Possums Galore
by Jim, Peter, Joan, John, AJ, Vanessa, Carol, Roxanne, M Walsh, Pamela, Elizabeth
(Scarborough, Toronto, Innisfil, Selwyn, Orangeville, Blue Mountains, London, Napanee, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Bright's Grove, Aurora, Batawa)
Jim from Scarborough said ... we have one of these fellows living under our deck, part time, at least, as I understand they move about to different spots every few days. We care for a couple feral cats, so he was likely first attracted by some dry cat food left out overnight, and then probably discovered that the area under our new deck is pretty secluded, so he’s been spending at least sometime there. It was quite a surprise to open the patio door one night and see this little guy (well, not THAT little -I’ve seen smaller cats) munching away on cat food. He was as surprised as me, and quickly retreated. He has not been a problem at all; there’s nothing for him to get into under the deck, so we’ll let the little guy over winter there and then, during non-breeding season, we’ll coax him out and seal up the access point.
Peter wrote to say ... I live downtown Toronto, a 20 minute walk from the Eaton Centre. Last night we saw a possum walking down the road in front of our house. I checked on-line for the image and that is exactly what it was. It was far too big to be a rat.
Joan wrote ... my husband and I saw a possum today, February 22, at about 2:30 pm, We live in a rural area of Innisfil, Ontario, Canada. There are three young children here and wonder if they are in danger from the possum as we do not know how aggressive they can get. Also we would like to know if they are an endangered animal. We have put a live trap out and do not want to kill it. My husband and his friend will take it some miles away and let it loose. It has been living in our work shed and we believe it came out today because it is quite mild for this time of year and this area.
John from Selwyn said ... I spotted a possum huddled by the rail fence in our backyard just outside of Lakefield the date was February 23rd. It looked like he was headed to our bird feeder to get some food. We put him in a cat cage for the time being until we can figure how his health is while winter hangs on.
A.J. from north west of Orangeville said ... I went out to the garage to get some of my gardening containers to wash them up and plant some flowers. I went over by the shelf to grab some plastic and looked down by my left foot and there he was laying in between a crumpled up tarp on the ground. We don't go in the garage very often in the winter but the other day it was getting late so I left the garage door open a foot for the cats to get in. The garage has been closed a couple days now so he must have been in there the whole time. I opened the garage and hopefully he leaves tonight. There's fresh snow so I'd be able to tell.
Vanessa from Blue Mountains wrote ... I feed feral cats on my side deck. Just checked and there was a possum feeding from the covered bin where I place cat food and water. I turned the light on for the deck and it paid no attention. As it started to wander off - very cute btw - I opened the door to the side deck and made some sweet noises - it did nothing whatsoever. Perhaps slightly short sighted and somewhat deaf? This is my first Possum sighting but will keep putting out the food and look for it again. Almost 9pm on a dark, cold and windy night. The possum looked ok though. Glad to see. I am up near the ski hills and not too far from the Blue Mountain Inn. We do have racoons here plus the feral cats and the odd rabbit.
Roxanne from Napanee wrote ... there is a possum eating bird seed in the back garden of the Retirement residence where I work. I had no idea we had them. This is the first time anyone noticed it. It was out eating at 4:30 this afternoon, and was seen by several residents in the early part of the day.
A reader from Hamilton wrote ... I had one in the snow by my house last week. It seemed to be trying to find a way under the porch - without success.
M Walsh from Stoney Creek wrote ... my Grand kids discovered a poor curled up dead possum on the side walk in front of their house this morning. In disposing of the animal it was clear that it had been hit by a car and crawled on the side walk. It was about 18 inches in length and weighed about 20 pounds (45cm, 9kg)
A reader from Bright's Grove wrote ... sadly the two Possums I saw were both dead as a result of road kill. One was in Bright's Grove on Old Lake Shore Road close to the Creek, and the other was on Lake Shore Road in Sarnia at Modeland Road.
Pamela from Aurora wrote ... we had a possum walking behind our house in the middle of the day. Previously we have only seen them at night. So cute!
Elizabeth from Batawa said ... this morning the dogs were on "Cat Alert" when we spotted an odd critter across the road. It didn't look like a cat as it seemed to have a rat's tail and a flat white face. Sure enough, it was a possum. I've never seen one here before. Batawa is a small hamlet just north of Trenton, Ontario. (about 1 hour west of Kingston) with lots of wooded area around us, we naturally have our fair share of wild critters in the area but this is the first possum spotted here.
