Mr. Whiskers - The Possum

Mr. Whiskers-

I met you on the road, Wed. May 19th. You were confused about where to go and what to do. I contacted a local person who used to rescue wildlife and take care of them. They told me you would no harm to me so I snatched you up by the back of your neck. I have to admit your teeth scared me a tad but I kept a hold of you and got you into a cat carrier. I took you over to the wildlife caretaker and she provided you with yummy food and you survived as long as you could. You looked as though you had a wonderful life but you were old. I didn’t know what your fate was going to be but I hoped that someday we would be able to release you out into the wild. Sadly, on Friday, May 21st your time had come to leave this world. You are now released to the animal place where you will have lots of food hopefully and be taken care of. I hope I did what was best for you.

Take care, Mr. Whiskers.

Melissa

You did a good thing, Melissa.

A possum? I am surprised they told you it could do you no harm. You realize they are one of the biggest carriers of rabies? Usually if they are wandering around confused that means they are rabid. We had one in our yard years ago and it was circling the yard. I called my neighbor over and he put it to rest. It's eyes and nose were runny. Could have attacked someone's dog or cat. I think it is best to leave wild animals in the wild.

Well she said that there was a myth of them carrying rabies and that is what most people think but she thinks there were able to confirm 1 case or so that it was rabies.

I'm not doubting the one that you had in your yard had rabies, but if he would of hissed at me or tried to scratch me I would of went the other direction but I couldn't leave him out there to die. I just couldn't.

Melissa

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Originally Posted by Anikaca77

Well she said that there was a myth of them carrying rabies and that is what most people think but she thinks there were able to confirm 1 case or so that it was rabies.

I'm not doubting the one that you had in your yard had rabies, but if he would of hissed at me or tried to scratch me I would of went the other direction but I couldn't leave him out there to die. I just couldn't.

Melissa

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Yes, I sometimes wonder about these stories, not yours, Melissa, the stories of rabies. A couple of weeks ago my neighbor (Mr. Cat Kicker) knocked on my door and said "Did you know that there's a racoon in your back yard?" I looked and sure enough there was a racoon eating the fallen birdseed. He said "When a racoon is out during the day, it's rabid. Our neighbor a couple of doors down shot one b/c it was foaming at the mouth. I think I should shoot this one." I said "Do you have to? It doesn't look sick to me". He said "I won't shoot it if you don't want me to but if it comes into my yard, I will b/c my kids are out playing". It went the other direction when it saw him and it ran out of my yard. I heard two shots but thankfully I didn't see it.

After that happened I looked up some info on the internet and several sites said that it's a myth that if you see racoons during the day that they're always rabid. It's very common for a racoon to be out during the day b/c she's looking for extra food for her babies. I can't tell you how awful I felt. Then I went out looking for baby racoons b/c if there were any, I would have called my local vet who rescues wild life. I searched for a long time and couldn't find any so I'm hoping that it was a lone racoon.

I kind of got off on my own story, Melissa, sorry to have done that. You did a good thing nonetheless. I probably would've done the same thing. :love:

I too wonder about that. many nocturnal animals venture out during the day for some reason/s or another sometimes. doesnt make them rabid.

i think ya did a good thing :D

I have always thought that nocturnal animals did not come out during the day either. Good point though, about a momma racoon maybe looking for food for the babies. That would be sad if your neighbor killed a momma. :(

I know we all here just have big hearts when it comes to any animals. Just be careful with the wild ones. :)

Good job, Melissa, you even phoned for instructions before acting! (Unlike me when I found the groundhog; not that I had much choice, didn't have a cell phone and it was in the middle of the road having been hit by a car).

Animals in the rabies vector, you need gloves to touch them. Possums are not in that group. It does sound like he was old, ill or both.

*** A bit off topic:

Here is a short article which covers a lot of info:
http://www.arkofva.com/rabiesvector.html

AND, I didn't realize there were 2 types of rabies:
http://www.tarakharper.com/v_rabies.htm
Rabies manifests in two forms: furious rabies and paralytic (or dumb) rabies.
. • Furious rabies is characterized by agitation, thrashing, biting, viciousness, choking, gagging, hyperventilation, cardiac arrhythmias, paralysis and death. . . .
• Paralytic or dumb rabies is characterized more by paralytic symptoms, which may include apathy, apparent depression, increased blood pressure, tachycardia, confusion, hallucinations, and disorientation. These symptoms are followed by increased periods of hyperactivity, stiffness in the back of the neck, and an increase in the number of cells in the cerebrospinal fluid. Dumb or paralytic rabies ends with coma and death by respiratory failure. Paralytic rabies is most often experienced by patients who have been exposed to the virus via bats.

You did a good thing.

I have a brushtail possum living in my roof.....cute lil fella.
Every night we leave a bowl of fruit out for him/her.
Doesn't like banana or grapes tho.....:rolleyes:
Soon I have to make a possum box and affix it to one of my trees in the backyard.........I've been told the best way to get them out of the roof is to make them another home....leave a trail of fruit to the possum box each night, and then after about a week, put camphor in the roof. Then the possum will move to the new home.

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...rushtail_1.jpg

That sure is a cute possum. My dad would put up squirrel houese in the yard to keep the squirrels from moving into our house. Our yard had a good 20 Burr Oak trees in it that attracted the squirrels. PUT UP THOSE HOUSES & THEY WILL COME.

We had a possum on our deck years ago that would come & eat the cat food. The cats let us know when the possum was there a lot of hissing & growling. We fed the possum apples & would watch it eat & then lick the sticky juice off of its' little hands.

Our veterinary told us possums were not good to have around the hay. They urinate on the hay & the horses could eat the hay & get sick. I carried one by the tail one time after the dogs took after it out in the fields. It was playing dead & I put it in a small tree where it hung on for dear life. The dogs check that tree the next day & the possum was gone.:)

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Originally Posted by Bonny

That sure is a cute possum. My dad would put up squirrel houese in the yard to keep the squirrels from moving into our house. Our yard had a good 20 Burr Oak trees in it that attracted the squirrels. PUT UP THOSE HOUSES & THEY WILL COME.

We had a possum on our deck years ago that would come & eat the cat food. The cats let us know when the possum was there a lot of hissing & growling. We fed the possum apples & would watch it eat & then lick the sticky juice off of its' little hands.

Our veterinary told us possums were not good to have around the hay. They urinate on the hay & the horses could eat the hay & get sick. I carried one by the tail one time after the dogs took after it out in the fields. It was playing dead & I put it in a small tree where it hung on for dear life. The dogs check that tree the next day & the possum was gone.:)

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Yeah ours likes apples the best to.
We have to feed him/her every night, otherwise it gets stuck into the wild bird food we leave in one of our front trees, and makes a real pig of itself :D

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Originally Posted by wombat2u2004

I have a brushtail possum living in my roof.....cute lil fella.
Every night we leave a bowl of fruit out for him/her.
Doesn't like banana or grapes tho.....:rolleyes:
Soon I have to make a possum box and affix it to one of my trees in the backyard.........I've been told the best way to get them out of the roof is to make them another home....leave a trail of fruit to the possum box each night, and then after about a week, put camphor in the roof. Then the possum will move to the new home.

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He is a lot cuter than the possums we have around here. Here is a picture of what we have in Pennsylvania.

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Originally Posted by happylabs

He is a lot cuter than the possums we have around here. Here is a picture of what we have in Pennsylvania.

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Yeah, I have come across your possums when I was in Arkansas a few years ago.
Ours are very different, very cute, very friendly.

Baby possum ;)

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t...BottleFeed.jpg

I think opossums should be Arkansas' state mammal. ;) You can't turn a corner without seeing the little guys everywhere. I don't mind them, though.

My sister works at a vet clinic that also rehabs wildlife. They get baby opossums in all the time.
http://i652.photobucket.com/albums/u...a/IMG_7058.jpg
This one spent a few nights at our house before another employee agreed to raise it.



Anyhow, you did a good job Melissa.
Rest easy, Mr. Whiskers!

There is definitely not a shortage of them around here either.

Yes rabies is extremely rare in our native possums due to their body temperature being so low and they are immune to many diseases but have very short lifespans. Horses get rabies more often than possums.

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Originally Posted by happylabs

There is definitely not a shortage of them around here either.

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Yeah, sadly though this guy did have some frost bit because our state is too cold for them sometimes and this guy has some frost bite on his tail and around his ears but so did Ziggy the barn cat that I took in, in April.

Melissa