Don't Dump On ME!!!!!!!!!!!

[Madmarcus]

Only recently did I learn that Possums and Opossums are not the same animal. They are not all that closely related.

Never new that.

[gbasden]

My last dog, a 100lb black lab hated them.

Excellent choice in dogs, sir.

[Isgrimnur]

[Anonymous Bosch]

We used to have possums, but in the last few years with more development around us there doesn’t seem to be many in our area. I had a family of them raised under a concrete planter I have. My last dog, a 100lb black lab hated them. They would use the fences like a highway and go from yard to yard looking for dog/cat food or vegetables.

I see them fairly often while exercising in and around my locale, especially late at night or the wee hours of the morning. However, they earned my respect after I saw a hefty opossum chowing down upon a similarly impressive one of these:



That's a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, which tend to predominate in NorCal. So, I looked it up after returning home, and it turns out opossums commonly prey upon snakes, including venomous species. In fact, they're immune to pit viper venom, which made me come to think of 'em as marsupial bad-asses.

I also once saw a big momma opossum carrying around a surprising number of miniscule youngsters clung to its back akin to the image below, which I found somewhat endearing:

[Scuzz]

I had no idea possums (opossums) killed rattlesnakes. My foothills friends will like that.

[stimpy]

Someone had to do it........

[Octavious]

List of a animals I regularly see.

Fox
Skunk
Racoons
Bears
A billion deer
A billion type of birds
Squirrels
Chipmunks
Groundhog's
Wild Turkeys *ok this one not that often*

You can not put garbage out except the morning of. Something will eat it.

If you look at my house on the map you would see two rows of houses and then woods as far as the eye can see. So ya we're kind of out there even if it doesn't really feel like it form my house.

[Jeff V]

Spent the weekend in Chicago staying at a very nice (and expensive) hotel in The Loop. First night there while walking to a nearby bar we saw a parade of rats scurrying across a parking lot. Drunk girl nearby called them "cute".

They weren't all that cute.

Did you mention this elsewhere? I'm in the city a lot more than I care to be lately.

[Jeff V]

List of a animals I regularly see.

Fox
Skunk
Racoons
Bears
A billion deer
A billion type of birds
Squirrels
Chipmunks
Groundhog's
Wild Turkeys *ok this one not that often*

No bears here, but the rest, plus the occasional pheasant, coyote, beaver (the animal, not the, you know...but plenty of that too), a handful of snakes, an occasional cougar (not the kind with beavers, although those are more common).

[Exodor]

Spent the weekend in Chicago staying at a very nice (and expensive) hotel in The Loop. First night there while walking to a nearby bar we saw a parade of rats scurrying across a parking lot. Drunk girl nearby called them "cute".

They weren't all that cute.

Did you mention this elsewhere? I'm in the city a lot more than I care to be lately.

I don't think so - we were in town for Riot Fest so we spent all our time either there or trying to get transportation back to our hotel (seriously, who planned a major festival the same weekend as Mexican Independence celebrations that seemingly shut down the city?) so we didn't have much time for anything else.

[hepcat]

Next year I hope the cops just toss tire deflation devices like candy in a parade when the morons who take over entire city streets during Mexican Independence Day celebrations start that shit.

[Archinerd]

I had never really internalized how lucky I am in my neck of the woods to have nothing that really tries to get into the trash. I can throw trash away all week long into the can with impunity, and there are no bears, raccoons or opossums to disturb it.

We had a lady pulling wet cardboard (full of staples) out of our trash last week to "make forts for kids".
At least she didn't make a mess of it.

[Holman]

I'm in NW Philadelphia and live near a deeply wooded city park (the Wissahickon Valley).

Animals I see regularly:

Spoiler:

squirrels (including all-black ones, a popular local mutation)
the usual birds (crows, sparrows, cardinals, blue jays, robins, doves, etc etc)
red-tailed hawks (often preying on the above, though not the crows)
groundhogs (abundant in the local historic graveyard)
raccoons (a fecund family based in the yard next door)
moles
opossums
rabbits
foxes (coming up from the park)
deer (only down in the park)
stray cats (including tribes we've been able to identify for 20 years)
mice (sometimes in the house)
rats (never in our house, but in restaurant alleyways)
large snapping turtles (down in the Wissahickon creek)
small box turtles (sometimes right in the back yard)
snakes, but never so far larger than garters

Mainly because of the raccoons, we use pretty heavy-duty garbage cans. Animals don't seem to be able to pry open the lids.

We dump our used coffee grounds in the garden because our elusive backyard box turtle seems to really love eating them.

[Blackhawk]

I can match that entire list, save for moles.

And I'd add coyotes. There are also mountain lions, which is just a hoot (although I don't see them regularly.)

[Kraken]

When Warren and me go out, we're hunting rodents. The neighbor's trash piles are happy hunting grounds. But today, Wife was walking Warren while I took Bowie, who concentrates on eating grass and bugs. I heard Wife squawking for help so I scooped up Bowie and we ran to the rescue. Warren caught a chipmunk, which is a huge win for a cat on a leash. But Wife has been compromised by the rodent's rights people, so I dutifully intervened because Wife outranks Warren, if only by a whisker.

For the rest of the day I sang "We'll have fun fun fun until Granny takes the chipmunk away." The cats and I call Wife "Granny."

Chipmunks can take a beating, and this one survived until our next encounter.

[Holman]

I grew up with a cat who spent all day outdoors, occasionally depositing a chipmunk on the doorstep. Cat seemed fond of tearing them open and eating only the liver, leaving the rest for us.

In the Spring after the cat died, our neighborhood was absolutely overrun with chipmunks. You practically had to kick them out of the way to cross the lawn and get the mail. It seems the cat had been culling their population to the tune of several a day.

[Jeff V]

Spent the weekend in Chicago staying at a very nice (and expensive) hotel in The Loop. First night there while walking to a nearby bar we saw a parade of rats scurrying across a parking lot. Drunk girl nearby called them "cute".

They weren't all that cute.

Did you mention this elsewhere? I'm in the city a lot more than I care to be lately.

I don't think so - we were in town for Riot Fest so we spent all our time either there or trying to get transportation back to our hotel (seriously, who planned a major festival the same weekend as Mexican Independence celebrations that seemingly shut down the city?) so we didn't have much time for anything else.

If only you knew someone who does Uber in the area....