Danged &%$#@+(^$ Critters!

[karstopography]

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This Opossum was in my dad’s office. Isn’t it cute! Came in through the cat door. The cats weren’t very happy to share their space with the wild critter. I caught the marsupial with our 50 year old snake catcher stick. I then relocated the possum to a woodland refuge several miles away. I hope it won’t return.

[bower]

Picked off another half dozen of those "Wooly Bear" caterpillars on the vole-surviving peas this morning. Since it's officially Moth Week I looked them up, aka Virginia Tiger Moth, Spilosoma virginica

https://bugguide.net/node/view/509356
There is some kind of weather lore that these are supposed to predict, but IDK if it's a hard winter or ???
Not a problem, expecting the worst as always.

[JRinPA]

I usually relocate to the freezer.

[JRinPA]

I thought it was all black on a wooly bugger meant a hard winter. I have been seeing wooly bear on the internet, seems to me we always called them wooly buggers.

[JRinPA]

I don't know, that possum looks really hot. Perhaps a relocation further north, MUCH further north, is in order.

[karstopography]

@JRinPA I haven’t yet knowingly consumed a possum. Are you saying these peculiar marsupials are tasty? Because, we got plenty around here and I can see the upside to saving money on our grocery bill, but I will likely have to find a different wife to cohabitate with.

I know there’s a gray market for fresh raccoon carcasses around here, but I hadn’t heard the same about the possums.

[GoDawgs]

@JRinPA I haven’t yet knowingly consumed a possum. Are you saying these peculiar marsupials are tasty? Because, we got plenty around here and I can see the upside to saving money on our grocery bill, but I will likely have to find a different wife to cohabitate with.

A long time ago one of the old timers around here told me that when he was a lad, during the hard times they'd catch possums, pen them up and feed them corn or scraps to "clean 'em out". He said the reason for that became clear when one day he saw a possum exiting the back of a dead cow.

[Kurt]

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I relocate our critters to a nature preserve after capture.Put cardboard down first,they tend to release everything you trapped them with.Turn off ac when traveling thier crap has a nasty order.Do cross a river or canal I understand they will find thier way back and are not good swimmers.Laws down here in the city tend to forbid catch and release.They do eat carrion,I don’t think I could find myself grilling one on the Barbie.

[Kurt]

The rats go to same place,but they swim really well.

[MissS]

Rodents just don't get a car ride here. They multiply and get out of hand too quickly.

[MissS]

@karstopography I once had opossum stew and it was very very good.

[worth1]

@karstopography I once had opossum stew and it was very very good.

I've had it too.
@Kurt
And I've heard cream of rat soup isn't bad.
Coming from people working in labs in England during WW2.

[JRinPA]

Nah, that was MissS's neighbors groundhog I was referring. In fact after I posted and then saw your possum pics I laughed and figure that was coming. Woodchuck in wild game sausage is fine. The hind quarters at least are easy to get off. A possum, well I guess they raid bird's nests for eggs, but for the most part they are a good part of the ecosystem and not destructive. Some people here say they eat ticks, a big plus. Though I am doubtful as to their impact on the tick population, I consider it good propaganda and don't dispute it. Though sometimes I do ask if they have ever seen one actually eating a tick.

What I can't abide is the people that swerve to try to hit possums. Possums and coons. That really ticks me off. It's bad enough we put a road there to make it dangerous for them.

[Tormato]

Picked off another half dozen of those "Wooly Bear" caterpillars on the vole-surviving peas this morning. Since it's officially Moth Week I looked them up, aka Virginia Tiger Moth, Spilosoma virginica

https://bugguide.net/node/view/509356
There is some kind of weather lore that these are supposed to predict, but IDK if it's a hard winter or ???
Not a problem, expecting the worst as always.

That would be the banded wooly bear, for the weather.

If you must know the lore, Google "wooly bear caterpillar winter prediction chart".

I've found the caterpillar and the weathermen to be of equal accuracy in their long range forecasting.

[worth1]

Possums eat lots of ticks roaches and all manner of pests.
They're good for the environment and us as well.

Sadly many people kill possums just because they think they are ugly.
No other reason.
I wonder how these people would feel if we could go around and shoot ugly people.
There's one look how ugly he is shoot him.
Well that's never going to happen but y'all get the point.
Another is all they are is a big rat.
They aren't rats nor are they even kin to rats.
They actually catch and eat mice.

Personally I've always loved and admired possums and would never hurt one.
I brought a young one home once from town in a box.
My wife reached in and picked it up behind the neck and held it while it was hissing.
We got it up larger and turned it loose at the house.
The cats even got used to it and my dog Bullet liked it.
Bullet liked all creatures no matter what they were.

[GoDawgs]

Possums are welcome around here. Two years ago I think there was a clan of them (about five or six) down in the back living in Mt. Brushmore at the woods' edge. There were possum-size tunnels in it here and there so it got another nickname, Possum Holler.

It's also where Coonie cat resided in the cat condo Pickles built for her because she preferred to live by herself. Coonie got along with the possums just fine and they'd finish up whatever she left in her food bowl. We kind of got to know them by their markings as they were all a bit different. Sadly, one by one they eventually met their fate out on the road. All that woods behind the house but nooooo, they had to cross the road.

[MissS]

I do like opossums and they are one of the good critters to have but they like to live under my gas fireplace box and the deck that's next to it. They sure don't smell too good. Nope, not at all. I plant all of these super fragrant flowers on the patio to try and cover the odor but the strong scent there can be just as overwhelming. If I catch one, it gets a ride.

[rxkeith]

we have a woodchuck that i suspect is the culprit destroying all the brassicas in my wifes garden.
now, it is also sampling a small row of late planted beans, and nipping at the cucumber leaves.
i am not liking this critter at all.


keith

[MissS]

we have a woodchuck that i suspect is the culprit destroying all the brassicas in my wifes garden.
now, it is also sampling a small row of late planted beans, and nipping at the cucumber leaves.
i am not liking this critter at all.


keith

I would declare war on one of those.

[MissS]

The baby bunnies are out and eating everything in sight. The chipmunks are moving in under my patio. The squirrels are moving into my neighbors attic. The deer ate my milkweed and new shrubs last night.

My small Havaheart arrived today. The critters are outnumbering us and winning the real-estate. I hope that someone in the yard enjoys peanut butter and sunflower seeds.