Did U Know ?

[mikeinct]

I didn't till yesterday. This furry varmint is worth having around. Possums eat ticks... Bunches of them.. Up here in Southern New England, ticks can take a lot of the fun out of a day in the woods.

 

[Tommie]

I just became a possum fan.

 

[mikeinct]

Me too Tommie. All these years I thought that they were only good to make fuzzy trout nymphs' from their underfur. grin. Mike in Ct

 

[Treerat-sniper]

I always shot em for being nest raiders, might have to give em a pass.

 

[Tommie]

BTW Mike,
If you can’t handle the ticks in Connecticut then never set foot in the South. Ticks are way worse there. And don’t get me started on the chiggers...

 

[mikeinct]

Man I'm a tick magnet. I can't afford the blood loss. I'm just a scrawny lil manservant..

 

[Sieg]

Possums aren't exactly a threat in our area though people in general will eliminate them. On golf courses I've been charged by a V-formation of the little bastages, and they can do significant damage related to eating the grass sprouts on greens and burrowing in the banks along waterways. Personally, I don't have much of an issue with sharing the land them.

Anyone who has Lyme's Disease will be all in favor of protecting them, and justifiably so.

 

[markT]

I learned this several years ago. Wonderful animal. Sometimes called natures garbage man. No way I’d shoot one and would swerve to miss on on the road.
Good info to share. Thank you.

 

[Bocephus]

Might consider this before moving them into sainthood status. Lots of equine damage.
http://wildliferemovalusa.com/opossum-diseases.html

 

[hpshooter]

Might consider this before moving them into sainthood status. Lots of equine damage.
http://wildliferemovalusa.com/opossum-diseases.html

Close by neighbor who had horses set me wise to this quite a few years ago. Since then they have been viewed as night-time groundhogs.

 

[people]

They must be true slackers on my brothers land. None of the Possums look fat on his land and I always get ticks on his land. I use guinea fowl for tick removal on my land.

 

[dbduff]

I didn't till yesterday. This furry varmint is worth having around. Possums eat ticks... Bunches of them.. Up here in Southern New England, ticks can take a lot of the fun out of a day in the woods. View attachment 1151649

Any creature that eats ticks is a friend of mine!

 

[varmintshooter]

I learned about them eating ticks several years ago and haven't shot one since.

 

[Ohio Varmint Shooter]

I hate ticks...I mean, I HATE ticks. Always have. In the early 70's we lived next to a field that was full of ticks, they got all over the dog so the rest of the family had to take 'tick medicine'. (I don't know if it was repellent, or precautionary or anti-lyme or what....I was only 10) But the one thing I do remember, is it made everyone projectile vomit.

 

[jwink]

How many possums does it take to have sex? …… answer is 3, …. 2 to do it and 1 to watch for cars. lol

 

[Bocephus]

They must be true slackers on my brothers land. None of the Possums look fat on his land and I always get ticks on his land. I use guinea fowl for tick removal on my land.

Difficult to imagine any group of people with more potential exposure to ticks than those of us who survey, and yes ticks and the diseases they carry are a very real concerns. But with no offense intended, after spending thousands of hours every year in the outdoors, I do have doubts about possums having any real impact on the tick population.
However, as a youngster almost every rural farm had chickens or guinea fowl and ticks were rarely a cause for concern.