Possum in TO ....

[sk8r]

No doubt about it - the climate has changed...

I live in downtown Toronto (maybe a mile from the CN Tower). I was walking my dog last night, and he went all alert, staring at a point between 2 parked cars. I figured it was just a raccoon, except he's totally familiar with coons and has been trained to ignore them. I looked, and there was an adult possum looking right back at me! No mistake - I grew up in the southern US & I've seen thousands of possums.

Never ever seen a possum this far north, and certainly not in the middle of the city. Strange.

 

[bjhill]

They are all over the place have been here for years

 

[Crazytrout]

Saw my first one ten years ago in Bloor West.

 

[handofzeus]

Been seeing them for the last 15 or so years in the 'Hammer'. last few years they easily outnumber raccoons. Between those, and the raccoons, squirrels,mice, rats, pigeons and carp, Hamilton is a bloody wildlife sanctuary for vermin! And everyone throws a hissy-fit if you try to 'dispatch' one of these beasts!

 

[colinjw]

I have a couple in my back yard south of Barrie.
They have been coming in to Canada for years on transport trucks from the U.S.
They look like rats but they are actually marsupials.

 

[Fire306]

First one I seen was almost about 20 years ago on the Bruce Peninsula. There's lots of them this far north, has been for years.

 

[sherlockbonez]

I've seen them north of guelph, and have been seeing them in my yard in Markham for the past 7-8 years. Never seen on play dead tho.

 

[Pyd]

I do wildlife control, I bet I take 50 of them a year out of BBQ's, seems to be their favorite place to hang out.
Incidentally, as a scavenger they tend to take homes of other ground living animals, like skunks. 9 times out of 10 when someone smells a skunk under their deck it turns out to be a possum that wandered in to a skunk hole, got sprayed and moved on to a deck.
Lots of possums in S/W Ontario.

 

[glang1]

Yummmmm, possum & sweet potatoes. Did you ever see the teeth on a possum? Just like a small dogs. I wouldn't put them in the same class as rats. They are pretty benign, mainly nocturnal creatures.

 

[Derek V]

keep having to shoot the odd one that gets into the feed bins in the barn. see most of them on the roads though

 

[the spank]

I saw my first one over 30 years ago on the road paralleling the Niagara River winding through the Niagara Parkway. I saw one dead on the road at the Junction of Hwy 402 and the road turning off to Strathroy two years ago too.

 

[Magellann]

Ive seen them in Niagara for years now, also seen one in Bradford a couple years ago.

 

[FLHTCUI]

We have had them for years here in the Lowermainland , the coyotes moved in and then the possums disappeared.
Uggerly looking critters they are.
Rob

 

[beretta boy]

Fairly common along the Niagara Escarpment, and in Central Ontario up as far as Barrie.
Have yet to see one (dead or alive) above Lake Simcoe. Our only marsupial ... and
reportedly, 52 teeth !

 

[Canadian_Zuk]

I ran one over this year on Whites Rd in Pickering. It was a female with young. I removed them from her pouch and nursed them, made me feel a little better. LOL

Tough little buggers to raise and Canada's only marsupial.

edit for pics:

Only 4 survived, but they were just starting to fuzz.

 

[Ol' Smokey]

AFAIK, their range has been expanding north in Ontario for some time. These are not isolated "hitchhikers" but breeding populations.

Our milder winters over the last few decades have made this possible.

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

Been seeing them for the last 15 or so years in the 'Hammer'. last few years they easily outnumber raccoons. Between those, and the raccoons, squirrels,mice, rats, pigeons and carp, Hamilton is a bloody wildlife sanctuary for vermin! And everyone throws a hissy-fit if you try to 'dispatch' one of these beasts!

(sarcasm font on) That's no way to talk about a national treasure like Sheila Copps! (sarcasm font off)

 

[the spank]

I ran one over this year on Whites Rd in Pickering. It was a female with young. I removed them from her pouch and nursed them, made me feel a little better. LOL

Tough little buggers to raise and Canada's only marsupial.

edit for pics:



Only 4 survived, but they were just starting to fuzz.

You felt bad for running it over so decided to raise it's young? They are vermine................

 

[Canadian_Zuk]

You felt bad for running it over so decided to raise it's young? They are vermine................

I guess I could have replaced the LOL with :sarcasm: But my guess is it would have been ignored too.

Edit: it was an experiment born out of curiosity, not compassion and I learned something while I was at it.

 

[trevj]

Reminds me of what was probably the funniest clip I ever saw on the news.

Some poor hippy on Denman Island, in a dither because the 'possums were wreaking havoc upon his chickens, and he didn't want to wreck his karma by hurting them. "They are killing my chickens, and I don't know what to do!" Oh dear? What to do? Much hand wringing and stress there was!

The ones there came up on a barge load of hay imported to feed someone's livestock. They apparently found the neighborhood to their liking!

Cheers
Trev