I have one of these living in my back yard!

[flamin lib]

They're harmless and very passive but just plain butt ugly. If they were being clubbed to death to make fur coats PETA would find another cause.

S/he comes out every night and eats from the bird feeders and I'll sometimes leave a scrap or two. Very entertaining for my Schnauzer I can tell ya.

They're interesting critters; marsupials a so a newborn litter will fit in a soup spoon and they grow to weaning age in mom's pouch. Their paws are almost human like, almost but not quite opposable thumbs and a prehensile tail to boot. They seem to have a permanent snarl and look scary but that's just defensive, if you scare them badly enough they faint.

Anyway, I've got the best back yard in town.

[Hula Popper]

1. You're lucky

They eat ticks.......

[Solly Mack]

2. They are very clean animals. They keep your yard free of bugs, such as deer ticks, that

can harm you and your dog.

The bad bugs are attracted to the opossum and the animal will spend hours ridding itself of the bugs, thus removing them from your yard. They are cat-like in their constant cleaning.

The more they come back, the more bad bugs they kill, the cleaner your yard is - the safer it is for you and your dog.

Very cool.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. I did not know that....

We have them around the yard, they seem to show up in the fall.

[Solly Mack]

19. I get one every now and then. Sadly the raccoons dominate.

By dominate I mean 5 or 6 a night. They love those curbside trash bins around the neighborhood. Oddly enough, they never get into ours. Probably because they feed so well in the backyard. (bird food/water)

I like the opossum better. They're so ugly they're cute. They come, root around the yard and porch, they leave.

[PoliticAverse]

3. How dare you call them ugly!

You're lucky, unfortunately I only see them when they're roadkill.

[LiberalElite]

10. O god they're so cute!

[MuseRider]

4. I love them.

Out here on the farm we have a lot of them. I am OK if they are around the house but I have to chase them off if they decide to live up near the horses. They carry a disease that is fatal to horses and not treatable.

Last night my dogs started barking at about 2 AM. I came out and on the deck were 4 little round young raccoons playing. I do not feed anything on the deck anymore because they will tear the place up but they were so so cute!

Possums are fun, I like them and you are lucky to have one (bet there are more close by). Keep your dog away and don't ever attempt to get too close, they have millions of little teeth and they bite and hold on. I have been bitten (I used to work at the zoo) and it can be pretty nasty. Enjoy, nature is so enjoyable. You must have the tastiest bird feeders in the neighborhood!

[mnhtnbb]

5. Yep. Took a photo of an opossum visitor to my bird feeder

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[cyberswede]

6. We had a dead one in our back yard once, but guess what?

It was pretending, of course!

When we looked out a little later, it was gone.

[NV Whino]

7. You need to supplement that with a few raccoons

I have an overage. Be happy to send them to you.

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. One snuck into my apartment once

I lived on the ground floor and my patio faced some woods. I used to leave the doir cracked in the evening so my cat could go out for a while. I had a down comforter laying on my couch that I would snuggle up in when I was watching TV. I laid down one evening and pulled it up over me, when I saw this HAND. I jumped up and it hissed and showed its teeth and took off. It took me day of chasing it around with a broom to get it back outside.

They're pretty remarkable really. They're so omnivorous they'll eat just about anything. They rarely carry rabies because their body temperature us too low and get this, they're immune to rattlesnake venom (and other pit vipers).

[LiberalElite]

9. not so ugly - kinda cute in a possomy way -

one moved into a corner of a friend's garage for the winter in Florida. She called her "Blossom the Possum".

[Avalux]

11. Awww come on - they're adorable! I have two that walk my fence.

One night my lab pulled one down onto the ground by its tail...if you ever have the opportunity to see one play dead it's really something. I could have sworn it was a goner - neck all twisted up, sprawled out on its back, tongue hanging out of its mouth. My lab just stood staring at it, completely puzzled. The possum laid there and did not move for about 30 minutes, then got up and strolled away.

[Ahpook]

13. My Lab would do the same thing

He loved bringing animals in through the doggy door and drop them at our feet. So proud

I wouldn't worry about an Opossum, though. Skunks on the other hand...

We have one that lives a few houses down but travels the neighborhood at night. I've ran into him on a few occasions and it is pretty darn aggressive.

[Avalux]

16. Yes, mine just wants to play!

She doesn't understand when the feeling isn't mutual, haha. In the spring she catches june bugs in her mouth, drops them on the ground between her paws and plays with them until they fly away. Never hurts them.

[cwydro]

12. I've got several that come into an open building we have on the farm.

We feed them regularly, and the cats just ignore them.

I think they're cute.

[mackerel]

14. We have a few in our backyard. They have horrible eyesight and run into things. They eat really

loudly. I can hear them when they get into the cat food. They don't bother us. I've gotten used to their looks.

[LynneSin]

15. You ever think she might think we are butt ugly...

just saying

[hedgehog]

18. I've had to shoo them out of the chicken house -

they'll settle right down and eat the eggs and young chicks. One time in early March, the yard was (literally) under two foot of snow and I spotted a possum wandering around on top of the snow pile by the driveway. I have no idea what he was doing out there - there wasn't a thing to eat anywhere. He did look disgruntled. The chicken house door stayed closed that day.

[zabet]

20. I have them where I live.

I live in the woods on a river. Have at least 2 possums that visit regularly. They eat whatever the barn cats leave. The cats will actually just sit there and watch them a lot of times.