of ground dwelling birds as well...
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I hear the disease argument frequently about feral hogs. Yeah, they potentially carry a lot of diseases, about 80% or so that they have in common with deer. Deer get some that the hogs don't and vice versa.
The "they carry disease" is a narrative at the opposite end from the PETA narrative, and just as wrong.
The bottom line is that ALL WILDLIFE, FERAL, AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS ARE POTENTIAL DISEASE CARRIERS. People create all sorts of rationalizations to kill animals, some of which may be valid, some of which aren't when you consider the fact that if applied equally, would mean that we had to kill everything, LOL.
Those aren't rationalizations. They are reasons. If one has horses, EPM would be a darn good reason to kill any opossums on the property. I have chickens and the fact that opossums will steal the eggs and/or kill the chickens is a good reason to kill any opossums I see. And yes, I will happily kill raccoons and any other animal that is trying to steal the eggs or kill my chickens (except raptors, which are protected by federal law). If one doesn't have cattle, what difference does it make that cattle trample ground bird nests when considering whether to kill an opossum that raid those nests? One can't do anything about someone else's cattle, but one can shoot that opossum.
Those aren't rationalizations. They are reasons.
If I had horses, I would try to reduce or eliminate their interaction with any animal that could transmit disease to them. One way of doing so, and often the only practical way with small, wild animals capable of climbing fences, is to kill them. As I stated, I do have chickens and try to reduce or eliminate their interaction with animals that are trying to kill them or eat their eggs.When "reasons" are arbitrarily applied, they are rationalizations. Lots of wildlife carries diseases that may negatively impact and or kill horses. Do we need to kill all of them as well, or just opossums? Why single out just one possible threat when there are so many?
Coon can be quite tasty when prepared properly. I’ve had them at game dinners.The land owner prefers not to do it himself. He dislikes killing that which he won’t eat.
Get the glands out of the carcass andCoon can be quite tasty when prepared properly. I’ve had them at game dinners.
Coons taste good if they're barbequed.The land owner prefers not to do it himself. He dislikes killing that which he won’t eat.
Ever try a turkey load on a coon?All I’ve got are Turkey loads or slugs.
Opossums eat a lot of ticks, they should be left alone
What Eats Ticks?
There are a variety of animals that are natural predators for ticks. Having these animals on your property can help to naturally prevent tick infestations in your yard.
These animals all eat ticks:
- Frogs
- Lizards
- Chickens
- Squirrels
- Opossums
- Guineafowl
- Wild turkeys
- Ants and fire ants
Also, there are some areas in Wisconsin, that have so many raccoons that have rabies, there is an open, shoot on site order on them.