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.