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Summary: Learn what opossums eat and information on how to care for possums in this free online instructional video.
"So what do you do if you find one of these creatures in your backyard. Pretty much you just leave them alone. Why? They are really good for your backyard. They are going to be eating those things you probably don't want to have around like cockroaches, snails and rodent nestling's. Hey did you know these guys will even eat rattle snakes? Yep, they are immune to the venom of the rattle snake. Now the Opossum is an Omnivore. Omni means all and vore means eater so it is eating all kinds of things. It is eating plants and animal material in its diet just like a human being so you might be a little bit concerned about what kind of plants it is eating in your backyard. Fear not! It is going to be eating those over ripe fruits and vegetables that fall to the ground. You know the stuff that is black and getting rotten. Okay you might say aren't they arboreal or aren't they in the trees? Well they do climb in the trees to get from place to place and pretty much they are going off there to get away from predator like you and your dog. So these guys are really good at cleaning up your backyard because not only are they eating that rotten fruits and vegetables on the ground, they are also eating carrion and carrion is a nice way of saying an animal that is already dead. "
eHow Article: What Do Opossums Eat?
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Comments
oppossumfreedom said
on 1/9/2009 Hello Marie.
Actually opossums get along with cats just like raccoons do with cats. Opossum do not attack and do not want trouble. The problem is others attacking the possum like dogs for example. Opossum, I have rescued one before and they really do not want to be on the way of anyone, they usually are very timid and want to be alone. They only show you the mouth when threatened and will wait for the first opportunity to run away. It's very common to see all kind of animals coming to eat cat food, wouldn't you if I put a delicious meal on my door-let's say a place of ravioli and some chocolate cake? I bet i would have the kids on my house LOL that is good that you are feeding the cat and thank you for that. Don't be surprise to see raccoons coming at night but don't worry, when you don't see they are all together (cats, raccoons, possums, etc) just make sure your dog is not part of the gang as he is kept inside doors.
Again, just leave the opossum alone and he will go away, they usually move on and don't stay in one place. So if you see him again, probably is a different one.
bye
evuser1780 said
on 11/18/2008 Hi,
I have a question. Would a possum attack a cat? I feed some cats in my backyard and this evening I found a possum eating the cats food. This is the first time I ever saw a possum up front,quite frankly I was scared regardless of the fact that I was watching it eat from behind my back door. I live in Brooklyn New York and was shocked at seeing this because I was expecting to see a cat/cats. My concern is for the cats. Your video and information about possums put me at ease, but i would appreciate some more feed back as to what to do.
Sincerely,
Maria B.
oppossumfreedom said
on 1/9/2009 sorry for the grammatical errors as I didn't edit my reply before posting aside that English is my THIRD language (go figure)
bye