The beauty of Opossums!

They are cute, especially the babies -- I admit that. But once a possum has killed your cat, you just can't feel the same way about them.

It was my folks's cat, actually, 25 years ago when none of us knew any better than to let her outside. A neighbor saw a huge possum going over the fence into our yard one night, and about an hour later, we discovered that Chavela had a long slice down the middle of her abdomen. She survived for almost three months (two surgeries and a lot of time in the hospital), but finally passed away in my lap at the age of 14.

Possums can be aggressive, and they can hurt our kitties. I'm so glad for you, Stephanie, that you have your adorable little friend -- but not all of them are so sweet...and I'm sure you can understand that they aren't popular in our family.

We have a few Opossums that come and eat in the yard during the summer nights! They are kind of cute!

Originally Posted by catloverin_ks

I always feel bad when I see one on the road.

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Yeah that's very sad especially when they could be a female and they could have
babies in their pouch that could still be alive
I couldn't live with myself if I didn't check

I think they're adorable little creatures Thanks for sharing Stephanie

Hey Stephanie - opossoms are cute!

You should check out the ones in NZ - they are very different than the ones in the US - they are very cute and they can be kept as pets, my cousin has had a few - they have quite interesting personalities! Just stay away from their teeth!

In the wild, they are notorious for carrying TB which is something that needs to be taken seriously.

You can see one here: http://www.taiko.org.nz/Taikotuku.html
Just scroll down til you see the Brush tailed possum.

Okay so do I have to come visit to get a baby possum??? lmao...

I just want to step back in to say that of course not all possums are to blame for the actions of the one that got Chavela... and that I hope I didn't seem to be unkind toward Stephanie, who is one of the very finest people on this site. I just didn't want anyone to take unnecessary risks with their kitties, so I thought I should tell our experience.

Thanks for understanding, Stephanie!

I'm a 'possum lover, too! They DO look like big rats, and I REALLY love rats!

Originally Posted by DawnofSierra

I'm not sure how many babies exactly, Pat, since I don't want to disturb or risk harming them by looking in her pouch.

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I think it goes without saying that you would not disturb the babies in any way, I just thought you might have seen them..not thinking about the fact they live in her pouch for a while. Remember, not all of us are up on possums!

If I ever get caught up, I will respond to your last email with my possum story (I have to be honest, I've not encouraged this huge fellow to continue his pooing next to my rose bed and scavenging for food on my deck). He was bright and not scared one bit of me telling him to schoo!

Oh that is so sweet! She's a lucky little girl to have you!

I didnt have an opinion of them except I consider them quite unattractive. Then I muse that many animals with icky, yet important jobs, are unattractive or downright ugly (think vultures too). I've always respected the opossum's "job" in the animal kingdom.

I was raised by my hick dad and when I was a kid in the country of his hometown he found a momma opossum who had been hit by a car and killed presumably and her babies were clinging to her. My father brought the babies in and tried to save them, but to no avail unfortunately.

So...regardless of animal, I dont have much of an opinion, but now I think I appreciate opossum much more than I ever thought about before!

Stephanie, you're such a good soul! I'll bet Buddi is just the cutest thing! Oh, and I think possums are quite the cuties, too

Awww....that is so sweet that you've found Buddi a place to go & live with others of her kind! She'll be happy there & so will her babies.

Aww! Congrats to the little possum momma. A little while back we found one in our kitchen cabinet (Yes in our kitchen LOL...I have no idea how it got there but there was a small hole in the back,,,we just didn't know that it lead to outside). There is a thread I posted about it somewhere on here.
It was a younger one and never showed any sign of agression towards us. When we looked in the cabinet it would just stare back at us. It was kind of cute.....but of course we didn't actually want one living with us. I was freaked out at first but my mom liked it and even fed it cat food...it never tried to come at her or anything it just sat there waiting patiently for its food. We kept it in there by putting duct tape on the doors and a chair in front. My dad ended up bringing his doberman over to try to scare it away and even then it didn't try to bite or anything...it just hid its head...and don't worry the dobe didn't hurt it...the dog could care less.(the dog was even scared of the cats) We ended up blocking it so no more possum visitor but it made me a little less scared of them. They are cool.... as long as the are outside.

I would much rather have that young possum than a coon.

Speaking of possums, I saw a cat chasing one last night.... The possum got across the road and then the cat went the other way....