[papershoot]

I use pointed pellets and go for a head shot on an animal that size around the house. Possums are slow, so you could kill one with a blunt instrument, sword, or spear; especially if your dog has one cornered.
I would not take any action with random possum visitors if they have not taken up residence under your deck, porch, inside crawl space or attic. Keep garbage in the container and insure that you have no pet food or other food source for them to scavenge.

The Opossum: Benefits & Misconceptions — Furbearer Conservation

The Opossum: Benefits, Beliefs, Myths & Misconceptions

furbearerconservation.com

 

[JackRyan]

I live in the suburbs, and the other night my dog, who lives in the house, went wild. I let him out, and he corners what to me seemed like a large possum. (I know it was a possum, and I think it was large for possums.)

Thankfully, he didn't tangle with it, after it showed its fangs. Nasty.

Got the dog in, and eventually went back to sleep.

Since it caused me to loose sleep, I wanted to kill it, but can't discharge a 22 in city limits. Would a powerful pellet gun have done it? I was only a few feet away. Eventually it hid in a bush clump, withs just its rear and tail showing. Would a rear shot be fatal with a pellet gun?

Sorry if these are dumb questions...I'm mostly a handgun guy, and I've never hunted.

Officiall I should call Animal Control, but who wants to do that at 4:30am? Once I got hold of my dog, the possum was just a nuisance due to the neighbor's dog barking.

thanks

Put out a live trap.

Tip over an empty garbage can when it gets dark toward your house so none of the neighbors can see in it. Put a live trap in there with some banana peels, dog food or cat food for bait. In the morning when he is caught in the trap, inside the can, just tip it up and fill it about half full of water with the garden hose. Any one questions it tell them you are washing it out. Give him about half an hour to become a good possum and dump him in a garbage bag with the rest of the trash and send him to the dump.

I don't think half these people posting in this thread have even seen a live possum let alone killed one.

 

[ruffhunter]

Possums are harmless! They eat ticks and lots of bugs. Ive gotten several on game cam that i had time figuring out if they were piglets. Over 20lbs.

I dispatched 5 trapped raccoons in town this month with no problem with a .177 pellet in the skull.

 

[8X8]

My .22 pellet gun will but I don’t shoot possum. They really are beneficial to have around. They’re not smart and don’t have hand like paws like raccoons do so keeping them out of trash and the house, etc. takes little if any effort. Many of the raccoons in my county have rabies and have
for well over a decade. Armadillos die on the spot also because they tunnel under concrete decks and the foundation of our house. Squirrels also die on sight because they eat all kinds of shot in the engine bays of my trucks and destroy very expensive palm trees on the property. They possums just cruise around at night and eat fruit that has hit the ground. They’ll grind cat and dog food left out as well, no big deal.

 

[Rotn1]

I live in the suburbs, and the other night my dog, who lives in the house, went wild. I let him out, and he corners what to me seemed like a large possum. (I know it was a possum, and I think it was large for possums.)

Thankfully, he didn't tangle with it, after it showed its fangs. Nasty.

Got the dog in, and eventually went back to sleep.

Since it caused me to loose sleep, I wanted to kill it, but can't discharge a 22 in city limits. Would a powerful pellet gun have done it? I was only a few feet away. Eventually it hid in a bush clump, withs just its rear and tail showing. Would a rear shot be fatal with a pellet gun?

Sorry if these are dumb questions...I'm mostly a handgun guy, and I've never hunted.

Officiall I should call Animal Control, but who wants to do that at 4:30am? Once I got hold of my dog, the possum was just a nuisance due to the neighbor's dog barking.

thanks

Sir,
An Opossum is a marsupial not a mammal and runs with a much lower body temperature. It is also much less likely to be a carrier of rabies.
Opossum’s eat lots of destructive insects and are actually good to have around.
I doubt shooting a powerful air rifle in your suburb would be looked at any more favorably than shooting a firearm.
Don’t kill an animal because your dog barks.

 

[nursetim]

Why would you kill it? They eat ticks.

 

[Tongue and cheek]

{ Since it caused me to loose sleep, I wanted to kill it, but can't discharge a 22 in city limits. Would a powerful pellet gun have done it? I was only a few feet away. Eventually it hid in a bush clump, withs just its rear and tail showing. Would a rear shot be fatal with a pellet gun?}


why would you kill a possum for being a possum? ;Q

That animals has just about much right for being their as your dog did.

Well I know this is hard for some people to understand but even animals understand territorial boundaries. Are you going to say why kill a bear for being a bear you were in his area. If a coyote trespasses on a badger you can be sure that that coyote is in for a rude awakening.
Plus some people have backyard chickens and small pets that can be hurt or infected by possums. I've had a similar situation and I didn't have the right tool for the job. So with my welders gloves I grabbed him by the tail and threw him in the front yard. That gave him enough of a scare to leave. But understand that if I did have a pellet gun that was over a 1000 fps. I would have tagged him. I don't think I can bring myself to do it but I hear some people eat them things. Just thought you should know.

 

[SBroadwell]

Had one take up residence on my porch, in the carpeted thing the cat was supposed to live in (cathouse doesn’t sound right). Tried over and over to chase him away but he kept coming back.
Then he got aggressive, started attacking me. Dispatched him with the 5mn Sheridan. The first couple of shots, front of the head, had no effect. Then, one shot from the back, right at the base of the skull, finished him right off.
I live in the woods, and many possums around. I don’t usually bother them, and they don’t bother me. Armadillos are getting to be a problem here, though. They are armored, so it will be a .22 for them.

 

[BRabbit]

Do y'all realize that the original post was made 17 years ago to the last reply before mine? That opposum is probably dead by now. LOL

 

[Terry G]

We have them come in every night except in the Winter. They munch some outdoor Cat food and waddle away. Not really a nuisance except to my Labrador if she see's them she goes berserk. A pellet gun would not be very humane as they are wild animals and as such are pretty tough. They can be live trapped easily.

 

[ranger1968]

Meh, just leave the possum alone, he's got a job to do.

 

[OXMYX]

Pellet guns do not work on possums. Inside a city use a trap

 

[fg17]

They make air guns that will take deer size game, yes you can. But the OP is 18 years old. The possum is dead of old age now, maybe even the poster😂

Horse people don’t want them around. “Opossums can transmit Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM) to horses. It is caused by a protozoal parasite whose eggs are shed in opossum feces. Infected animals show various signs of illness, including symptoms of central nervous system disease.”

 

[Amundsen]

I've seen an adult groundhog being dispatched with an air rifle and .177 pointed pellet. 40 yards away.

 

[SBroadwell]

My Sheridan Blue Streak was given to me in about 1964. This year it started losing pressure and I sent it to Mac Airguns for the steroid treatment. That lets me pump it 14 times instead of 8. I’ve not shot it much yet but you can tell it has a lot more power.
I killed a possum in the past, before it was super-sized though. Head shot from the front didn’t work. One from the back, right where the head joins the body, and it dropped like a rock. I usually don’t bother them anymore though something was wrong with the one I killed. He was attacking my dog and cats.

 

[Julius Seizure]

In my county, discharging a .22 rim fire rifle carry’s the same fine as a .22 pellet rifle. That being said, there’s obviously a difference in the sound each emits. I had a nasty rabbit problem last summer, I went ahead and purchased a break open .22 caliber pellet rifle (Beechman) and can tell you the only way to stop a rabbit is to have a clean shot to the vitals. I dispatched 17 rabbits over the course of 6 weeks and only about half of those were one shot kills. A few I had to finish off with a follow up shot or a shovel. Before you judge me, these rabbits were burrowing under my foundation and also carry a highly communicable disease in their droppings that my pets and my kids could catch…I don’t choose the rabbit in those cases.
A possum is larger and tougher than Peter cottontail so I’d be hesitant to think a .22 caliber pellet would do the job without either a very close vitals shot, however you could slow it down enough to hit him again or finish it off with a shovel or similar blunt instrument. Be prepared for cleanup and disposal…

 

[PhotoFeller]

Possums aren’t beautiful, nor are they destructive. And, they aren’t dangerous. They are part of our natural world which is disappearing as urban sprawl swallows up farms and woodlands. We often have them in our yard at night along with other critters that exist in the deep wooded ravine behind our house.

I wouldn‘t harm our possums. I enjoy them and all of the other animas and birds that keep us in touch with nature. As a guy who was raised in rural Indiana when wildlife was abundant, I miss animal sightings in the woods and fields. Now, seeing a possum saunter across our patio is an exciting experience.

 

[The Night Rider]

My Sheridan Blue Streak was given to me in about 1964. This year it started losing pressure and I sent it to Mac Airguns for the steroid treatment. That lets me pump it 14 times instead of 8. I’ve not shot it much yet but you can tell it has a lot more power.
I killed a possum in the past, before it was super-sized though. Head shot from the front didn’t work. One from the back, right where the head joins the body, and it dropped like a rock. I usually don’t bother them anymore though something was wrong with the one I killed. He was attacking my dog and cats.

Given this thread was started EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the possum has probably died of old age by now

 

[wyntrout]

Possums don't carry rabies and are very beneficial... plus they are QUIET.

 

[540mope]

I'm arriving a little late in this thread...and it has probably already been mentioned, but a conibear trap may be the ticket...barring any pets running loose in the yard.
I used one over the years to trap well over a dozen groundhogs that were residing under my garage. On occasion a possum would take residence in the burrow...trapped maybe 5 of them over the years, and about the same number of raccoons as well. If you can spot a burrow where the possum is hiding on your property you can place the trap over the entrance. They're quiet, and you can check the trap in the morning since possums are primarily active at night.

edit to add...using conibear traps is legal here. Check before using one...or just be quiet