Killing a possum.

7620 Views 74 Replies 49 Participants Last post by Tvov, 2 mo ago

tantone56

Discussion Starter · Jul 16, 2009 (Edited)

I live in a very suburban neighborhood and never deal with animals that bother me. The other night I was coming home at two in the morning and saw what I thought was a rat. My girlfriend assured me it was a baby possum. I ran to get my bb gun and put a few pellets in it, when my girlfriend stopped me and told me I was insane to take an innocent creatures life. I backed off and have been weary of the animal ever since. Tonight I was outside smoke a cig when I go to through it into the bucket on the other side of the fence I feel something brush against my arm. Long rat like tail!!! I am tired of this possum and need it dead ASAP! I know that there are laws against firing a bb-gun here, but it is better then bringing out the 22 ruger.

My question is, do you think that a bb gun shooting .177 copperhead flat will be able to take care of this problem? Also, what can I do to lure it. Hunters needed!

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vafish

· #2 · Jul 16, 2009

Laws against shooting in your suburbs, Trap it.

Reactions: 2

Hoopster

· #3 · Jul 16, 2009

Most .177 air guns would be insufficient for possums. Try a high powered Pellet rifle, preferably in .20 or .22 caliber. Or trap.

chevy01234

· #4 · Jul 17, 2009

I have killed possums with bb gun's to .280's to a baseball bat...YOUR best option would be a hav-a-heart trap and a can of tuna. When you catch it you AND the wife can discreetly take it to some woods away from the house and let it go. Be sure and put a blanket over the cage and do not stick fingers/toes around the mouth.

Reactions: 3

sourdough44

· #5 · Jul 17, 2009

Live trap then gas or drown. The best bet may be a shovel, wacked. Be careful out there, you can get in more trouble disposing of a varmit at times than a person. Use the SSS methods.

Reactions: 1

finz50

· #6 · Jul 17, 2009

Live trap then gas or drown

+1...

Trap it, then fill up your trash can with water.....place trap into water+15 minutes= dead possum

Reactions: 1

GT4494

· #7 · Jul 17, 2009

My Dachshund scared a large one in the back yard. He "Played Possum". I scooped him into a bag and and disposed... No mess no fuss..

Reactions: 1

Esox357

· #8 · Jul 18, 2009

tuna and antifreeze???? Esox357

jtull7

· #9 · Jul 18, 2009

Don't be killing possums. They do no harm.

Reactions: 5

nickE10mm

· #10 · Jul 22, 2009

First of all, a pellet gun won't be enough most likely. In the country, a .22 rimfire or a shotgun would be ideal, but then again, I probably wouldn't bother them there. If you have one in the neighborhood that concerns you, trapping might be your best option. Probably no need to kill them because they will eat stuff you don't want around. Possums can be mean so keep your fingers away from him if you do decide to trap him.

Jonesee

· #11 · Jul 22, 2009

I agree with the guy that says why kill him. They are pretty harmless.

But if you must kill it, they are dumb. Hit the summabich with a ball bat and throw away the carcass.

When i was a kid we would stop a car when we saw one on the road and run out and kick them. They aren't that fast, not mean unless you grab one, and dumb as can be.

Your at risk of losing your man card over this...

Reactions: 3

vafish

· #12 · Jul 22, 2009

This one scared the snot out of my wife a couple weeks ago.

Dogs were out at the back fence barking and wouldn't come in the house, she thought they were just barking at the neighbors dog on the other side of the fence, walked out into the yard in the dark and grabbed the first dog by the collar and heard a hissing noise next to her head. She looked up and saw this:

Dogs were trying to play with it, one was jumping over the fence back and forth (it's a 6' high fence and he weighs 30 lbs and is about a foot tall), the other dog was just jumping up nipping at the possum trying to get it to run.

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tantone56

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 3, 2009

vafish said:
This one scared the snot out of my wife a couple weeks ago.

Dogs were out at the back fence barking and wouldn't come in the house, she thought they were just barking at the neighbors dog on the other side of the fence, walked out into the yard in the dark and grabbed the first dog by the collar and heard a hissing noise next to her head. She looked up and saw this:

Dogs were trying to play with it, one was jumping over the fence back and forth (it's a 6' high fence and he weighs 30 lbs and is about a foot tall), the other dog was just jumping up nipping at the possum trying to get it to run.

That is exactly what I have been dealing with! I went to throw out a cigarette butt tonight and there is was again, sitting the same exact way on the fence! I was tired of dealing with it so I went to my closet and grabbed my bb guns. I shot it three times in the head. It is the first time I have ever killed an animal. The noise it made when it fell will never escape me, but I gave it a proper burial and all. I had just hoped it would have relocated before it came to this. As I said before, I would have rather used my .22 but the noise would have surely had the cops called on me. R.I.P possum.

Reactions: 1

Fig

· #14 · Aug 6, 2009

Wow, killed with a pellet gun. I am impressed. I saw a possum get shot in the head with a rifle, and it sat there for a minute, and then turned toward my friends dad and started hissing. It was now even more pissed. It took a couple of shots to finish him off. The only other incident I have seen with a possum was one crossing the road and this older car, think full size '77 impala, ran over it. The possum laid there for a couple seconds, then jumped up and shook it's head and walked off into the brush. They are tough and mean.

gatorboy

· #15 · Aug 30, 2009

I whacked a possum as hard as I could in the head with a baseball bat. It laid there and I thought he was dead. When I went to dispose of him in the morning he was gone. He fooled me and he was way too large for even the biggest owl to take off with. I also felt like a total dirtbag and went out and bought a few live traps. I've got all kinds of animals because of the fruit trees on the property, they are easily relocated alive. To trap them live and throw them in a garbage can filled with water or gas them is wrong. I've got a powerful .177 break barrel pellet gun and it's insufficent for animals the size of raccoons and possums with one shot way over half the time. It works well on squirrels and that's about it. It throws pellets about 1,000 fps and I know of only a few other pellet guns that get about 1,200 fps.

DustyJacket

· #16 · Aug 30, 2009

jtull7 said:
Don't be killing possums. They do no harm.

Possums are chicken killers.

A friend has lost over 10 chickens to the damned things. One evening I am going over there with a flashlight and a silenced pistol.....

mossy500camo

· #17 · Sep 1, 2009 (Edited)

and they get into your damn trash can and make a mess all over the place. KILL IT!

Reactions: 1

Big Bird

· #18 · Sep 1, 2009

Possums are big Rabies carriers. They get into my barn and their excrement gets into the hay and causes several very bad horse diseases. So when it comes to Possums I'm all about killing em...

Reactions: 4

GeorgiaGlockMan

· #19 · Sep 2, 2009

Possum are slow moving critters.

Chase it down with a shovel.

Whack it and use the shovel to bury it.

They are vermin.

Reactions: 1

chevy01234

· #20 · Sep 2, 2009

Very easy to kill but don't use antifreeze and tuna, you will kill cats dogs whatever else eats it.

Possums are also terrible for birds, they eat the eggs of turkeys, quail, ducks, whatever they can find. I kill em all!

Reactions: 2

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