A Selection of Possums

by Kenneth, June A, Bernie, Anne G, Troy, Veronica, Doug L, Peter P, Sandra C, Megan, Kalloway
(Brantford, Zephyr, Ajax, Innisfil, Toronto, North York, Mississauga, Niagara Falls, Hespeler, Sarnia, Scarborough, )

Kenneth C T from Brantford wrote ... our home is located less than one km off the Grand River. We have the largest possum I have ever seen frequenting night visits to our property and neighbourhood. This critter is quite possibly with little ones as it's size is easily equal to that of a large raccoon and the walk is more of a slow difficult waddle. I appreciate the web site as I previously knew very little about them. Although the possum is never going to win any beauty contests, or even approach the lower end of the "cute scale" I was relieved to find out they are harmless and do very little property damage. My first instinct was "this is a critter we can do without", but your informative web site articulated the benefits of possums and their role in nature. Thank you for that information, I will not interfere with this critter and let him/her continue with night food patrol.

Bernie from Brantford said ... I saw a very small possum (about the size of a rat) on my lawn at midnight in downtown Brantford. Did a double check cause at first I thought it might be a rat. Nope, it was a possum. Cowered and hissed at me. Sort of cute! Too dark to get a picture.

June A from Zephyr, Ontario, wrote ... we have a large deck where we feed birds, let out the dog, possum was beside our barbeque, laid down. We of course brought in the dog, it stayed for about 2 hours then went off.

Anne G from Ajax said ... my dog started barking and jumping around in our back yard this evening around dusk. When I looked around the corner of our sun porch there was a possum crouched as the dog was barking at it. I don't know where it went as I was focused on my dog and getting him away from it. I have a feeling that it went under our sun porch which is a crawl space. I am not sure what to do as I don't want it under there. Will it leave of it's own accord? It is enclosed under the sunporch but there is a gap. I don't want to close the gap so that it is stuck under there.

Troy from Innisfil said ... I saw one tonight rooting through my blue bin. Took off when I came outside. I live near Friday Harbour, in Big Bay Point of Innisfil, Ontario.

Veronica from Toronto wrote ... my Mom described a "creature smaller than a raccoon, as big as a cat, with a rat tail. Large eyes and very docile. Tried to hide behind the garbage bags and waited for Mom to leave. Not aggressive at all." She was confused as she's lived here her whole life and has never seen one before. Interesting that they are unwitting migrants. Poor things!

Doug L wrote to say ... yes, there's a possum that lives in the park that borders my home in the North York section of Toronto.

Peter P from Credit Point, Mississauga wrote to report ... I have had a number of possums in my back yard in Mississauga over the past years. Just this morning had one walk past my sliding door in the back yard. When I first saw them I thought "Wow a giant rat!". But I have learned to appreciate these creatures. They are pretty docile.

Sandra C from Niagara Falls said ... I have a possum that frequents my backyard in Niagara. He must be nibbling on the bird seed and of course the apple tree extras in the fall.

Megan from the Cambridge Hespeler area wrote ... I was sitting in my front room early this morning drinking my tea. Looking out my front window and I saw a very large, round possum that walked across my front lawn, across the street and into a field.

Kalloway from Sarnia wrote ... I was just coming home after a day of work around 6:45 pm and I seen one cross the road and go under my deck. I have found the culprit for my garbage can being cleaned out and having a mess in my drive way!

One of our readers from Scarborough wrote ... along the bank of Massey Creek in Scarborough, I watched a possum as it moved along the top of the bank for a short distance before slipping under a fence into a neighbouring backyard.

One of our readers wrote ... this morning I saw one in my Mississauga backyard. It started raining around 5:00 am, and I saw him or her around 6:00 am slowly moving from backyard to backyard, wet from the rain.