Yay Opossums! (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Worried about ticks and lyme disease? Worried about venomous snakes in your yard? Maybe you should adopt an opossum.

With the huge rise in deer tick populations and the spread of Lyme disease, many friends of wildlife are welcoming opossums into their yards. Why? Scientists have learned that opossums act like little vacuum cleaners when it comes to ticks – with a single opossum hoovering up and killing as many as 4,000 ticks per week.

Opossums are extraordinarily good groomers it turns out – we never would have thought that ahead of time – but they kill the vast majority – more than 95% percent of the ticks that try to feed on them. So these opossums are walking around the forest floor, hoovering up ticks right and left, killing over 90% of these things, and so they are really protecting our health. – Rick Ostfeld, Senior Scientist, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies​

More Possum Benefits
Opossums, sometimes referred to just as possums, are a benefit to ecosystems and a healthy environment beyond eradicating ticks. They will catch and eat cockroaches, rats and mice – in addition to consuming dead animals of all types (also known as carrion). Gardeners appreciate opossums’ appetite for snails, slugs and for cleaning up over-ripe fruit and berries.

Opossums are also resistant to snake venom and actually prey on snakes, including venomous species such as copperheads and rattlesnakes. Having opossums around can minimize chances of encountering venomous species close to your home.

Opossums: Unsung Heroes in the Fight Against Ticks and Lyme Disease




View: https://youtu.be/niuRWJgiv7o

 

[PayOrPlay]

Now if we can just find a social benefit for the skunk family that has taken up residence in my heart-of-the-city neighborhood.

 

[Richard]

Best news I have heard all day. In my yard, I have seen possums, armadillos, raccoons, snakes, deer, skunks, squirrels, rabbits, a fox and a couple of things I couldn't identify. See if you can find some benefits to having those around too while you are at it Chuck.

 

[efil4stnias]

until they start feeding on Deer Flies, they are useless to me.

 

[superchuck500]

until they start feeding on Deer Flies, they are useless to me.

Yeah those things are little bastages.

I used to work down in lower Plaquemines Parish in the summers in college. There was a golf course in Port Sulphur that was pretty crappy, but I could play in the middle of the day and nobody else would be out there. It was 95 degrees but that wasn't too bad - the place was crawling with deer flies. You could swat them away but when you lined up to take a shot, there would be a moment when you were focused and then taking your swing. And that's when they would bite your calves.

***-holes.

 

[FLEA]

Worried about ticks and lyme disease? Worried about venomous snakes in your yard? Maybe you should adopt an opossum.



Opossums: Unsung Heroes in the Fight Against Ticks and Lyme Disease




View: https://youtu.be/niuRWJgiv7o

And they are tasty to boot!!

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

also get some bats for mosquito control

 

[Dan in Lafayette]

And they are tasty to boot!!

 

[zeetes]

funny story...

a few weeks ago, my dogs killed 2 young opossum, so i scoop them up and dump in the trash.

i go back in, um, the back yard, and lo and behold, another dead opossum! i thought those little mother forkers got one out of the trash, but no!!! those two were still in there! so yeah, they killed 3 in one morning.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

funny story...

a few weeks ago, my dogs killed 2 young opossum, so i scoop them up and dump in the trash.

i go back in, um, the back yard, and lo and behold, another dead opossum! i thought those little mother frockers got one out of the trash, but no!!! those two were still in there! so yeah, they killed 3 in one morning.

huh...were any of them in funny costumes or maybe did they caper in an amusing fashion?

 

[zeetes]

huh...were any of them in funny costumes or maybe did they caper in an amusing fashion?

nah, they were in their birthday suits.

my dogs kill anything that enters the yard, but thankfully, no cats. cats > dogs.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

cats > dogs.

Ok, now that’s funny

 

[wnelson]

funny story...

a few weeks ago, my dogs killed 2 young opossum, so i scoop them up and dump in the trash.

i go back in, um, the back yard, and lo and behold, another dead opossum! i thought those little mother frockers got one out of the trash, but no!!! those two were still in there! so yeah, they killed 3 in one morning.

This escalated quickly

 

[RetroMcBananaFace]

I have a couple that hang around the chicken coop in my backyard. They don't bug the chickens or get in the trash if I leave a few eggs on the ground for them to take. They get rid of rats and tree roaches too. Win/win situation as far as I'm concerned.

 

[zeetes]

This escalated quickly

yep. damn dogs.