Opossum in the city, need a very quiet load.

[300blk]

Have 300 blackout, 9mm, and 30-06 to work with, completely discounting my 223.
I want as quiet as possible. Anyone got a load that will work near silently w/o suppressor?
Quiet is the main goal here and ethical dispatch.

[starmac]

Just kick it, no boolits needed.

[300blk]

The girlfriends little brother chased in with a mop handle. Didn't work real well.

Got a little patch of back yard, seen him 3 nights in a row. Thinking of using 300blk with 200 grain lee run boolit and 1.5 grains of titegroup.. Any thoughts?

[300savage]

Yeah, a pellet gun to the noggin.

[Iowa Fox]

The 300-9mm-30/06 are just a little dangerous for city work unless your on the edge of town shooting away from town. At slow speeds the big projectiles bounce like a stone on the surface of water. It takes a long barrel 26" to get quiet 24" is semi quiet. The best thing I have found for varmint control is a 22 rimfire rifle that will shoot Super Colibri well. It takes a precise head shot on oppsums no matter what you use. The darn things can really stand up to body shots like Godzilla.

For big bore big pest quiet I use a 375 Win with 250 grain cast over 2.5 grains of Bullseye. Or, the 44 Mag using a 44 special case to decrease dead air space with 429303 in a Encore with 26" barrel again using 2.5 gr Bullseye. Nice thing about the single shot T/Cs is they are easy to check that the bullet left the barrel. The bigger bore of the 44 seems a little quieter than the 375.

I'll still use the Super Colibri for the little opposums.

[unclogum bill]

While your mind seems set, the thing to set is a trap. Ask yourself "who is smarter" , that possum or you. Bet youtube shows some homemade traps. Explaining a homemade device on that firestick to the copper wont be easy. Good luck...

[HARRYMPOPE]

My hushpuppy load is a 190g .30 at about 400 fps.I'd have to check but in the 30-06 i think it was 2.5 of Win. Super Target Or Bulls-eye.its quiet.

[badbob454]

my favorite is cci minicaps 710 fps and real quiet out my bolt action 22 , like a pellet gun on steroids !

[cattleskinner]

They don't run very fast, chase it down and use a baseball bat to put it down. A mop handle is a bit light.

[grumman581]

I use a .357mag with a 158 gr cast lead bullet and around 2.5 gr of Hodgedon Clays, IIRC. I believe that they chrono around 350-400 fps. They will go through an armadillo or possum, so I ensure that I have shooting down at them so that the bullet goes into the ground afterward. It is quieter than a .22LR round, although not as quiet as the super quiet .22 rounds that are probably nothing more than just primer when shot in a bolt action. A single shot is unlikely to give anyone a sense of direction on where the sound came from, especially late at night when most people are inside.

With a semi-auto, you probably won't have enough power to cycle the action. When experimenting with extremely low power loads, you need to ensure that the bullet cleared the barrel before firing a subsequent shot. Personally, I would not use a semi-auto for any load that could not properly cycle the action.

[Lead Fred]

a live trap, cat food, and a 30 gal garbage can.
They go for the food, trap closes, drop the cage in the water, blub, blub, blub.

Any animal control will lend you a trap

Save yer ammo for them 2 legged varmints

[WilliamDahl]

a live trap, cat food, and a 30 gal garbage can.
They go for the food, trap closes, drop the cage in the water, blub, blub, blub.

Any animal control will lend you a trap

Save yer ammo for them 2 legged varmints

Will that work on cats also?

[Capt. Methane]

Where there is one possum there are more, you're just seeing one. Something that works on dogs chasing a bicyclists is squirting them with ammonia-water solution. They don't like it and quit chasing bikes! Might work on possums too, I dunno. Sounds like an excuse to get a bow, crossbow or maybe a good pellet rifle to me though.

I got into an altercation with a possum that wouldn't come out from under some steps where some stuff was stored. I'd poke at the bugger with a broom handle, he'd bite onto it, I'd drag him most of the way out, he'd let go...repeat ad nauseum. Then he knocked over one of those plastic jugs of mineral spirits and hid behind it so I had to drag that out from under the steps with the broom handle...possum bit into the plastic jug of mineral spirits and wasn't amused-finally ran off and we didn't have any of them digging in our garbage for about 3 years-seems he spread the word not to mess with that house over there!

Now we have dogs...

[Stephen Cohen]

I realise your possums are different to the ones in this country and New Zealand. The way I used to nail them was lean a 3x2 against the tree or wall they wish to climb, like a lot of people animals are lazy, and will take the easiest route. fix a piano wire noose half way up that is just large enough for possum to put head through, again like a lot of people we know they will keep walking through, and noose will tighten around its neck. The risk of discharging a firearm in town to kill a possum is not worth loosing your guns over. Or heaven forbad shooting some one.

[Lonegun1894]

This depends on what kind of guns the calibers you listed are in. For example, I tried this load in a 26" 1917 and a Rem 700 22", both .30-06. Loaded a 90gr cast Lee SWC over 1.5grs Red Dot, and it sounded like a .22LR in the Remington, but like a pelletgun in the 26" 1917. So even a slight difference in barrel length can make a huge difference. The same load except with a jacketed 90gr Hornady XTP didn't even clear the muzzle. Can't remember where or why I got them, but had a few left so figured I'd try one. Anyway, this is doable, but you have to be very careful because these type of loads penetrate much more than most people would believe til they see it, and as others have said, they are dangerous and need to be used with extreme caution. Make very sure you have a safe backstop, and if you don't, then you don't want to take the chance by taking the shot. They skip, ricochet, and do God only knows what else, so be very careful.

[Griz44mag]

Every city, even the small ones, have an animal control group. Borrow a live trap, bait it, catch the critter. Call animal control, they will come pick it up. I have done that with cats, stray dogs, a couple of raccoons and a parrot. Discharging a firearm in the city limits will not go good for you if you get tagged. We as a shooting community, don't need that kind of press, and you as an individual, probably don't want to make the acquaintance of some new lawyer friends that will take all your money.

[pressonregardless]

For slow moving vermin, I use a shovel.

[s mac]

As was mentioned, an arrow is quiet and effective.

[truckjohn]

I will echo similar comments....

Do you not have an animal control in your town/city? That's their specialty....

Frequently, as others here have stated - they will lend you the trap.... Set the trap, catch possum, call animal control....

My #2 solution would be a tall trashcan with catfood inside and a board leading up to it.... Possum smells food... Walks up... Climbs down to get food... Stuck.... You put lid on trashcan and take it somewhere away... Either dispatch it somewhere far away (And have a drain hole in your trash can)... or turn it loose - which I wouldn't do for fear of spreading disease/rabies....

This way - you don't have to be the guy sitting out in the dark in your back yard (IN TOWN) holding a big hunting rifle.... That sort of thing gets the police called....

Thanks

[alrighty]

I agree that animal control is the best option.I would not take the chance of using a big bore subsonic round.A .22 rifle from what I have been told can be very quiet using subsonic shorts, a disposable latex baby bottle nipple and some duct tape , google it.Then google the laws concerning shooting a firearm with an unregistered suppressor and call animal control or buy a live trap.

[Pb2au]

Option 1) Tiger. Very quiet, automatically disposes of corpse. Downside, illegal to own, most likely will eat you too, and your dogs, cats, neighbors, etc, etc.
Option 2) Live trap. Very quiet as well, downside, you now own a trap with a confused possum in it. Upside, simply drive out of town and relocate. Downside 2, possible illegal to relocate (check your local laws).
I'd go with option 2. Simple answer, no possibility of collateral damage to you, your neighbors, or anything else.

[youngda9]

slingshot with steel balls.

[300blk]

Thank you all for your input!
Way more replies than I had hoped for.
I have a generous backstop of firewood and I see him in front of it often.
I understnd city ordinance.
And will be using a lighter weight boolit in a 22 inch 30-06 garand. Have a lee 93 grain that will probably fit the bill.

For the record, I said without a suppressor, but if it comes down to it, I have a few buddies that have legal .22 and 9mm cans that could be invited over for a night.
If i cant get this load down to my liking, i will call animal control.

[Lonegun1894]

I understand the problem you're having. Town where I live has animal control, but Christmas will get here before they will if I call them. Town I work in, doesn't even have animal control, so people have to do it themselves. So not every town has them, or has them available when called. I won't tell you to not do it, because I have had to do the same thing myself. However, I do ask that you think hard about if this is first necessary, and second, safe. On the necessary part, there's various options that you can use that have been mentioned, and a bow is probably one of the quietest, and doesn't have to be a modern hunting bow, but a simple stick and string that you make or even a $20 kids bow is plenty for these kind of purposes. On the safety part, it really isn't worth taking any chances there so if you're not sure you can do this completely safely, just don't do it. The trap is probably the safest option that anyone has come up with, so wherever it was that mentioned that first, I like the way you think. Even if you have to buy the trap yourself, if you have a possum/cat/etc now, you will have another in the future so it is a worthwhile investment that will be used again, just a matter of when.

[DougGuy]

We had a groundhog living under the back deck, I wasn't to upset with him -until- he started raiding the raised beds we grow stuff in. I used a .22LR to the head from inside the house, just open the window far enough to shoot through. Back yard is fenced with a wooden fence and there is a shed that blocks the noise as well. Borrow a .22 rifle if you must shoot him, other than that, trap/drown works too.

[300blk]

We have animal control, they just arent worth a damn here. Kinda like our local polIce.
If i couldnt do this safley and discretly with a wide margin for error, I wouldnt do it.
That being said, what are your favorite quiet critter zapper loads?
Even if i dont use them it would be a handy starting point to use for the future.

[Gibbs44]

My cousin used to use a 2x4 with a large nail through it. One of the real big ones. They'd run'em down, and when they'd turn, whack, right through the top of the head. Good luck no matter what action you take.

[Gee_Wizz01]

I have killed at least 15 with a .177 to the head! Out at the ranch I use anything from a .22 lr to a 257 Roberts, and even a .45 Colt. Back in the mid seventies on Thanksgiving night, I went to bed around 10 pm and heard a racket in our garden at t he ranch. I looked out the window and there were two large possums messing with the trash can. I opened my window and blasted one with my .22 Mag Ruger SS. The possum crumpled up and fell out on the ground his partner was heading away at fast walk and I nailed him too. The next morning I go out and the possum I shot off the can is gone! There is a large pool of blood where he was laying and I trail of blood out into the pasture. The other possum was hit square in the head and laying where I shot him. The next year on Christmas day we had a repeat of the whole show. I wake up around 11 PM and there are two possums on the trash can. This time I had my .22 rifle and nailed the first one in the head, and got the second one as he ambled away. The next morning both possums were laying where they dropped the night before. When I picked them up I noticed one of the possums had a huge scar on his mid section where he had been shot. The skin had healed up but he had no hair on the scars, and I am pretty sure he was the same possum I shot the year before.

Gary

[pls1911]

Cb long in a kids rifle. I use my own... A pristine old marlin single shot with a pull back hammer.
Pellet gun quiet, .22 effective at possum range.
I had good training in gun care, so it shoots perfectly after exactly 50 years and two months, and a whole lot of livin'.

[Hatiwolf]

German shepherd ... though a 22 caliber pellet works better. My old shepherd brought one home on the last 100 yards of a walk one night then dropped it on the living room floor and ran off to the bedroom when I looked at her thinking she was in trouble. After checking it out myself for a few minutes I was sure she had killed it from the crunching I heard so I went to get a trash bag to put it in. Came back with the trash bag and it was gone. By that point she wouldnt leave the room to help me find it thinking I was upset with her for bringing trash in the house. Still blame that dog for the broken picture that occurred that night while trying to find that furry turd.

[popper]

177 pellet or wood baseball bat. Alum ones don't do the job. Live trap & pellet to the head is easiest, then throw into the trash. Yes they do play possum. One tricked me too.

[HABCAN]

Make a load for your .223 using an air-rifle pellet and about 0.75 grs. B'eye or other fast powder, std. primer. Check zero in basement or wherever. POP! BTDT on various critters, just never on possums.

[starnbar]

Like Griz said just trap em and let a/c take em out of there for you.

[303Guy]

I've tested loads for quietness and the best is a small charge of something like shotgun with the remaining volume filled with polenta or corn grits and a light boolit. I wouldn't do it in a 30-06 though. The 300 would work if the barrel was long enough but if it's a semi-auto then stuff is going to get into the gas port.

[truckjohn]

Any chance you could use the pistol and rubber bullet/hot glue stick boolit?
You propel them with only a magnum primer (no powder)....

I wouldn't hesitate to use a wheel gun of any CF pistol caliber if I had one...

A head shot will kill a possum - but it's low enough power so that it won't really hurt a person if there's a ricochet....

Otherwise - I would use a 22 short cb cap in a rifle... All you will hear is a *pop*....

Thanks

[starmac]

I can't count the opossums I have caught by hand, stepping on it will kill it.

[WilliamDahl]

My cousin used to use a 2x4 with a large nail through it. One of the real big ones. They'd run'em down, and when they'd turn, whack, right through the top of the head. Good luck no matter what action you take.

Just don't do that in any of the lefty-loon places like Boulder, CO.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/28/colorado-man-arrested-after-raccoon-beating-death-allegedly-to-retaliate-cats/?intcmp=obnetwork

Obviously this guy should have perused this thread before doing it on raccoons...

[GeezerinNH]

Pellet Gun

[country gent]

Parents have been using Purple Marlin fly bait mixed with Cokeacola. Coons and Possums make about 30 feet after drinking it. Problem is keeping neighbors pets out of it. Trapping works well Take in live trap wire ends down and a rope drop in creek the covers trap. problem solved. In almost all states releasing a wild animal to a difrent area with out documented quarintine is illeagal, prevents spread of dieseases and such. Dad has trapped critters in the garden for years. In leg holds a ball bat or heavy club worked fine. Dont get bit though. A conibear trap will leave a corpse in the trap. A live trap if seen is easier to defend but the animsl inside is an issue. Though with the live trp cats and dogs ( pets) can be releasd un harmed. The marlin coke mix isnt selective anything that drinks it is done. We used it mostly in the barns for rats coons possums skunks.

[grumman581]

Parents have been using Purple Marlin fly bait mixed with Cokeacola.

Did a quick web search and could not find any such thing. Found a "Golden Malrin fly bait" though... Same thing?

[deep creek]

when needed in my pest control business i u use .22cb shorts its quiter than a pellet gun and works!

[WilliamDahl]

I wonder if it would be possible to design a barrel insert for a 12-gauge single shot shotgun that had a .38 inner barrel and a suppressor that would still fit inside the barrel of the last foot or so of the shotgun barrel. Probably not enough volume...

[Lonegun1894]

A 1/4" pipe tends to fit a .38Spl case, and I have used one as long as my barrel to do something similar. Now, this wasn't fancy, and I'm not even sure it was safe, but I didn't know that back in jr. high so got away with it. I used duct tape to wrap around the "breach" and "muzzle of my pipe til it fit the inside of the 12ga barrel and keep the pipe centered, but DID NOT modify anything to create a suppressor-type device, as I didn't even know about that at the time. I just wanted something to shoot a box of .38s I had been given but didn't have a gun to shoot out of. I fired those 50rds, then my parents figured out what I was doing and threw away my pipe, but it was safe for those 50 shots. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't even risk trying to make a suppressor without a stamp, especially when I can go get a pipe just like I had, and a roll of duct tape, and just load a few very light .38s, and I'm sure it would be as quiet as a pelletgun just due to the length of the barrel if you were to use it in something with a longish barrel, like the H&R single shot that I did this with years ago. Accuracy wasn't great by any means, but it was plenty good for me to hit coke cans at 15-20yds back then, and I would bet that you can get much closer than that to a possum. I mean, we are relaoders, so any of us can load light loads, and all these would really have to do is make it out the muzzle.

[303Guy]

You don't need much volume for a suppressor. But it's illegal in your parts, no?

You could set up a quiet load and fire it through a suppressor box conveniently placed.

[grumman581]

You don't need much volume for a suppressor. But it's illegal in your parts, no?

You could set up a quiet load and fire it through a suppressor box conveniently placed.

No, you just have to pay an unconstitutional tax on it.

Now, I wonder if whether creating a compensator that just happened to reduce the sound pressure would fall under the (unconstitutional) NFA rules.

Of course, since I don't own a lathe or mill, this is just an academic question for me.

[grumman581]

A 1/4" pipe tends to fit a .38Spl case, and I have used one as long as my barrel to do something similar. Now, this wasn't fancy, and I'm not even sure it was safe, but I didn't know that back in jr. high so got away with it. I used duct tape to wrap around the "breach" and "muzzle of my pipe til it fit the inside of the 12ga barrel and keep the pipe centered, but DID NOT modify anything to create a suppressor-type device, as I didn't even know about that at the time. I just wanted something to shoot a box of .38s I had been given but didn't have a gun to shoot out of. I fired those 50rds, then my parents figured out what I was doing and threw away my pipe, but it was safe for those 50 shots. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't even risk trying to make a suppressor without a stamp, especially when I can go get a pipe just like I had, and a roll of duct tape, and just load a few very light .38s, and I'm sure it would be as quiet as a pelletgun just due to the length of the barrel if you were to use it in something with a longish barrel, like the H&R single shot that I did this with years ago. Accuracy wasn't great by any means, but it was plenty good for me to hit coke cans at 15-20yds back then, and I would bet that you can get much closer than that to a possum. I mean, we are relaoders, so any of us can load light loads, and all these would really have to do is make it out the muzzle.

At which point, you created a .38 caliber smoothbore shotgun that you just happened to be shooting "slugs" out of. :)

[longarm85]

Hammer , works real well...

[303Guy]

Now, I wonder if whether creating a compensator that just happened to reduce the sound pressure would fall under the (unconstitutional) NFA rules.
A poster somewhere said no. In one state (he said), it was legal provided it did not reduce noise levels by more than some figure, could have been 4 db or maybe 2 db. I don't think he was sure. 3 db is half the sound pressure level. Anyway, I had a muzzle device no bigger than a muzzle break that was a mini suppressor but it cut recoil considerably. It may have given only 4 db. It's hard to tell. It was as effective as a full blown commercial over-barrel suppressor on my buddies 308.

That suppressor tax, is that for crime control? It doesn't seem right.

[WilliamDahl]

Of course, since I don't own a lathe or mill, this is just an academic question for me.

Kind of sad that we have to put those sorts of caveats in our posts so that people don't get their panties in a wad. :(

[WilliamDahl]

That suppressor tax, is that for crime control? It doesn't seem right.

I suspect that very few (if any) things the government has done over the last 150 years has been "right". It has pretty much gone downhill since we made the mistake of moving that last liberal Illinois senator to DC around 150 years ago.

[grumman581]

A poster somewhere said no. In one state (he said), it was legal provided it did not reduce noise levels by more than some figure, could have been 4 db or maybe 2 db. I don't think he was sure. 3 db is half the sound pressure level. Anyway, I had a muzzle device no bigger than a muzzle break that that a mini suppressor but is cut recoil considerably. It may have given only 4 db. It's hard to tell. It was as effective as a full blown commercial over-barrel suppressor on my buddies 308.

That suppressor tax, is that for crime control? It doesn't seem right.

I think that they probably *used* "crime control" as an excuse when they created that (unconstitutional) rule. I don't believe that it had any affect on crime though. I have to wonder if *they* even thought that it would have an effect when they created it.

[Lonegun1894]

It is currently, and has been since it was imposed in 1934, a $200 tax. Now, I put that 200 figure into a online inflation calculator to see how much it would be if it had changed along with inflation, and $200 back then was the equivalent of a bit over $3000 today. Makes me think it had nothing to do with crime, and everything to do with control. I guess some things don't change after all. It was just intended as one of those "we're not saying you CAN'T have it, just that you have to pay a STEEP PRICE to have it". Well, I see that as being as UNconstitutional as if they had said we can't have it outright, because that is the effect it had for most people. Now, given the choice of paying a tax and not having it, I will pay the tax, but that is just because I would much rather bitch about an unjust law from outside a cell than inside one. I figure from poutside a cell, at least I can try and write letters and hopefully someday vote to repeal this BS law.

[Recluse]

Quote Originally Posted by Lead Fred
a live trap, cat food, and a 30 gal garbage can.
They go for the food, trap closes, drop the cage in the water, blub, blub, blub.

Any animal control will lend you a trap

Save yer ammo for them 2 legged varmints

SMFH. . .

If you're going to kill something, kill it humanely. Drowning, poisoning or burning something to death is bull**** and indicative of a sick and cowardly mind--of which it seems we're getting an ever growing amount of around here, which probably explains the reduced frequency of postings by older members.

However, the individual I quoted up above has been on my longtime Ignore List and even when I see him quoted by other members in response, I generally just ignore. But I can only take so much of some of the keyboard commandos we have around here who I envision typing with one hand while stroking a pimped out black gun in the other as John Milius movies play in the background with the tv reflecting off a wall with "Wolverines" spray painted on it. :rolleyes:

It's a (expletive deleted) possum. I've had 'em in my yard from time to time in the city and after about two days, they were gone. They're basically nomadic and don't stick around. The one and only one I ever had stick around in town was dispatched with two shots from a Ruger MKII using some subsonic ammo and a heavily duct-tape wrapped 20oz Coke bottle on the end of the barrel. Two more shots directly into the head ensured that he wasn't playing possum and was in fact dead. Into a garbage bag he/she went and curbside garbage pickup took care of the rest.

Had one in the hangar a couple of years ago that didn't want to leave--the dog chased him off and we never saw him again.

Trap the damned thing then give it to animal control or go to the edge of town and dump it or whatever. Or shoot it cleanly and bury it or throw it in the garbage. There is no sane, rational, ethical reason to torture, poison or drown the thing--just kill it quick and sure and be done with it.

:coffee:

[mroliver77]

Foot hold or conibear traps cannot legally be set within X distance of a domicile or place a human travels etc etc.

What are these possums hurting? Dad always said they were natures garbage men.

I just grab them by the tail and take them somewhere where they can be happy. When I was a kid the pelts were worth a buck each.

No town in my area has an animal control person. We have a County Dog Warden woman but she don't mess with things that don't pay.

I never invite people with county, state, fed plates to my house!
J

[mroliver77]

Did a quick web search and could not find any such thing. Found a "Golden Malrin fly bait" though... Same thing?
Yep same thing. We talk a lot about "ethical" killing here. Think about that.
J

[starmac]

That opossum would be proud he has caused 3 pages of discussion, just to get rid of him. lol

[alamogunr]

Which is worse, possum's or armadillo's?

[grumman581]

Which is worse, possum's or armadillo's?

Hmmm... Let's see... On one hand, 'possums attempt to steal the food of your dogs and get into your trash can... They also get in trees and you might not be able to see them at night, even though your dogs are barking at them... On the other, armadillos tear up your yard... Both end up making my dogs bark in the middle of the night and I have to wake up, go outside, and dispatch the pest... Armadillos have a shell which is tough enough that bird shot will often just bounce off of it...

I would have to say that armadillos are worse just because of the damage that they can do to your yard.

[alamogunr]

Around here armadillo's have caught up with possums as roadkill despite the fact they are relatively recent residents. That hard shell is no match for 18 wheelers.

[grumman581]

Plus, their defensive mechanism is to jump up when surprised. Worked great for horses, not so much for 18-wheelers. I've seen them jump up to 5 ft high. Makes for an interesting shot at night. Try to get them at the top of the jump when you pull the trigger...

According to the information on this site, it's only 3-4 ft, but I'm pretty sure that it was at least shoulder height when I encountered it late one night.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/armadillo.html

[David2011]

Now, I wonder if whether creating a compensator that just happened to reduce the sound pressure would fall under the (unconstitutional) NFA rules.

Yep, if it reduces the sound it's a supressor according to the BATFE.

David

[SawmillJack]

I have lived "in town" for the last 5 years. My house is the first house in town the city limit sign is in my front yard. We don't see many opossums but in the last 4 years I have dispatched 17 groundhogs from the backyard in broad day light and nobody has heard a thing. 40% of those were with .22 LR from a bolt action rifle the rest were with CCI .22 short CB loads 29gr solid from the same bolt rifle. I have used a Ruger Single Six though one time and it was fairly quiet with the CCI shorts as well.

[Michael J. Spangler]

we don't have armadillos where i am, but we always referred to them as possum on the half shell.

[grubbylabs]

I would think a howitzer would do just fine and draw very little attention.

[303Guy]

In New Zealand we find possum sunning themselves on the side of the road and sometimes closer to the middle of the road. They lie like that for days without moving.

We shoot them with silenced 22's at night with spot lights.

If a quiet 30 cal is being called for, what about a pellet driven by one or two grains of bullseye.

[JakeBlanton]

In New Zealand we find possum sunning themselves on the side of the road and sometimes closer to the middle of the road. They lie like that for days without moving.

Over here, we call that "roadkill". :)

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Wrist Rocket and a caliber .30 ball bearing. If someone already noted this procedure I did not read all the previous. Anyway aim for the earlope.
Then you will want to start a nearby vehicle for tire tread application.
Mike in Peru

[mroliver77]

Good morning
Wrist Rocket and a caliber .30 ball bearing. If someone already noted this procedure I did not read all the previous. Anyway aim for the earlope.
Then you will want to start a nearby vehicle for tire tread application.
Mike in Peru
Mike, we have had store bought wrist rockets for years. I have never mastered them. I can hit the barn roof from 20 yards!

[starmac]

I never was what a guy would call good with a wrist rocket (not exactly what we called them back then) but I had a friend when we were kids that could nail a squirrel of the top of a telephone probably 9 out of 10 shots.
There is a video out that I have seen of a guy that just doesn't miss anything with one.

[barrabruce]

I think you are all trying to corrupt me.

:popcorn:

Don't you just call 'yer mate the turtleman or swamp people or anaconda man. croc swimmer wrestler bloke.

Just in ...vite some of 'yer kin folk around for a barbie.

Just blast it with a shottie and yell out don't worry dear just another one of those F@%kin snakes.

[drinks]

For those who do not have a lathe, a co. in Anchorage, AK, makes a line of inserts and adapters, for both rifles and shotguns.
I have an adapter to fire .22 rf in a .223 Handi, it does work, it is not convenient, but it works.
I also have a .38sp/.357 mag adapter for 20 ga. it was made by Numrich some 40 years ago it works and a factory .38sp is not very loud when fired from a 20ga with a 24" barrel.
I am sure some minimal loads would be even more quiet.
The co. in Anchorage is MCA Sports.

[303Guy]

How quiet can subsonic, light shot load 12ga shotguns be? Another question, how effective and accurate would a sabot'ed round ball be in a shotgun? What distance are we talking here, 20yds? A steel ball would have enough speed to do the job at almost inaudible (to the neighbours) levels. It doesn't matter if there is some noise as long as it doesn't sound like a gunshot.

[JakeBlanton]

How quiet can subsonic, light shot load 12ga shotguns be? Another question, how effective and accurate would a sabot'ed round ball be in a shotgun? What distance are we talking here, 20yds? A steel ball would have enough speed to do the job at almost inaudible (to the neighbours) levels. It doesn't matter if there is some noise as long as it doesn't sound like a gunshot.

If you start up your Harley, no one is going to notice a single gun shot. :)

[58 Siesta]

Gloolits

[7br]

Here is the link to my experiments. By the way, consider leaving a can of tuna on your neighbor's porch and let them deal with the critter.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?10519-Possum-Wranglin&highlight=possum

[Ohio Rusty]

Stuff 4 or 5 grains of unique in that '06, put in a tuft of filler and force a lead round ball in the end of the shell so it's tight. You can to that with a common bench vice. That is how I reloaded round ball in 38's for years before I ever got a press. Voila .....Quiet homemade small game whacker ......
Ohio Rusty ><>

[popper]

leaving a can of tuna on your neighbor's porch,
start a nearby vehicle for tire tread application darn, just lost that gulp of cola.

[TXGunNut]

My earliest loading and LE mentor's weapon of choice was the 4-cell Kel light. May he rest in peace, he REALLY hated possums.

[Old Ironsights]

I use a .357mag with a 158 gr cast lead bullet and around 2.5 gr of Hodgedon Clays, IIRC. I believe that they chrono around 350-400 fps. They will go through an armadillo or possum, so I ensure that I have shooting down at them so that the bullet goes into the ground afterward. It is quieter than a .22LR round, although not as quiet as the super quiet .22 rounds that are probably nothing more than just primer when shot in a bolt action. A single shot is unlikely to give anyone a sense of direction on where the sound came from, especially late at night when most people are inside.

With a semi-auto, you probably won't have enough power to cycle the action. When experimenting with extremely low power loads, you need to ensure that the bullet cleared the barrel before firing a subsequent shot. Personally, I would not use a semi-auto for any load that could not properly cycle the action.


This. Though the same load out of a .357 Levergun is more quiet than my .177 pellet gun...

[300blk]

For the record, I did work one up for the garand, 2.2 gr titegroup, 311299 boolit: slow slow. penetrates a pine 2x4. And quieter than a subsonic 22.
Was hitting a foot low at 25 meters, so adjusted the sights up, lands at a 40 degree angle.
:)

[carolina556]

Calibres from .22 or set a trap anything else is probably going to get you into trouble in the city.

[unclogum bill]

After all this time if that possum aint dispatched it surely died of old age.

[s mac]

Or had a whole nother litter.

[Lead Fred]

A free live trap from the animal control, and a 30 gallon garbage can full of water
trap the critter, blub, blub, blub into the water
Nice and quiet.
Save your ammo for two legged varmints

[MT Chambers]

see the new airgun section!!

[bandit7.5]

Popping round in a city limit is very much a bad idea. Bow and arrow.

[Hamish]

Popping round in a city limit is very much a bad idea. Bow and arrow.

Pass through's skip and travel. DAMHIKT.

[JakeBlanton]

Pass through's skip and travel. DAMHIKT.

Doesn't matter if you are using a firearm or a bow & arrow. If you're not sure that your backstop will stop the projectile, don't take the shot. I've had quite a few instances over the years where I refused to take the shot on a pest due to what was beyond it. Maybe it was just my car that was parked in the driveway, maybe it was a brick wall that I didn't want to damage. Regardless, I decided that the chance of lead ricocheting off the concrete would cause me more problems than the pest was causing me.

The most irritating pest I ever had was a neighbor's cat many years ago. It seemed like the only time it ever stopped long enough for me to be able to take a shot at it, it always did it so that there was something downrange that I didn't want to chance hitting if a ricochet occurred. It would constantly irritate my dogs by walking along the top of the fence and dig holes in the mulch around my trees as if my yard was its own personal litter box. Why is it that some pet owners think that it is perfectly acceptable for their pets to take a dump in your yard? Aren't their own yards good enough for them?

I definitely do not miss that suburban life. These days, if I don't like my neighbors, I just move my RV to the next town.

[Ruger45Bisley]

I've dispatched several with a simple break-barrel .177 pellet rifle. Shot one on the front porch, a side shot through the boiler room and it walked off the porch, around the corner and crumpled up dead as a door nail, pellet went all the way through and found it laying on the porch. I've also shot them when cornered straight on the top of the head, but at times that doesn't work. I shot one like that it and bled and bled but it just walked around like nothing happened. When it stopped, a pellet to the side of the head put him in a death roll. Not perfectly quiet but not loud either, I find an airgun is about perfect for dealing with pests, but I would suggest a .22 over a .177.

[Iron Mike Golf]

Not perfectly quiet but not loud either, I find an airgun is about perfect for dealing with pests, but I would suggest a .22 over a .177.

Agree with this. I used a Rem Nitro Piston in .22 on a raccoon up the walnut tree out back. 30 yds in the dark, illum reticle and held a flashlight along the forend. Bright eyes made an easy target. He was done twitching by the time I walked over to him.

[another gunslinger]

Air rifle or a shovel or a 2x4. 'Possums ain't exactly fast. Crazy to be looking for a load to dispatch them with inside of city limits. Killed 'em all the time on the farm with a .22, often cci cb. Doesn't get much more low powered or quiet than that. Somebody is looking to have more fun doing it than the chore really calls for...

[Trifocals]

Several summers ago I was infested with possums. I live trapped them using dry cat food for bait (they love it). To do them in once caught in a live trap, immerse trap with critter in a barrrell/garbage can full of water. This is quite and humane. Bury the remains. LOL Trifocals

[Lonegun1894]

How exactly is drowning any animal humane? I have been held down under water, and have spoken to many others who have too, and not a single one of us enjoyed the experience. I know this keeps coming up, so must be a common practice at least for some people, but I just had to ask.

[preparehandbook]

I agree that drowning is not humane. Just smack their head in with a bat, pipe, or hammer.

I have killed dozens of possums. They can soak up some lead and still make a fuss. I have shot a third of one's head clean off, brain visible, and it still was hissing and snapping.

Inside city limits if I was wearing a good pair of boots I just kicked them to death, which is not humane, but fairly easy. Watch out for the teeth, kick them in until they play dead and then stomp on their head.

You can also just grab them by the tip of the tail and hoist them in the air, since they have strong tails they will try to curl up and grab you, so give them a firm jiggle every couple of seconds. I have used this technique while holding one out the window of a car (relocating one).

The nice thing about possums is when relocated they don't tend to return (cats and raccoons can cover 10 miles in a night if so inclined)

remember, if the PD responds to a "shot fired" you will most likely loose the firearm at least for a "discharge in city limits"

[JakeBlanton]

How exactly is drowning any animal humane? I have been held down under water, and have spoken to many others who have too, and not a single one of us enjoyed the experience. I know this keeps coming up, so must be a common practice at least for some people, but I just had to ask.

Personally, I don't care whether it is humane or not for animals that I consider a pest. I wouldn't drown them, but solely because I don't consider that to be an expedient way of getting rid of the problem. It's a lot easier to just shoot them on sight and toss their body over the back fence.

Not that I have that problem these days. The worst I encounter is some damn cat lady's cat that wants to crawl up inside my engine compartment. That tends to only happen ONCE though. Nothing that a pressure washer can't clean up.

[Rainier]

+1 on the live trap and trash can full of water - they die quickly and quietly - very humane they just stop breathing... Air

[preparehandbook]

the biggest reason why I haven't used drowning is the hassle.

Some garbage cans are too weak. Some cages are too big.

And when you're done.... 30 gallons of dead possum water filled with fur and poo.

The possum isn't going to like being killed whether it's drowning, blunt force, bullet, whatever.

The most natural way is to get other possums to do it for you by following these easy steps:

- Tell the other possums it's a snitch
- Spray paint it the color of an opposing gang
- Borrow from possum loan sharks in it's name
- Steal items from the other possums and place the loot in it's burrow

[Rainier]

Possum fur & poo makes great fertilizer for the plants - think it more as 30 gallons of enriched plant water :)

[WTXPATRICK]

You can take a .223 round. pull the boolit out and dump the powder on the nearest ant bed and light it, watch the fireworks. Then, take a light hammer and small punch and put 2 or 3 dings around the case neck where the case shoulder meets the neck. you can then drop a .22 caliber lead pellet into the case neck and it should stay put in the neck without falling through to the bottom of the case. Put a drop or 2 of candle wax on top of the pellet to hold it in. The primer has enough power to drive the pellet fast enough to do the trick. If possible, shoot the critter in the ear, cats drop in their tracks using this load.
Very quiet load.
Happy hunting.

[daengmei]

Hundreds of critters live with us and you just never see them. I have been using a live trap for 20 years or so. Not any the last 2 years but I have caught raccoons, groundhogs and opossums. Living close to Ft Knox I just let them out in a wooded area some distance from housing. I figured out that using meats or pet foods I would catch many neighbors' cats so now I use only apples. I'm surprised I've not caged a skunk, there are so many of them too.

[pertnear]

Use the .223. Size a case & prime it only. Use a .22 cal pellet as your bullet. A .22 pellet measures .222 dia so you may need to squeeze it to increase the diameter or use a little wax to hold it in the case neck. Nice & quiet & you don't have to buy an air rifle.

[Texas by God]

If you are quick enough, you can capture him with a baitcasting net. Then dispatch him with a hammer to the forehead.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[richhodg66]

I live way out in the country and can shoot anything I want, no problem. We had an outside cat for a couple of years, occasionally a possum would come and eat any cat food still there after dark. I shot one, felt bad about it. Now if one is a problem, a live trap usually gets them within a few hours of night fall (they are really stupid, gotta be the easiest things to trap there is) and they get a free ride out to a very remote spot a few miles down the road.

They're almost universally immune to rabies. They also eat ticks and they're so docile I doubt one would have hurt the cat unless the cat attacked it first. I've gotten to where I don't like killing something without a good reason. Coons and coyotes are the only shoot on sight critters out here anymore.

[Wolfer]

I live out in the country and shoot in the yard a lot. I have lots of trouble with coons and possums in my chickens. I have a homemade box trap that I set in the barn where the dogs can't get to it.

I don't want to shoot through the trap so I go down in the field about 20 yds from the woods with whatever pistol I have at hand. Turn them out and if they make it to the woods I'll trap them another day. 1 made it, one almost made it, the other 20 or so didn't make it.

Side note. My 32 mag puts them down right now. My 38 special puts them down with considerable more athourity. 45 colt is a sledgehammer.

[catboat]

This is waaaaaay late to a 2013 thread, but I saw the word “possum” and wanted to reply.

I just read an article about how possums may be a secret weapon for fighting against deer ticks ( Lyme disease carrier).

Evidently, the slow moving possums are easy targets for ticks, and the ticks jump on them. Possums are tremendous groomers, and eat the ticks off their body, killing the little buggers (ticks). It was estimated than ONE possum eats/ kills 5000 ticks per year.

So don’t kill possums. They are a desperately needed “natural” tick killer to fight Lyme disease. Live trap them, and relocate the in high tick areas.

http://www.caryinstitute.org/newsroom/opossums-killers-ticks

[richhodg66]

Well, if the little guys didn't have a protected status on my place before, they sure do now after reading that article. I absolutely hate ticks, nastiest things God put on this earth. Anything that systematically kills ticks is good in my book.

[Hogtamer]

A possum? 6 pages about a possum? Geez man, poke em with a stick, he'll do his possum thing, put him in a sack and take him to the country! Or of he's a real killer build a rabbit box, bait him with sardines and take him to the country. A possum? I did get a good chuckle here, thanks!

[W.R.Buchanan]

Hogtamer, so did I. I live where varmints are part of life every night and when you deport one another comes in to take its place the very next night.

Here's a pic of my latest intruder Deported to Lake Casitas.

Record stands at 43 Raccoons, 8 Opossums, 2 Skunks. I call Animal Control for the Skunks as they have to be put down on the spot and then they get taken back for dissection looking for rabies. Everyone else gets deported upwind from the house about 5 miles. If you release down wind a Coon can do 2 miles a night easy and they will be right back with you in a day or so.

Plenty of action. I have one raccoon I can't seem to catch and she has been with us for nearly 4 years. Comes thru every single night and washes its hands in the fountain, Pisses wife off greatly. Wife would shoot him if she could stay up late enough.

Hava-hart traps aren't that expensive and I've had both of mine for 25 years, and they get used frequently.

Randy

[D Crockett]

I live way out in the country and can shoot anything I want, no problem. We had an outside cat for a couple of years, occasionally a possum would come and eat any cat food still there after dark. I shot one, felt bad about it. Now if one is a problem, a live trap usually gets them within a few hours of night fall (they are really stupid, gotta be the easiest things to trap there is) and they get a free ride out to a very remote spot a few miles down the road.

They're almost universally immune to rabies. They also eat ticks and they're so docile I doubt one would have hurt the cat unless the cat attacked it first. I've gotten to where I don't like killing something without a good reason. Coons and coyotes are the only shoot on sight critters out here anymore. here is a novice idea just leave it alone all it wants to do is live to and what is it really hurting? I have had one under my shed for the last 5 years now it has never hurt a thing. D Crockett

[poppy42]

Unless it’s eating your garbage or in your house, leave it alone. I was a nuisance trapper in New York. You would be amazed how many live in the cities! Being nocturnal you don’t see them unless your out late at night. If you have to dispatch it use a pellet gun or 22 shorts or cb caps. The weapons you discribed will punch right through so you best remember those four rules. Especially “know your target and beyond”!

[ofitg]

Back in the 70's I knew a fellow who connected a flex-hose between his camper shell and the exhaust pipe on his pickup.

He'd catch a critter in his live trap, stick the trap inside the camper shell, and take a drive out to the edge of town. The critter would be "history" by the time he reached the city limits.

[trapper9260]

Possum and coon eat the game birds eggs and young. I have got 29 of them from trapping this season and they are gas money after you put them up. Also they can be eaten and it is poor mans pork also because they are alot of fat in them. but are good after all the fat is off.

[6bg6ga]

No one has mentioned that it is illegal to discharge a firearm within the city limits? It didn't bother me when I was younger either I simply did what I wanted. Years ago many there was a cat that got into everything. It tore up garbage it crapped anywhere it wanted and it would climb on top of vehicles and scratch the hell out of the paint. One day I threw caution to the wind loaded the Colt Woodsman Match Target Bull Barrel 22 and popped the SOB in the yard in front of several neighbors. There was some clapping as I picked up the lifeless carcass and dumped it into a garbage can. A few days passed and a friend that was town cop pulled into the driveway and got out and said "Joe, you do know it is illegal to discharge a firearm within the city limits. By the way....make sure you put the carcass in a bag so it won't be seen.

More years passed and having a female German Shepherd I soon realized she was quite the hunter. Nothing animal wise was allowed to be in her back yard with the exception of humans. Any other animal was fair game and that she made of them. Nothing survived once in her back yard. Squirrel, rabbit, possum, and raccoon were dust within several minutes. Anything that flew too low had an abrupt crash landing.

[DougGuy]

Coons yeah you don't want them around. Their feces carry the eggs of a parasite that can grow worms in the brains of humans and other animals. The eggs are apparently very tiny and very light weight and can go airborne with the slightest disturbance of the feces, run it over with the lawnmower in the yard, sweeping out a place where coons have inhabited, good ways to ingest these eggs. Do not let the coons set up residence..

Possums don't carry hardly any diseases, and are efficient killers of ticks and other insects, they also compete with rats for the same food groups so where you have possums, you won't have rats. I let the possums live.

Coons I introduce them to a heavy 25 caliber pellet to the head from a highly modified pcp pellet rifle.

[richhodg66]

With the number of turkeys we have around here, I'm having a hard time believing possums have much effect on their populations. Now that we don't have an outside kitty to feed, I don't see them causing a problem. Even when one ate some cat food, if I caught them, I just shooed them off the porch. I've actually given some consideration to setting up some kind of a feeding station for them out away from the house. If those little suckers eat ticks, they're my friends and I want them close.

We do have skunks around too, which is fine. I really don't mind them being around, just don't want to accidentally encounter one. Don't have an active, curious dog around anymore unless my son bring his over for a visit, so I doubt skunks will be a problem.

[BrentD]

Possum and coon eat the game birds eggs and young. I have got 29 of them from trapping this season and they are gas money after you put them up. Also they can be eaten and it is poor mans pork also because they are alot of fat in them. but are good after all the fat is off.

Not the ones living in a city as in the OP here.

[poppy42]

Coons yeah you don't want them around. Their feces carry the eggs of a parasite that can grow worms in the brains of humans and other animals. The eggs are apparently very tiny and very light weight and can go airborne with the slightest disturbance of the feces, run it over with the lawnmower in the yard, sweeping out a place where coons have inhabited, good ways to ingest these eggs. Do not let the coons set up residence..

Possums don't carry hardly any diseases, and are efficient killers of ticks and other insects, they also compete with rats for the same food groups so where you have possums, you won't have rats. I let the possums live.

Coons I introduce them to a heavy 25 caliber pellet to the head from a highly modified pcp pellet rifle.

You are on the right track about coons. I don’t know we’re you heard that parasitic eggs could become airborne and inhaled but that’s wrong. The eggs must be ingested. when I dealt with clean up I always wore rubber gloves and washed thoroughly. The parasite can be extremely dangerous to small children. Not so much for adults. Possums are different matter. Not so bad for humans but if you have horses, I know not likely he lives in the city) possums can be deadly to horses. Google EPM.
By the way dose everyone realize that we are commenting on a 5 year old post? About possums no less ! If the op still has the possum problem he is in trouble!:veryconfu

[BrentD]

For those of you on the east coast, Leann Kanda and her colleagues have well documented the spread of opossums northward along the eastern seaboard. The species has been able to do this by surviving harsh winters in urban environments and the relatively continuous urban development has created a corridor for them to move north. In the northern edges of their ranges, rural opossums only exist as immigrant-subsidized sink populations that are maintained by migration of surplus animals from urban habitat.

It is a pretty interesting (to me at least) story, and you can learn a bit more about it be simply googling "Kanda opossum".

One of the more interesting papers Ecology, 90(6), 2009, pp. 1574–1585  2009 by the Ecological Society of America
Seasonal source–sink dynamics at the edge of a species’ range L. LEANN KANDA,1,2,6 TODD K. FULLER,2,3 PAUL R. SIEVERT,4 AND ROBERT L. KELLOGG

[trapper9260]

Not the ones living in a city as in the OP here.

I understand what you mean Brent .I just state for what they do and the ones in the city will find a way too, like the coon and skunk.

[owejia]

Possoms and coons make a mess on my hay rolls stored in the barn, a nasty mess.

[salpal48]

They generally don't cause any problems. So i leave them along. from This thread people are the problem

[Walla2]

A 100# Chesapeake Bay Retriever works wonders

[Rufus Krile]

Once had a dobie male that decided possums must be puppies... over his lifetime, he tried to bring five different pogo's in the house. I'd separate him from his new pet... bring him in and put pogo in a tree... and the next time he went out the possum would be waiting to play. Ended up having to shoot pogo anyway just to keep it out of the house. The dog, not the brightest bulb on the tree, never quite put it all together.

[shooterg]

Possum DOES NOT taste like chicken !

[Lonegun1894]

Possum DOES NOT taste like chicken !

Wanna share your recipe? :)

[dahermit]

Pour some Diet Coke into a dish, add about a cup of Golden Malin Fly Bait. You will find the opossum dead next to the dish. It works on some raccoons also, but not all will drink it. The neighborhood cats will not touch it inasmuch as it smells like rotten flesh. I do not know if dogs will drink it or not. Personnaly, shooting them, especially in the city is not a good idea. Aside from possibly legal problems of shooting in town, you have to be there when the opossum(s), are, whereas the fly bait method works when ever they show up.

[waksupi]

Why not just catch them, and take them somewhere else? They aren't fast, and you can easily grab them by the neck or tail. Did it quite a few times when I was a kid.

[trapper9260]

Pour some Diet Coke into a dish, add about a cup of Golden Malin Fly Bait. You will find the opossum dead next to the dish. It works on some raccoons also, but not all will drink it. The neighborhood cats will not touch it inasmuch as it smells like rotten flesh. I do not know if dogs will drink it or not. Personnaly, shooting them, especially in the city is not a good idea. Aside from possibly legal problems of shooting in town, you have to be there when the opossum(s), are, whereas the fly bait method works when ever they show up.Dogs will drink that mix. Some out here use that to take care of what ever is around.but keep there pets confine.Also some will also drink antifreeze also.it have a sweet to it.

[starmac]

Like Waksupi said, they AIN'T fast, heck as slow as I am I bet I could still catch opossums, if you are scared to catch it (no reason to be) then just thump it with a stick, no muss, no fuss.

[ohiochuck]

Consider a .17 or .22 air rifle
This animal may have closed hunting/shooting season in your state
Jim

[trapper9260]

Consider a .17 or .22 air rifle
This animal may have closed hunting/shooting season in your state
Jim

They mainly have them here for the trapping season.As a furbearer ,if you can get close to them just use a fishing net on them and use gloves to handle them. I was told that they carry something that is bad for horse .

[afish4570]

Went to a seminar for Tick Borne Illnesses and possum were 99% rabies free and had very few deer ticks because they groom themselves so well.

[richhodg66]

Went to a seminar for Tick Borne Illnesses and possum were 99% rabies free and had very few deer ticks because they groom themselves so well.

This is why if one is a problem around me anymore,, they get trapped and the witness relocation program. Anything that eats ticks has got to be good to have around.

[catboat]

http://www.caryinstitute.org/newsroom/opossums-killers-ticks

I’ll post it over and over again. Possums eat tics. One possum eats 5000 tics/year. Lyme disease is no joke. Possums are a natural, effective, safe method to control tics and hopefully Lyme disease.

Please read the article in the link. It is short, but informative.

Possums are good. Don’t kill them. Spread the word.

Adopt a possum.

[D Crockett]

catboat I have adopt 2 of them they live under my shed in the back yard. they have been there for about 4 years now. they come up on the carport and eat the cat food. they do not bother the cats and the cats do not bother them. ever spring they have there kids and life is good for the us and them. D Crockett

[starmac]

When I was a kid, 13 or 14 years old I caught a small one and took it into a little crossroads country bar one night. I held it in both hands curled up where you could not see the head nor tail and the barmaid thought it was a cute little rabbit. She petted it till I let it uncurl, then let out a scream and jumped away. lol

A lady that was fairly tanked up wanted to buy it, I told her 2 bucks and she whipped it out, all the while her husband was griping about it. I ask ho many more she wanted, and she said all I had, I knew where the rest of the litter was, so went and got her 4 more, not too shabby when minimum wage was about 1 buck an hour. Her husband was beside himself though. lol

[Rafe Covington]

Yeah, a pellet gun to the noggin.

That is what I use, 30 caliber PCP pellet rifle.

Rafe

[texasnative46]

300blk,

Imo, the medecine for possums in the city is a .22 SHORT gallery load out of a long barreled rifle. = fairly quiet & will do the job.
(Or an arrow with field tip from a bow.)

Mr. Pogo Possum takes LITTLE killing.

yours, tex

[BAGTIC]

It never had anything to do with crime. It was 1934 the heart of the depression and game managers were afraid it would encourage rampant poaching and jacklighting so they pushed for it.

[BAGTIC]

If armadillos are tearing up your yard use something to kill all the grubs. What do you expect when you have a food platter out front? We have lots of armadillos here but none in the yards and gardens since we got rid of the grubs.

[RPRNY]

Don't kill the possum.

22 Shorts with #15 shot capsules are hell on tics though.

[texasnative46]

RPRNY & All,

Our local State Game Biologist recently said that possums seen in your yard in the DAYTIME are often diseased & some of the sick ones have rabies (or are asymptomatic carriers of rabies).

The reason that rabid possums are NOT more common is that most attacks by a rabid animal usually KILLS or severely injures "Pogo".

Btw, my late mother was a "feral cat feeder" for decades. = Some years ago, a "hand-sized" possum appeared at the cat feeding station. The other "eaters" accepted him (evidently as just a funny-looking kitten) & he came to eat at dusk or later every day for several years.

One of the neighborhood "mama cats", who had lost her latest litter, adopted him & taught him to act quite cat like, including washing his paws & "doing figure eights" around Mother's feet. - He even tried HARD to learn to purr like a cat but wasn't particularly successful at that task.
(Fwiw, that was one fat/sleek/friendly possum!!)


yours, tex

[BrentD]

RPRNY & All,

Our local State Game Biologist recently said that possums seen in your yard in the DAYTIME are often diseased & some of the sick ones have rabies (or are asymptomatic carriers of rabies).

He is an idiot. The opossum is a marsupial that's why it is rarely rabid. Very hard to infect.




The reason that rabid possums are NOT more common is that most attacks by a rabid animal usually KILLS or severely injures "Pogo".
Show me the data. There NO data that exists for this sort of bs.

I know the internet is the last place to look for accurate, useful information, but it just doesn't have to be this bad.

[waksupi]

RPRNY & All,

Our local State Game Biologist recently said that possums seen in your yard in the DAYTIME are often diseased & some of the sick ones have rabies (or are asymptomatic carriers of rabies).

The reason that rabid possums are NOT more common is that most attacks by a rabid animal usually KILLS or severely injures "Pogo".

Btw, my late mother was a "feral cat feeder" for decades. = Some years ago, a "hand-sized" possum appeared at the cat feeding station. The other "eaters" accepted him (evidently as just a funny-looking kitten) & he came to eat at dusk or later every day for several years.

One of the neighborhood "mama cats", who had lost her latest litter, adopted him & taught him to act quite cat like, including washing his paws & "doing figure eights" around Mother's feet. - He even tried HARD to learn to purr like a cat but wasn't particularly successful at that task.
(Fwiw, that was one fat/sleek/friendly possum!!)


yours, tex

I don't have a lot of faith in game biologists. We have a couple here that can't tell a grizzly from a black bear, and insist the flying squirrels we have here don't exist in Montana.

[Blanket]

for you guys with tick problems send me your address and I will send you a big burlap sack full of possums. I will pay the postage to start with and you can send it back to me. They might be kind of owly by the time they get there.

[Bookworm]

I don't have a lot of faith in game biologists. We have a couple here that can't tell a grizzly from a black bear, and insist the flying squirrels we have here don't exist in Montana.

For years the Game Wardens here in Okieland told me we didn't have cougars. Nonetheless, I would see one occasionally.
I think the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept (OWD) finally acknowledged cougars' existence 2 or 3 years ago.
I was seeing them in the 90's in certain areas.

[texasnative46]

BrentD,

Rather than relying upon or posting your opinion, may I suggest that you do some serious research on rabies??
IF you do some serious reading on the subject, you will find that ALL mammals can acquire rabies.

Granted that rabies may be more uncommon in marsupials (I don't think that there is positive scientific data that proves that hypothesis.) but nonetheless possums are mammals & therefore MAY become infected with the deadly virus by direct contact with the saliva, urine, blood and/or feces of other infected mammals.
(Btw, the USDA's official GUIDE TO THE DISEASES OF LIVESTOCK FOR FARMERS, RANCHERS & STOCKMEN states that rabies MAY be acquired by direct contact with the corpses of infected animals.)

yours, tn

[starmac]

I have only personally seen one mad dog that tested positive for rabies, I was pretty young then. It was not tested , but I believe I killed a rabid opossum with a frog gig, it was the only attack opossum I ever laid eyes on, and I have caught and played with lots of them.

[texasnative46]

starmac,

Personally, I've seen exactly one rabid dog & that was long ago when I was a city marshal.
(I was asked by the sheriff's office to check out a lady, who had called in to "county central" & was very frightened & incoherent.)

When I arrived, I discovered that she had "been chased into the house" by a rabid dog. I thereafter shot/killed the dog, called the county by radio & requested that the body be retrieved & properly tested/disposed of.

yours, tex

[hicard]

22 short hp high velocity or 22 lr subsonic hp will work quietly.

[Catpop]

22 short or sub sonic for head shot
But possum has brain the size of a field pea so look at possum skull before taking up arms!
Coyotes love them, but personally I’d rather have the possum problem.
Remember- After you dispatch- Possum n sweet taters is first class

All in jest!!!!!! Possums pose no problem and are fun to watch. No reason to kill!

[D Crockett]

I was doing some work outside the other night and the momma possum came up to eat some cat food and I noticed that her belly was about to drag the ground she is going to have her a bunch of kids soon they will be fun to watch D Crockett

[redhawk0]

I had a Possum living under the front crawlspace of the house. The quietest way to get rid of them is a have-a-heart trap and a rubbermade container filled with water. I have drownings regularly here in town....Possums, skunks, squirrels (reds and greys), and chimpunks...gotta thin the herds around here. I don't mind critters...I actually love seeing them...but when they want to live where I live....that's where I draw the line.

redhawk

[HABCAN]

.223 + SRP + 1.5 grs. B'eye + .22 air rifle pellet. Lift muzzle before firing. Problem goes away quietly. BTDT.

[pls1911]

.22 cb short or long from a rifle is less noisy than an air rifle and plenty for ‘possum.

[Lucky Joe]

This guy would eat 2 pounds of cat food a night, then try to get at my chickens for desert. Had to go but before he did he chewed the heck out of my Labrador Retriever.
https://i.imgur.com/WD9cMAjl.jpg

[BrentD]

Seriously?

He chewed up your Lab?

[Lonegun1894]

I wouldn’t have expected that. I mean, your gerbil, sure. But a dog that size?

[HBAR2989]

My Bengimin nitro piston .22 has a built in suppressor on the barrel. It is quieter than a suppresd .22. It has plenty of power for what needs taken care of. Squirrels, coons, possums, it doesn't matter. With the right pellets there is plenty of penitration.

[lcclower]

Possums are useful critters, better to let them do their job. Each possum kills up to 10K ticks in a season (they groom each other and eat the ticks they find) and they eat lots of trash, dead stuff, bugs.
But if you must, smoke them with lots of sweet taters.

[Handloader109]

If you want to kill something, go shoot an armadillo. They are carriers of Leprosy. We have a considerable population of them here in NW Arkansas and unfortunately, they must taste good. There has been a very high outbreak of Leprosy among the Marshallese population here. Seems they like to eat armadillo.......

Had a possum last year come up. Think he was smelling my garbage can, but made it into my dog yard. My three terriers just couldn't figure him out. They would back him into a corner and then he would fall over dead. Smallest terrier, and the meanest would bite it, but it would stay dead for a while. Then get up and wander over the fence and away till next time. Coyote probably had dinner as I haven't seen any in a while.

[Wheelgun]

We pop every one we see. They may or may not carry or catch rabies but the do carry EPM. Two of our closest neighbors, one 10miles away and the other 5 miles, have lost horses to EPM in the last 5-8 years. Also one of my customers lost two in the last 2yrs. It attacks the central nervous system, acts almost like a stroke, but with leasions on the brain and spinal column. They basically waste away or have to be put down. Dad raises, trains and sells performance Quarter Horses, when it comes to a $20k+ horse and a year or two worth of time and training, we take Zero chances.

In town is different, I understand that, granddad live in town and uses a 22cal pellet rifle or his bolt 22 with CB shorts or CCI quite-22s.

And as for eating ticks, that's what chickens and quail are for.

[mold maker]

The ticks get sprayed in my little corner of heaven. The possums get whatever caliber I'm carrying at the time. The yard is for the children not the wildlife.

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=s: Baseball bat or a golf club works pretty good too.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[Hootmix]

I was told the reason GOD made armadillos was so folks could have possum on the 1/2 shell ...but y'a know how rumors are .

Lost a "GOOD " horse to EPM ,,treatment run about 2K,,he lived but no longer useable for cowboy work . I shoot all I see on my ( small ) place .

coffee's ready ,,, Hootmix.

[waksupi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bim6m4dgllA

[BAGTIC]

Careful you don't get busted for animal cruelty beating that poor creature to death. Last one I killed I used a crescent wrench.

[BAGTIC]

I have eaten armadillo and did not get leprosy. Why would one get anything if they cook it. I eat pork, beef, lamb, etc. without catching any of the diseases they carry, e.g. foot and mouth, anthrax, brucellosis, etc..

Are people getting leprosy from the armadillos or are armadillos catching it from the people. Consider that leprosy was known in the ancient world but they did not have any armadillos to blame it on.

[BAGTIC]

EPM is widely distributed, almost every state, but armadillos are not. It is known that leprosy is caused by a bacteria that lives in wet muddy conditions armadillos or not. Perhaps something similar is involved with EPM.

[BAGTIC]

Recently read about someone getting arrested for inhumanity for drowning trapped animals.

[BAGTIC]

IGNORANCE = "NATURAL BORN CITIZEN = offspring of TWO US citizens
Just because they are constantly playing the Race Card, it doesn't mean that we should allow them to get away with raping our Constitution."

A natural born citizen is ANYONE who has citizenship by condition of birth.

[markbailey]

I didn't read entire thread but do some searches for mouse-fart loads. You can do some amazingly low decibel things, even with 45-70 which is my preference for such things. I'm betting someone has already suggested this, but just in case.

[seetrout]

If you can trap em.
Drop em in a large bucket or small trash can with a lid.
Shoot in a bunch of ether (starting fluid) and close the lid tight.
Dispose of remains in an appropriate manner.