More Urban Possums

by John, Vicki, Janice, G Fletcher, Marilyn, Robert, Marilyn, Janet, Karen
(Toronto, Burlington, Oakville, Scarborough, Dundas, Hamilton, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, London, Sarnia)

John from mid-town Toronto wrote ... I am building a fence and digging 4 foot deep holes - 10" diameter. Left the hole uncovered for a night and lo and behold, a possum is in the bottom of it. I have put a 2x4 n the hole and hope he'll climb out tonight. This is at Avenue Road and Dupont Street, Toronto.

Vicki from Toronto said ... I just saw one in my backyard - I was going to let the dog out. Initially, I thought it was a calico cat so I made noises to scare it out of the yard, but it just looked back at me, like "what's your problem?", which is when I saw the face which was not the least cat-like. I recognized it as an Opossum immediately. Unperturbed, it just kept walking slowly toward the end of my yard. I was surprised that they can have multicoloured coats. I didn't let the dog out.

A reader from Burlington said ... I looked out my kitchen window today, march 25th and noticed a possum rummaging in the garden. While not the nicest looking animal I have heard they eat a lot of insects including ticks, and snails etc. hopefully they do not cause damage.

Janice from Oakville said ...we spotted a possum on our fence after dark for the first time since living in our house for 29 years. Disappeared for a while and then came back along the fence a bit later even with 12 people chatting in the backyard.

G Fletcher from Scarborough wrote ... on Thurs Aug 16th, last year, when backing out of my driveway, I saw a baby possum walking on the sidewalk, don't know if it was lost or just exploring. I thought possums to be nocturnal, and I wonder what it was doing out in the middle of the day. This was on Peking Road Scarborough. I did not have a camera so unable to get a picture.

Marilyn from Dundas said ... I have seen 2 possums at my house here, one investigated me one evening as I sat on the front porch just after I moved here 4 years ago. I had another one visit me last night while I was sitting in the garage having a smoke. It wandered in, strolled around investigating things, then strolled out again. Cute little critters, and I like to have them around for their tick and insect control.

Robert from Hamilton wrote to say ... my dog was really barking wildly last night at something at the bottom of my garden. When I put on the light, I saw a possum baring its teeth at my dog. I have seen them before walking along my back fence.

Marilyn wrote to say ... we have many opossums in Hamilton, Ontario, they are such a nuisance spraying my dogs and a royal pain in the arse. I am wondering how to get rid of them I don't want to kill them I just want to get them out of my area without harming them. One night a roommate came home with one in her arms and I thought she was crazy but it had been hit by a car and later died but I seriously want to try and get rid of them. I have no pictures I wish I did. I always thought these animals lived in the deep southern parts of the USA. I guess I was wrong lol. Yesterday morning here I am bathing my young dog at 4:30 am because she stunk to high heaven lol I bet she won't go near them again!Thanks for your report, and I had to do some checking, but I discovered that Possums don't spray and their urine doesn't smell (although, they can be dangerous to horses because of a virus that their feces carries), anyhow, I wonder whether your dog had an encounter with a Skunk, because it can't have been a Possum, coz they don't spray. If I find out anything more, I'll put it here.

One of our readers from Kitchener wrote ... last August 5, 2018, our dog was barking uncontrollably in our backyard at 9:30 pm. It was dark. We had to go and get our dog but took along a flashlight and the possum was on the corner of a fence with its backend toward us and it was not moving. We didn't take pictures.

Janet from Waterloo told us ... my husband and I were looking outside around 6:30 and there was a possum in my front yard near my BBQ. Never seen one this close. They are cute. This was August the 22nd 2018.

One of our readers said ... I saw one this morning around 8.30am sitting on a pile of wood in the garden. When I got out of the car it scurried off into the neighbour's yard and disappeared through a hole into their shed.

One of our readers from Guelph said ... I have spotted an Opossum in my suburban backyard in Southern Guelph twice now. I suspect it is responsible for defecating on my deck and shed roof.

N Grundy from London wrote ... unfortunately, the only possums I have seen in London have been dead on the side of the road ... too sad.

Karen from Sarnia wrote ... I believe there is a possum living under my front deck. My neighbors have seen it and it seems to head in that general direction. They saw it drag a dead carcass from the road to somewhere in my yard. I found the remains under a bush beside my front deck. I don't mind it living there but I do want to do some work that requires me to go under my deck. I am hoping not to permanently scare it off.