# New barn kitty and.....a possum?



## Iluvanimals (Jan 6, 2013)

Hi, so my aunt is gone at a vet conference this week, which means I feed the horses at night as well in the morning. Just now while I was feeding them and I went in the feed stall to feed all the barn cats, I saw a new cat. She is a cute, little (4-5lbs) grey tabby with a really annoying almost Siamese-like meow. She ran away as soon as I walked up to her and hid until I left the barn, but I got close enough to see she looks pregnant. WHY does it seem like we get a new cat dropped off (more often than not they are pregnant) every week?:x I guess my aunt and I will have to try catch her when my aunt gets back, that will be fun Also, when I was putting food outside the barn for the really wild/timid cats, I thought I saw ANOTHER new cat. This one looked really big and was silvery-grey. Well, I crept closer and walked around to where I could see it's face and.......... IT WAS A POSSUM8O. Well THAT got my heart going, I quickly backed away and got one of our dogs (a 150lb bouvier des flandres) and told him "get it" which means chase it out of the barnyard ("attack" means to kill it, like if it's a raccoon or cyote). I think my heart is still racing


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

150 pound dog!


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## Iluvanimals (Jan 6, 2013)

Yeah, they are pretty big dogs, normally we have two at a time, but our older one(12) just died, hopefully we'll get another puppy this summer! We use them as working/guard dogs but they are very sweet to the family. I don't have a pic of Bruce (yes, named after Bruce Wayne ), but here is are pics of what they look like.
bouvier des flandres - Google Search


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

at least you didn't think it was a big rat. possums are mean and disgusting little things. gross.


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

I had a similar experience when I was young. I grew up on a cattle ranch and I kept chickens (laying hens) in a little coop with a pen so I could sell eggs for extra money. I would usually gather eggs in the early morning and late afternoon. One night I waited too late to go gather eggs and it was dark out and the hens had all gone to roost. I took the flashlight and was getting the eggs out of the nests when I noticed a tail inside one of the nests. I thought it was just a little garter snake since they sometimes sneak in to eat an egg. But I shown my light into the nest and staring back at me were those beady black eyes of a possum. It freaked me out. I ran back to the house to get my dad but when we got back to the chicken coop, the possum was gone. It was my fault for not gathering the eggs and locking the coop earlier. Lesson learned.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

Iluvanimals said:


> Yeah, they are pretty big dogs, normally we have two at a time, but our older one(12) just died, hopefully we'll get another puppy this summer! We use them as working/guard dogs but they are very sweet to the family. I don't have a pic of Bruce (yes, named after Bruce Wayne ), but here is are pics of what they look like.
> bouvier des flandres - Google Search


those *are* really sweet dogs. i was in the hospital for a long time and a guy brought his to visit everyone and it was bigger than i am LOL. it was fine until it tried get in bed with me.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Iluvanimals said:


> told him "get it" which means chase it out of the barnyard ("attack" means to kill it, like if it's a raccoon or cyote).


Encouraging your dog to kill/attack anything isn't a good idea.

Raccoons are opportunistic scavengers that aren't all that harmful -- I've watched raccoons and cats interact my entire life, they aren't to be feared like the general population seems to believe -- and when they are pushed into defending themselves can seriously harm a dog. Our Jack Russell Terrier would get into fights with them, all she started; she had scars on her nose from fighting with them and wrecked her legs as a pup when she jumped over an embankment after them. 

A coyote can do even more damage given their size. There's also the romote chance of both species carrying rabies or distemper.

The woman that ran the daycare I went to as a child owned two Bouvier dogs.


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## Greenport ferals (Oct 30, 2010)

Carmel said:


> Encouraging your dog to kill/attack anything isn't a good idea.


I second that. 
I like possums. Raccoons too. They can be a nuisance around the feral barn, but I trap them humanely and relocate them. I would never kill them.


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## Iluvanimals (Jan 6, 2013)

The only times we send the dogs after things are when they are in the chicken pens and/or rabbit pens, then both dogs know to get rid of it. They also take out coyotes if they are going after our goat or sheep herds, we have lost a ton of sheep to coyotes this year already. We have a very large working farm, so any pests we can not trap easily are taken care of, it's easier than my brothers and cousins having to go hunt them (had to do that a few years ago, not fun. There was a big raccoon infestation and we lost almost 100 birds and at least 15 rabbits).


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

Being a city (suburb) girl I can only imagine from your post the difference between a raccoon or possum that sneaks in now and then and what you are describing.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

I love all animals and choose to relocate them rather then kill them like Greenport Ferals. I even try to catch pack rats to relocate, which are a big problem in Arizona. They will eat anything even electrical wires!

I saw this today from a skunk rehabber. We get skunks as uninvited guests to our ferals outdoor food . One of my friends had a skunk she named Stella which we tried everything to get Stella to move out of her walled back yard. Stella was intimidating the ferals from coming to eat in her yard.*

IMPORTANT PLEA TO CAT FEEDERS FROM A SKUNK REHABBER:

You probably aren't aware of just how bad cat food is for skunks. It causes a bone disease that cripples them, leaving them to slowly starve to death. Cat food is too high in protein for skunks. All you need to do is raise the food 2 feet off the ground. Put it up on a patio or park table. Skunks can't climb but the cats can easily jump onto the tables or feeding stations. I know cat feeders are animal lovers and would never knowing harm another animal. Your help in solving this problem is greatly appreciated.*
* 
If you are going to feed the skunks then give them mixed veggies, scrambled eggs, or some fruit like grapes or melons.*


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## Iluvanimals (Jan 6, 2013)

I love all animals too, but relocating as many as we would have to just isn't practical. Our farm backs right up to a large park, so we always get all kinds of animals wandering onto our land. Last winter we had a couger show up that killed 25 goats. It took us two months to trap him and then we took him to the Howell Nature Center and they found a new place to release him. When it comes down to it, I would rather kill the few pests that show up before they have babies and we have to deal with those as well, than loose any of my good expensive show birds, rabbits, goats, or sheep.


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## spidermilk (Jan 12, 2013)

Greenport ferals said:


> I second that.
> I like possums. Raccoons too. They can be a nuisance around the feral barn, but I trap them humanely and relocate them. I would never kill them.


I completely agree. Possums and racoons (have you ever seen a giant racoon?) scare the crap out of me, but they usually only start hanging around if you are leaving food out for them. Possums eat plants and bugs (like the grasshoppers who destroy my garden!) so they are a helpful animal.

I would never teach my dog to attack/kill animals because I would fear that he would attack a pet, a small dog, a feral cat, or that he would be hurt.

If you really, really have to kill pest/dangerous animals then it would be less cruel in my opinion to shoot them or ask a hunter to shoot them (maybe I live out in the sticks but around here there are people who will shoot anything for you *and* eat it!).


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

We don't have racoons or possums but we do have foxes and polecats - they're a pain with chickens but not really much danger to full grown cats although there are a lot of urban (or maybe rural) myths. I am glad I don't have the problems some of you face.,.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Relocating/killing a cougar I get... sending out your dogs to kill run of the mill pests I don't get. You have a lot of animals by the sounds of it. If food/animals aren't left open/out, most creatures shouldn't cause any damage. If you feed them even if it's unintentionally you'll get the hoards expecting food.

If you live in such an out of the way location there's no way you're going to control the raccoons or any other wildlife population. Comes with the territory... so you're really just endangering your dogs.


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

You can't keep everything out of the reach of pests - I have already admitted we don't have your problems but I don't know a single farm that doesn't use either dogs or cats to control the rat / mouse population. Better and more humane than poisoning.


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## ecat (Nov 18, 2012)

What's up with the possum hate? Is this an American thing? They aren't scary at all...


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

You send your dog to attack racoons and coyotes? You aren't worried about rabies?


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

ecat said:


> What's up with the possum hate? Is this an American thing? They aren't scary at all...


Not sure, but a lot if my American relatives seem to find Possums creepy. I kinda like them, they're even kinda cute in an ugly sort of way. We had a _Mink_ show up in our front yard recently.


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## Catmamma (Apr 18, 2011)

Arianwen, I agree with your posting. Farmers and cats and dogs work well together to produce food. The pests have to be kept at bay. Cats and dogs hunt well and keep the rodent population down in a natural way.


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## Ritzpg (Dec 7, 2010)

I fed a feral/stray/abandoned cat colony.
Imagine my surprise when one day in broad daylight I saw a racoon helping himself to the cat food. The cats just kind of hung around, watching him warily. But did not attempt to join him.
I'm a 85 pound weakling, so give racoons wide berth. Luckily, although I've TNRd around 35 cats, I never caught a raccoon or possuum for that matter.


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## bluemilk (Oct 3, 2005)

Do the cats ever scare your new guest into 'playing possum'? Sounds like fun! Cats, horses,possums...


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## Lovemychanel (Mar 20, 2013)

Good news you didn't have to use the kill switch for this one and raised on a farm myself understand...we didn't have to eliminate the problem all the time but had unusual circumstances that did not allow time for trapping..I am happy the little fellow didn't harm anything I like the fact you have a dog to help..a gun will kill them for sure when usually the need a warning that they are not welcomed 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## hunterseat (Feb 23, 2013)

Possums are carriers (or causes of...something like that) of EPM. Bad news for horses. I don't like any of those little critters around my barn.


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