So how far North and West do possums live? For some reason I thought they were just a Southern curse. And what states have an open season on them?

they are a fur bearer in ks. i never heard of anybody being ticketed for killing one though

Been here for quite awhile now probably crossed the ice bridge to the U.P by now Roy would know maybe "endangered species"

I saw some taned possum hides ant ernies feed store in HOLLAND IN. I was surprised how nice they were and the leather was much thicker than I expected. I always figured they were paper thin

My wife showed me something a person posted on Facebook that possum were the only animal that ate wood ticks to the tune of 30,000 a year and they should be protected for that reason. They also claimed that they didn't get rabies. However, others posted that possum carried disease because of their opportune choice of diet. It was also noted that the wood ticks they ate were only the ones that they were infested with.

We have them in WI. Nothing like a smiling face to greet you on your line at o'dark thirty.

Their feces on hay cause EPM(a neurological disease)in horses. I dont see possum eating enough ticks around here to have in actual impact on tick numbers.

I've used that little factoid in several discussions with horse owners about possum management. They all believed the tick story, but when told that possums could potentially infect their horses, open season.

Another person posted on FB that they semi-hibernate in hay barns and have a tendency to chew electrical wiring on machinery.

They are a tick magnets I find them covered with ticks 100s at times they must be packing a lunch for later. How many ticks get to complete the cycle to hatch million more ticks out? With litters of 10-12 common they need controlling, here no protection like all varmints open anytime here. They struggle this far north we find frostbite on the ears and tails pretty regularly.

That tick eating story most likely made up by some hugger that needed a talking point to give them a purpose on this earth.

I use the fact that all the turkey and quail nest they destroy eating the eggs were turkey and quail that would eat many thousand more ticks than the few a possum may eat.

the hay contamination is why there is no mercy on coon or possum of any age at the farm , cost the old man his favorite horse years ago.

as for the study it seems very poor science at best they were placing a possum in a plexi glass box with 100 ticks and when they came back the next day and there were fewer than 100 tick they used those numbers to decide how many ticks they ate , the study wasn't even about how many ticks they eat or their diet. they were after something else and doing it to a bunch of small animals possibly to study tick born disease.

looking at all the cites when they were cited from the many references that they ate their weight in ticks blah blah I only was ever able to find reference to the one study , and one study that derived it as a side notation does not good science make.

I am surprised anybody with horses doesn't know about EPM. doesn't even have to be on hay. They can ingest it just off pasture grass

Anytime I see a Possum on my Farm I shoot it. No matter the time of year.

Standard practice for us on all varmint.

I used to donate opossums to Wilmington College for a study on diseases and parasites carried by opossums in Ohio. They are loaded with bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. They even found bubonic plague in Ohio opossums.

Keith

we've got them in Wisconsin, they are unprotected here

Lots of possum' in WNY

Next the armadillo invasion is underway 30 years ago they were unheard of where I hunt down in MO now they are very common hit on the roads.

Tactical possums.

A few up here and temps got down to -20 this winter for a short period.

Truth last time I was in souther MO they were dead everywhere on the road as bad as opossum maybe worse. Since we don't have armadillo that really stood out and I didn't rember them being so thick the time before when I was there.

We have possums ,in Ontario. I have box trapped 3 this past year and saw tracks in the yard the other day. I have bees , the possums, coons and skunks are fair game at my place. I also had a bonus bear visited last year. They all like honey. But not at my expense. old243

Holy cow! I honestly had no idea they were that far North or West. Glad we can share with y’all, lol. Those jokers can ruin the best of sets. Have a landowner with a cat issue. Being within eye view of the road I went with cage traps instead of footholds. No cats, but dang I’m catching possums in two of the three cages every night!!! Checked with the landowner and he hasn’t seen the cats since I put the cages out, lol!

We will send you a few Mt. lions since you’re so generous. LOL

Want any gators? We seem to have some in anything wet, I’m sure we could part with a few.

Close. The tick eating story comes from an animal rights scientist. He placed 100 ticks on a captive possum and several other species. After a period of time, he counted the remaining ticks...then extrapolated the ridiculous number of posibly consumed ticks over a year.

Reference article on the study from he Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2825780/

As to the OP's question. We have a lot of possums in Western Washington.

An actual study was conducted at the university of Illinois,,, they had ( if I remember correctly) 100 possums, and studied the stomach contents of them… out of 100 possums,,, 0 evidence of tick consumption was found. You really have to search the web to even find this actual proof,, buried under the propossum propaganda.


https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34298355/


And for those who believe in evolution,,, ( where something turns into something better)what critter was dumber than a possum?

Law Dog-- Have you found ticks on grinners in November around your area? I've never found ticks on mine, but most of mine are caught at the earliest in middle of November and through out the winter.

There was a "possum line" in South Dakota. About 35-40 years ago, it was about the latitude of Brookings in eastern SD (West River SD has very few grinners, if at all). But the line has moved north and might be in se ND by now. Hydropiller has reported them on the U.S.-12 line that goes through Aberdeen so not much SD real estate left north of there.

Some of my largest, nicest boar grinners have been caught in the middle of winter. I don't know what makes them move once in a while during the winter but the 160s like to eat them...

Most Ticks I see are in the summer months hundreds on just one critter.