Replies: 40
| visibility 1
|
CU Medallion [65748]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 33319
Joined: 12/3/03
|
I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 9:38 AM
|
|
come to the front door, saying "What is THAT?" THAT turned out to be a large possum, that was showing all the signs of being rabid, making aimless random circles in the paved road in front of my house. I called Animal Control ~ 8 am, but naturally they keep Bankers hours, not opening until 10 am. I left two messages.
I observed this thing for over an hour, making ~3 foot circles, slowly moving from my neighbors yard across the street, then mine, then heading towards the back lot. I got within 6 feet of it, and it had lost most of its fur, and showed absolutely no fear of humans while it was tottering around in circles, occasionally falling over on its hind end. It could see me, though, it locked onto me and followed my every movement from the time I was 20 feet away.
I absolutely hate killing one of God's creatures, unless it is for food, or it is about to kill ME. But, there was no doubt in my mind that this possum was not right, and not long for the world, it was nothing but skin and bones, easy to see up close due to most of its fur being gone. When I got within 3 feet, it looked up at me, seemingly imploring me to put it out of its misery. I finally did, with a heavy 13 wood golf club. (No firearms are supposed to be shot in my subdivision.) Animal Control can pick it up from the edge of the road, if they ever show up. I feel absolutely terrible, I don't mind saying, even though I know it was the humane thing to do. If it was a test, I only hope God grades me with a curve.
|
|
|
|
All-In [26132]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 20703
Joined: 7/31/07
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 9:43 AM
|
|
Nothing wrong with that. You put a sick animal out of its misery.
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [3635]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3485
Joined: 12/1/19
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 9:44 AM
|
|
You were merciful.
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [2219]
TigerPulse: 92%
Posts: 5871
Joined: 1/28/12
|
next time call police,They will shoot it.U don't need to get
Aug 18, 2022, 6:58 PM
|
|
that close
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [65748]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 33319
Joined: 12/3/03
|
When I got the recording from Animal Control, I DID call
Aug 18, 2022, 7:00 PM
|
|
911. Guess who never showed up?
|
|
|
|
|
All-TigerNet [10958]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 12748
Joined: 9/28/10
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 9:45 AM
|
|
It's my understanding rabies is 100% fatal to humans too if you are bit or scratched but at least there is treatment. So I think you did the right thing unless you like needles. May have saved a child or pet from being attacked by it too.
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1557]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 472
Joined: 10/7/11
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 9:46 AM
|
|
No curve needed. You did the right thing. Put the animal out of its misery and, more importantly, protect the safety of everyone in the neighborhood.
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [2031]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 2878
Joined: 5/9/00
|
No firearms in your neighborhood?
Aug 18, 2022, 9:56 AM
|
|
You need to move.
Jk….good job, but 3 feet within a likely rabid animal is too close.
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [6882]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 6108
Joined: 5/22/16
|
Re: No firearms in your neighborhood?
Aug 18, 2022, 3:42 PM
|
|
Not sure he realized he was risking his life! I wouldn't get within 100 ft of an unpredictable animal with rabies. And I second that move suggestion!
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1799]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 1117
Joined: 4/6/18
|
Re: No firearms in your neighborhood?
Aug 18, 2022, 3:48 PM
|
|
Possums are pretty slow creatures. Most of us could out run one while stepping backward. Maybe get yourself a Red Ryder BB gun for such tasks. Then you won't have to clean off the club face.
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1948]
TigerPulse: 96%
Posts: 2295
Joined: 1/13/18
|
Re: No firearms in your neighborhood?
Aug 19, 2022, 3:01 PM
|
|
We used to shoot each other with those BB guns, they won’t kill a possum for sure.
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [51335]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 17160
Joined: 5/21/08
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [8345]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3946
Joined: 9/11/08
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 10:03 AM
|
|
You did a good deed. When you're on your porch this afternoon, crack open a cold one at toast the ol possum!
|
|
|
|
|
Heisman Winner [140821]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 33909
Joined: 12/5/10
|
How much are you asking for the pelt?***
Aug 18, 2022, 10:05 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [51335]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 17160
Joined: 5/21/08
|
I think the word “pelt” implies
Aug 18, 2022, 8:47 PM
|
|
having some fur
|
|
|
|
|
All-TigerNet [11236]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 14072
Joined: 9/2/03
|
Gonna eat it?***
Aug 18, 2022, 10:07 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [65748]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 33319
Joined: 12/3/03
|
That you, Granny Clampett?
Aug 18, 2022, 1:52 PM
|
|
I thought you only used possum fat to grease the fryin' pan.
|
|
|
|
|
All-TigerNet [11236]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 14072
Joined: 9/2/03
|
Thats what you use to heat up
Aug 18, 2022, 6:52 PM
|
|
yer cold 'coon an collards. Or as my granny use to say "collyards". She had the most beautiful, lilting southern accent but crazy as a drunked up nanny goat.
|
|
|
|
|
All-TigerNet [11219]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 8198
Joined: 11/2/01
|
Are you sure he’s dead? What if he is just playing possum?
Aug 18, 2022, 10:08 AM
|
|
I don’t mean that as a joke. If he’s rabid I’d want to be sure.
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [65748]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 33319
Joined: 12/3/03
|
I am sure. His head was a lot easier to hit than a golf
Aug 18, 2022, 10:12 AM
|
|
ball, and did not hold up as well.
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [62175]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 39744
Joined: 12/16/01
|
|
|
|
|
All-TigerNet [11107]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 4999
Joined: 10/31/03
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 10:12 AM
|
|
Aside from the obvious tragedy...be honest now. Did you use a tee?
|
|
|
|
|
Recruit [80]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 59
Joined: 8/16/12
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 10:47 AM
|
|
From the Interwebnet: "Opossums do not carry rabies. It is a common myth that they do, but opossums' body temperature is slightly lower than that of other mammals, and so the rabies virus cannot take hold. Aug 13, 2020"https://www.google.com/search?q=can+possums+have+rabies&source=hp&ei=rE_-YsfxDIXG9APr6pjIAg&iflsig=AJiK0e8AAAAAYv5dvFcsGvXWb3LsxykiCw3XbbBSsPlu&oq=can+possums+&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYADIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgQIABAKMggIABCABBDJAzIFCAAQgAQyBAgAEAoyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEOggIABCPARDqAjoICC4QjwEQ6gI6EQguEIAEELEDEIMBEMcBENEDOgsIABCABBCxAxCDAToLCC4QsQMQgwEQ1AI6CAgAEIAEELEDOggILhCABBCxAzoRCC4QgAQQsQMQxwEQ0QMQ1AI6CwguEIAEEMcBEK8BOhQILhCABBCxAxCDARDHARDRAxDUAjoOCC4QgAQQxwEQrwEQ1AJQkhpYljBgzERoAXAAeACAAe4FiAGvPZIBBjUtMTEuMZgBAKABAbABCg&sclient=gws-wiz
Obviously, a very sick animal, but probably not rabid. You did right euthanizing it. As a note, I have encountered possums in the woods that sure behaved like they were rabid. I gave them wide berth.
go tigers
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [65748]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 33319
Joined: 12/3/03
|
A Possum moving around in the daytime is pretty rare. They
Aug 18, 2022, 11:09 AM
|
|
are definitely mostly Nocturnal. They wind up dead in the middle of roads at night a lot, since, instead of trying to get out of the way, they seem to just want to stop, and rise up and Hiss at the car that is about to run them over. The cars win just about 100% of the time in those encounters.
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [19711]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 17292
Joined: 8/18/05
|
Not saying I would not have done the same thing
Aug 18, 2022, 11:15 AM
|
|
but possums very, very rarely contract rabies. Same with squirrels
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [17821]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 16695
Joined: 9/1/12
|
I heard yesterday that a Desert Eagle firearm is perfect solution for critter issues***
Aug 18, 2022, 11:19 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hall of Famer [24849]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 42665
Joined: 7/31/10
|
What head...?***
Aug 18, 2022, 11:41 AM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [2060]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 1348
Joined: 9/25/16
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [2031]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 1294
Joined: 1/20/08
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 1:45 PM
|
|
You did the right, and difficult thing.
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1260]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 307
Joined: 11/30/98
|
Probably distemper…
Aug 18, 2022, 2:25 PM
|
|
To my understanding rabies in possums is so rare it is essentially ruled out in that type of case. I saw the same thing with a skunk that just walked into a dairy barn I was treating a cow in (I’m a veterinarian) with similar symptoms. After dispatching it we sent it to the lab and it was positive for distemper. Many wild mammals (raccoons, foxes, possums, etc.) commonly get distemper with nerve and behavioral symptoms. But rabies is ALWAYS the first rule out. Be careful.
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1676]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 2113
Joined: 8/27/11
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 2:27 PM
|
|
Hate to tell everyone but opossums don't get rabies
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [7219]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 6986
Joined: 11/30/98
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 3:08 PM
|
|
Was it a slice, a draw, or did you hit it dead straight?
|
|
|
|
|
All-TigerNet [10572]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 7143
Joined: 11/11/02
|
you have a 13 wood...
Aug 18, 2022, 3:23 PM
|
|
if i had a 13 wood i would have used it also.
|
|
|
|
|
Oculus Spirit [90907]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 45510
Joined: 10/18/09
|
76er..after this meanness to a possum or raccoon (who knows)..
Aug 18, 2022, 3:39 PM
|
|
you must forfeit writing your O.J. FB history column for a 1 hour delay so we are awake to read it.
Much better than DW4's penalty for massages!
|
|
|
|
|
CU Medallion [65748]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 33319
Joined: 12/3/03
|
It wasn't meanness. If you had seen the state this thing was
Aug 18, 2022, 7:18 PM
|
|
in, you would realize that sending it to possum heaven was the humane thing to do.
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [5977]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3944
Joined: 1/10/04
|
|
|
|
|
Orange Blooded [4027]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 3509
Joined: 1/9/03
|
Possums can’t get rabies. There body temp doesn’t
Aug 18, 2022, 6:58 PM
|
|
allow them to get it. Sounds like it had a problem but no worries about rabies.
|
|
|
|
|
CU Guru [1123]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 1102
Joined: 11/30/98
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 8:31 PM
|
|
That sounds more like distemper than rabies, but you did the right thing
|
|
|
|
|
Head Coach [752]
TigerPulse: 99%
Posts: 698
Joined: 3/3/19
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 8:31 PM
|
|
Subsonic .22lr rounds are made for this type of work.
|
|
|
|
|
110%er [6500]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 10134
Joined: 11/2/03
|
Re: I woke up this morning to my wife frantically calling me to
Aug 18, 2022, 9:47 PM
|
|
Good grief. It's a sick possum.
|
|
|
|
|
Legend [17821]
TigerPulse: 100%
Posts: 16695
Joined: 9/1/12
|
#PatchesDeservesJustice***
Aug 19, 2022, 3:36 PM
|
|
|
|
|
|
Replies: 40
| visibility 1
|
|
|