If You Find a Half-Eaten Opossum Carcass On Your Lawn, Is Your First Thought....

[lmrich]

In this heat - gross!!!!!! Maybe if it were half frozen, but no really it is gross.

[mrsrevmeg]

I voted other. I would ask which of the kids wanted to make some extra money by doing "disposal duty" . :ack2:

[helena]

Both! I'd say "eewww gross, let's go check it out!!"

[Rosie_0801]

Honestly, it would be, "What the _____?!"

 

Course, opossums aren't exactly normal around here, let alone half eaten ones. :lol:

 

Something like this, then "EW!! DH TAKE IT AWAY," followed by a serious curiosity about how it got through customs. I suppose the next thing to do would be ringing Quarantine, except I probably wouldn't know to do it, seeing how I've never met an opossum, so wouldn't know it was one.

 

 

 

Rosie

[Jabberwocky]

Exactly! Perhaps we've been reading far too much Agatha Christie around here, but I think I'd be like "who has the strongest motive to kill this poor wretch?"

 

Heh.

 

If it is a fresh kill, we would be investigating for animal tracks, teeth and claw marks, etc. and doing our own home-grown CSI to determine the nature of the crime and it's perpetrator.

 

If it is a rank find, next thought is, "Which one of my boys should I order to bury it?" The follow up thought then being, "Which one of those boys complained about schoolwork the most yesterday? HMMMMMM"

 

Faith

[PIE!]

I voted "other." My first reaction would be admiration for my cat's abilities. Then I'd leave it for DH to either dispose of or show the kids (depending on its condition). He's in charge of the science curriculum :).

[nrg]

Check out the tracks to see what ate it. Cover it with a bucket and let the ants chow down. Wait a while and take off the bucket to see the skeleton. If it's in good condition, boil the bones and reconstruct. Big Fun.

[lewelma]

I had a professor who taught a taxidermy class. If you could not find any suitable road kill, he would provide mice that had accidentally been killed in the live traps (we kept them in the non-food freezer in lunch room). More than half of all students always found a suitable road kill. We had squirrels, ferrets, and even a fox once. And the students had a lovely stuffed animal for their dorm rooms at the end of the term.

 

Ruth in NZ

[Tree House Academy]

I immediately think "HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBBY...." cause he is the one who is gonna come take care of it!

[joannqn]

First thought: Ewwwwwww!

Second thought: I wonder if we can strip the bones and put it back together.

 

 

My dog found a half eaten opossum carcass on a leash free walk last winter and rubbed himself in it. First thought was "Ewwwwwww! Second thought was "You're gross Zach! You stink! Go outside! Yuck!" Third thought, a couple of days later, was "I wonder if the carcass is still there and if we can strip the bones and build the skeleton."

[Audrey]

HALF eaten, eh? I'd think the barn cats were getting too much kibble.

[Christy B]

I had to choose other.

 

My first thought would be "where is my daddy, and how quickly will he deal with this . . . and if he's not available, where is my 16 year old daughter, and how much will I have to pay her to deal with it?"

 

Yes, I am a spoiled only child, sandwiched between two generations of go-to people.

[Stacy in NJ]

carrying around the remainder of the carcass.

[Critterfixer]

I'd think my dogs were doing their job. Of course, right now it's too hot to amble after an opossum, let alone kill and eat one...

 

The coolest things about opossums that I know:

1) They are a wildlife rehab dream. They automatically hate people at five weeks of age.

 

2)They don't nurse on a bottle. You have to feed them with a syringe, because they lap milk.

 

3) They have the cutest little hiss when they are young!

 

4) They have cat teeth. That is, the roots on their teeth have a sort of bulb on the end, very like the teeth in a cat.

 

5)They do use their tails to hold on to things, but I've never seen them hang upside down with their tails.

[zaichiki]

First thought: "Ewwwwww!"

Second thought: make sure the toddler is not nearby

Third thought: What could have eaten it and where might it be? (We have livestock.)

Fourth thought: Kids, do you want to see this before your father buries it?

Fifth thought: "Dear hubby!"

 

(And I'd probably go through all of those thoughts in the first 30 seconds.)

[Jean in Newcastle]

For Rosie: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.paleodirect.com/images/textimages/opossum2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.paleodirect.com/pgset2/lmx012.htm&h=500&w=479&sz=40&tbnid=0x2wcKaMiCNMwM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=86&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dopossum%2Bimage%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=opossum+image&docid=-ks3fFm5uSwsoM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IpQ4TrizDKnliAKb2M3uDg&ved=0CCIQ9QEwAg&dur=619

 

and http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://mwwildlifecontrol.homestead.com/virginia_opossum.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mwwildlifecontrol.homestead.com/opossum.html&h=279&w=400&sz=27&tbnid=MY41spOd15xBPM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=133&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dopossum%2Bimage%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=opossum+image&docid=sbOc5BXJfSxEsM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IpQ4TrizDKnliAKb2M3uDg&ved=0CC8Q9QEwBg&dur=389

[Satori]

I'd first think, wow, that possom sure is doing a good job playing dead!

 

Then I'd wonder if the bear or mountain lion was still lurking around.

 

Then I'd just let him lie for a bear or mountain lion or fox to eat.

[zaichiki]

Then I would have to call the Department of Wildlife and check how often opossums carry rabies. Then I'd have to sit and wait for them to come and collect said carcass and have the rabies testing done....just to make sure.

 

Not often. Something about their natural body temperature being too high.

[zaichiki]

I said ewww My kids would be HOW COOL!! We already know who did it though. The same evil creature that has killed the coons, chipmunks, squirrells, other possum and of course mice. Evil our cat did it. He is almost 5 and no slowing down for him lol.

 

Your cat kills racoons?! Whoa.

[zaichiki]

My first thought would be "oh geez where's the dog?!" Because picking up half a possum would be bad enough, but wrestling it out my dog's mouth would be way worse.

 

:lol:

[Nakia]

First thought, "EEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!"

 

Second thought would be, "No one goes outside until Patrick gets home to dispose of that vile thing!"

 

I am such a girl.

[catz]

First thought, "EEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!"

 

Second thought would be, "No one goes outside until Patrick gets home to dispose of that vile thing!"

 

I am such a girl.

 

I am such a girl too!

 

On the other hand, my kids get paid for disposing of dead creatures in the yard. That often involves poking it and inspecting it. I encourage self education, but I just cannot be involved in dead animals in our yard. Ewwww is right. We have 2 cats so it's not totally unusual. Our neighbor actually gave us a opossum skull he found last spring. We live in the city too but we still see raccoons, deer, someone just saw a coyote this week.

[bairnmama]

Other. I'd wonder if the dogs needed breakfast.;)

 

 

LOL! I'd assume the dog just had her breakfast and I could wait to feed her 'till supper! So far, I've only seen her eat crickets, beetles, frogs, and mice.

[Maverick_Mom]

I voted "learning opportunity." Anything to add another skeleton to our nature shelf. :D

[Sugarfoot]

My first thought is, "Who do I call to dispose of THAT?!" And if that person gets there pretty darn quick, he/she goes into my speed dial for life.;)

[LibraryLover]

:Dlol Other. "Oh my freaking word, take the whole dang thing! Why don't these fat woodland /nocturnal creatures take the whole of it, dammit! "

 

If I lived my whole life in LA I might be more appreciative. But there are only so many half carcass bits you want to find on your lawn.

 

Should I tell you about the time my city -boy dh shoved intestines etc back into a bantam pullet as the kids ooooo'd? lol

Edited August 3, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Running the race]

Other: Where's the number for animal control? BTDT

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I wonder what ate the missing half??

[Elizabeth in MN]

We'd have a funeral.

[twoxcell]

I would be wondering if the cougars were prowling the neighborhood again.;)

[MamaSheep]

I would be looking for my cat. Who would undoubtedly be the guilty party. :glare: Then I would have to call the Department of Wildlife and check how often opossums carry rabies. Then I'd have to sit and wait for them to come and collect said carcass and have the rabies testing done....just to make sure.

 

This is me too. Largely because I know someone who wound up with $12,000 worth of rabies shots after he thought it would be cool to poke around a dead raccoon he found and scratched himself with a tooth or claw or something.

[gardenmom5]

My second thought would be:

Why did the chicken cross the road? to show the opossum it could be done.

 

I've personally run over two (and I live in the *city*) they are so stupid. Oh, gee, look at the pretty lights. and proceed to walk towad your car. ka-thunk, ka-thunk.

 

though my husband found a dead bobcat when he was about 15. he curled it up like it was sleeping on his Bishop's car. - he got a phone call from him to come and get it. (he knew him well.)

Edited August 3, 2011 by gardenmom5

[gardenmom5]

This.

 

However I am learning the hard way about the burying part... a few days ago I noticed a h*llacious stench around the back of the house. I finally realized that after dissecting a dead bullforg (it had a crayfish inside of it!) he merely tossed the remains in a ditch behind the house. Anyone know how long it takes a bullfrog to decompose? :D

 

I think the stench only lasts a couple weeks.

 

we had a dead mouse in a box in the garage and we coudln't figure out where the stench was coming from. It was much later we found the corpse.

[gardenmom5]

I'd check on allrecipes.com for possum casserole. Don't let it go to waste. :lol:

 

and do you have a copy of the roadkill cookbook? (yes, it's a real cookbook.)

[gardenmom5]

Exactly my first thought - as this kind of thing happens regularly around here (except usually porcupines and deer - - and only when Dh is deployed... why is that?)

 

It's Mrs. Murphey's law. anything that can go wrong will - when he's not home.

[Melissa in Australia]

If we found an opossum we would be definitely turned into a learning opportunity as they don't exist in Australia. We have possums, but believe me that are completely different.

[myfatherslily]

I would assume my dog killed it and I would leave it there for him to dispose of the other half, which he would do. UNLESS the kids were playing outside then I'd shovel it off into a more remote area.

 

No learning experiences here.

[Maverick_Mom]

and do you have a copy of the roadkill cookbook? (yes, it's a real cookbook.)

 

And don't forget the sauce!

http://www.rbjb.com/rbjb/rk.htm

[Guest randmpotter]

yes, my first thought is eeeww! But then, thinking of the marvelous learning opportunity, I'd tell the kids to get on their gardening gloves, as "we're going exploring" (before Dad gets home - he hates it when I do that!) Our art teacher gives extra credit to students who bring in road kill - no kidding! She taught herself taxidermy, so it wouldn't be a health issue (for the students, not the animal).

[JudyJudyJudy]

Other. Dead opossums (or 'possums where I live) are so common here that we would think nothing of it.

[asta]

My cat has upped her game.

 

 

a

[kolamum]

My first thought/reaction would be that the tassie devil dragged it up from the road.. that was, if the garden gate was closed and our dog was still within it's boundaries. Cause otherwise I'd think.. "Who left the bloomin' gate open again!"

 

My second reaction would be Eww.

[Melinda S in TX]

Real life experience here. We currently have a baby opposum corpse drying on the garden stand. It is complete and was put there by the farm cat (She likes to leave us gifts occasionally to let us know she's earning her keep.). At first it was really gross, but now it's kind of neat. Of course, the boys thought it was neat when it was gross. The boys are waiting for it to be nothing but a skeleton.

 

Blessings,

Melinda