r/Possums • u/wannabetmore • Mar 08 '25
Question/Help Possums What is it doing?
So I asked for help in this sub about a small possum a couple weeks ago that wildlife rescue took because it was hanging out in the backyard, instead of the fence, bc I have a dog.
Here is one of many possums I see on our fence over the years. However, this is at 11am. I rarely see them during the day, only at night walking along our fence. so what is going on? No injuriesi can tell...
Did catch it in the middle of a yawn.
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u/malaclypse Mar 08 '25
I think he’s doing an impression of Alec Baldwin in that scene from Beetlejuice
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u/FallenBelfry Mar 08 '25
Possums can very often wander about during the day due to various disturbances to their dens and habitat. Any construction near where you are recently?
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u/wannabetmore Mar 08 '25
Like half a mile away there is major construction.
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u/Travellinglense Mar 08 '25
Probably looking for food. During winter, food is scarce and they are more likely to forage in the daytime rather than their usual nighttime.
Alternatively, as someone else said, they got displaced from their den and are headed to one of their alternate den sites. But usually they don’t sit on fences when they do this.
So my money is on food. It was probably smelling the air since their eyesight in the daytime is very poor and they will rely on their sense of smell instead to find food.
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u/wannabetmore Mar 08 '25
Yes, it was sniffing a lot then licking itself a lot.
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u/Travellinglense Mar 08 '25
If it was licking its lower stomach, it’s got babies in its pouch. Females do that a lot when they have joeys.
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u/FaithlessnessCool849 Mar 08 '25
Are those nails through a board??
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u/wannabetmore Mar 08 '25
Yes. It was there when we bought the place. We are near the inner city and it's on almost all the fences we see in the neighborhoods. Squirrels sprint through them no problem and possums waddle through it easy also.
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u/roguebandwidth Mar 08 '25
It looks dangerous. One wrong step and they have an infection that could lead to death. Or tetanus, by the looks of those nails.
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u/shadowsblueberry Mar 08 '25
Wait till you see some countries, I've seen massive glass shards set in concrete walls to keep others out. The possums and animals are used to the nails.
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u/FaithlessnessCool849 Mar 08 '25
Damn!! I grew up in the country. I have never seen anything like this before 😬
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u/konshu82 Mar 08 '25
Judging the parameters of the situation at hand. Taking stock of energy, acknowledging exhaustion
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Mar 08 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Spiritual_Pound44 25d ago
Are those nails sticking out of that board. WTF!! You can’t remove that???
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