Possums and more Possums

by A McCormick, Edgar, Annick, Hannah, Jan, George, Dorothy, Sue Henson, Janis, Rosemary, Kalleigh, Darlene
(Toronto, Ajax, Hamilton, Ancaster, North York, Milton, Collingwood, London, Niagara Falls, Oshawa, St Catharines)

A McCormick from Moss Park, Toronto said ... I have seen two in the last two months, an adult and a baby. Setting in my backyard about nine o'clock in the morning and crawled under my gate. Needless to say I looked up what I thought I saw and sure enough it was a Possum. Jump forward to tonight (September 3,2015 about 2:50 am) hubbie was outside having a smoke before bed and he calls me out and sure enough this time a baby. Of course when I told him I'd seen a Possum he said "No you didn't, it was most likely a rat!"

Edgar from Ajax, Ontario, says ... Yes, we have Possums. My wife said there are a family of them in our back yard. I planted a few grape vines years ago and the Possums are enjoying eating our grapes. I can always go to the store to buy more, but they can not, so they are welcome to them.

Bless your heart, Edgar, that is so sweet of you!

Annick from Hamilton wrote to report ... We live close to downtown Hamilton. While parking our car in the alley few minutes ago, we saw a Possum walking on our fence looking at us. They have been in our neighbourhood for quite some time (from talking with our neighbours) but it is actually the first time that my kids and myself had seen one. Glad to hear they are no trouble.

Hannah wrote to say ... My dad says that he saw a Possum in our garbage can. I didn't get to see it because I was in bed. We live in Ancaster, Ontario.

Jan from Ajax reported ... I saw a small little rat-like critter the size of a cat cross the road this morning at 7 am. It turned around to look at us and I immediately recognized it was a Possum. I was so excited as I am a fan of all animals. We live in Ajax, Ontario in a small neighbourhood still growing. We still have some farm land in the area and ravine forests near Shoal Point/ Bayly area.

George from North York wrote to say ... My cat brought a Possum home! They may be in the basement for all I know! If my four cats hang with a Possum, is that a problem? UNless of course, they are in the basement! I might have to learn how to domesticate one or get it to leave! I don't know if a Possum does damage or just hides out.

Hi George - it is unlikely that the Possums are in your basement - they stay outdoors, and they don't seem to do much damage either.

Dorothy from Milton, Ontario, says ... It wandered around our back yard for a while then climbed the steps to our deck but left the deck when we opened the door.

A reader from Collingwood wrote to say ... This morning we spotted a Possum heading from our driveway to our backyard. Our neighbour told us he had seen one eating from the cat food dish he leaves outside on his front steps. I believe this little guy may be living under our deck.

Sue Henson from London, Ontario, wrote to say ... Just saw one in our garden - London. I read that they are nocturnal - but I saw this little guy at 3:00 p.m.

Janis from London, told us ... We live in a wooded area of the city with a ravine back behind us. I feed the coons that live under our deck as it keeps them out of our garbage. Last night for the first time we found a Possum scurrying around on our deck.

Rosemary from Niagara Falls said ... Late evening, 7th October 2015 the outside sensor lights came on in the back yard and there scurrying across the back deck was a Possum. He returned a little later to tuck into the remains of the tomato plant and herb box. One of the planter boxes had been knocked over a few times lately, now we think we have found the culprit. Quite a cute little thing, just like the picture on this web page.

Kalleigh Lockhart wrote to report ... We have just bought our first home in South Oshawa and every night I see these guys cruising around. And they are big ones! lol We have extremely large feral cats and rats in the area as well so at first I told my husband he was nuts when we were driving and he said he saw a Possum! I laughed and said we don't have Possums in Canada! Well was I ever wrong!

A reader from St Catharines reported seeing two Possums in their back yard.

Darlene from Oshawa wrote to say ... I have seen one in my back yard. The dogs keep trying to get her, she is larger than a cat and grey in colour. I had one in my backyard in Scarborough 4 years ago but the Raccoons killed it.

Thank you all for sending us your reports - I know our readers enjoy hearing about your animal sightings