Southern Ontario Possums

by Mal, Dennis, Jan, Kathy, Sandrana, Meg, Kim, Guy D, Michael G, Jason
(Whitby, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Oakvill, Brantford, Oshawa, Toronto, Cambridge, Waterloo, London, Exeter. Connor)

On February 27, 2016 Kevin from Hampton, Ontario, saw a Possum in his recycling bin!

Mal from Whitby told us ... I just saw two Possums strolling by our north side fence and under our side deck in broad daylight 9 am. I assume a male and female.

One of our readers spotted a small Possum in Mississauga ... I live in a town house at the intersection of Erin Mills and The Collegeway. At 5:00 pm this evening I was doing some gardening and my husband was barbecuing when this little rodent-like creature showed came out of the space between the stone step and the wall in our backyard. It was the first time we saw an animal of this kind. Checked the Internet to find out that it is a Possum. It appeared to be quite comfortable with humans around and it was bright and sunny. Didn't think of taking a photograph at the time.

A reader from Misissauga wrote to tell us ... I just got up. It was just after 6 am on May 30, 2016. I looked out my kitchen window and there it was walking along the garden. It was kind of sulking along. Looked rather large, too! I am in the Winston Churchill and Laird area.

Dennis from Etobicoke wrote ... I live in central Etobicoke and saw my second Possum, last night, in as many weeks and about one kilometer apart.

One of our readers wrote to report ... On May 26th, two weeks ago we saw one on the front law in the morning, and again last evening around 9:00 pm in our back yard. It would not move on no matter what we did. Is their eyesight poor, or do they just freeze and pretend not to see you? We are in the 427 / Eringate area of Etobicoke.

Theresa from Vaughan spotted three Possums ... I saw a Possum walking on my front lawn this morning. Then I got a message from my next door neighbor saying she saw three "beautiful possums" in my yard. We live on Riverside Blvd, Vaughan, Ontario.

One of our readers said ... It's 3 am on a hot May night, and I peeked out my window, as I often do if I happen to wake up in the middle of the night. With the extreme heat wave, I noticed some lightning so I wanted to see if it was a storm brewing. As I peeked out, I noticed what I thought was a baby pig trotting up my driveway. But as it came closer, I noticed its nose was a little too pointy than that of a pig. And it's tail was much longer and a lot less curly than a pig's. I soon realized it was a Possum! Very rarely do I see these little guys around Brampton, but this little guy just looked like he was happily scavenging the neighbourhood. He walked with a cute little bounce, and a friendly gait. I'm sure if I wasn't inside the house, and much closer to him he wouldn't have seemed so cute though. I never really know with nocturnal creatures how friendly or aggressive they may be. It would be interesting to see him a little closer though.

Jan from Oakville wrote to report ... May 28, 2016. Two possums foraging around barbecue at 7:30 am. I watched them for a good 1/2 hour. One was carrying something shiny, (maybe tinfoil) in his tail. We do not back unto a ravine.....

Chris from Innisfil said ... Have seen several around my home (about an hour north of Toronto ) in Innisfil. They are slow moving and not overly fearful of people encounters. Maybe that's because of how slow they move. I had one that was visiting our patio sliding door and checking out the inside sights! They seem to thrive on the recycle bins as I have noticed them in the bins many times.

Last August a reader from Brantford says ... We were sitting outside in our back yard and a Possum walked out from under the garden shed. He stared at us and we stared at him. He slowly turned around and disappeared back under the shed. Have not seen him since. He was larger than a house cat and light brown in colour.

Meg from Brantford wrote to say ... While walking our dogs, my friend's dog started barking at something in the bush along a walking trail. Turned out it was a very angry (likely scared) Possum. He/she came out showing teeth and hissing at my friend's dog. Then the possum decided to 'play possum' with us. We managed to get the dogs away and on the way back checked on the possum. Thankfully the possum had left. It made for an interesting walk!

Kathy from Oshawa wrote to say ... I saw one Possum 2 weeks ago, walking down our backyard! At first I didn't realize what it was. Ran to get my phone to take a picture, but it had crawled under the fence to the neighbour's yard and was too far away to get a good photo. Today I saw two of them, chasing one another. They went in the neighbour's yard again & went under their deck. I don't know where they went after that. It was in the daytime.

Sandrana from Toronto wrote to say ... Our backyard is visited by many local critters who are drawn to the birdbaths. Tonight my spouse saw a pale cat-sized shape clumsily trying to get through the fence, he scoffed at my suggestion that it was a very small Sasquatch. I've never seen one before, but am curious to get a better look at it next time it visits!

Kim from Cambridge wrote to say ... I was quite excited to see this creature as I had never seen a Possum before and I had to search the internet to try to identify the creature. The Possum was out in the day light. We own a heritage house with an old pony barn from 1800 and he seemed to take cover close to the barn. Sorry I don't have any pictures as this all happened very quickly but definitely a possum for sure. The Possum did not stay long as it looked scared.

A reader from Waterloo wrote to report ... So, this morning I looked into my backyard and saw a rather enormous black cat. I had to do a double-take it was so big, but clearly a cat, doing that "I'll just lick my paw and pretend I don't care you know I'm here thing". A little while later, I looked again to see if it was still there. It was not, but instead I saw an even larger grey "thing" that I realized must be an Opossum once I saw it's long thin tail trailing along behind it. It was moving slowly through a throng of over-sized hostas and eventually slipped under the fence to my neighbour's yard. This Opossum was huge. Easily twice the size of a cat. Hard to imagine where it's been living, but certainly a treat to witness it.

Guy deBock from London says ... He is in the back yard now. I have a pond and waterfall so he is likely here for a little drink. I back onto Hastings Park and a wooded area adjacent to schools. Its dark so no picture. Sorry.

Michael G from Exeter, Ontario, wrote to say ... The Possum came within 2 feet of me and, then, continued on its walk across the parking lot. It was approximately 11:30 pm and I had never seen one before, so I had to look it up. Really neat! Thank you. :-)

Jason from Connor, Ontario wrote ... I found something in my live trap this morning and was not sure what it was. Thanks to this web site I confirmed it was a Possum. I am now going to release it. I live about 20 minutes East of Orangeville, Ontario.