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Possible Rabid Opposum in Kings Forest

Possible Rabid Opposum in Kings Forest

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by: doddlebug Active Indicator LED Icon 17 OP 
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 6:21pm  
Posted on another site. Pest worker told Home owner opposum on side of her home with drooling foam. She contacted 311 but NO response from City of Houston. There are SO many stray and loose dogs running around Kingwood that can come in contact with a rabid animal. Be aware when handling a loose animal. 4951
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sweetie Active Indicator LED Icon 11 Forum Moderator
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 6:30pm  
Oh no. I had one come on my patio yesterday about 10 :00 am. I didn't know they come out during the day. I hope the COH sends someout out asap. Is it dead? 4951
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beastmode Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 6:37pm  
Rabies is extremely rare in opossums and some opossum experts even
question whether it’s even possible for the virus to establish itself in
the body of this mammal enough to transmit rabies at all, according to
the Bi-State Wildlife Hotline, which explained candidly the defensive nature of this marsupialIf they are seen during the day something likely spooked them from their dwelling pretty bad where they had to exit. 4951
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sweetie Active Indicator LED Icon 11 Forum Moderator
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 6:44pm  
Rabies is extremely rare in opossums and some opossum experts even
question whether it’s even possible for the virus to establish itself in
the body of this mammal enough to transmit rabies at all, according to
the Bi-State Wildlife Hotline, which explained candidly the defensive nature of this marsupialIf they are seen during the day something likely spooked them from their dwelling pretty bad where they had to exit.
 
@beastmode:
 
He came on my patio and was eating the stray cat food. I've heard if they come out during day it means they are sick. Thank you for unscaring me!! Lol 4951
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coco1248 Active Indicator LED Icon 7
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 6:56pm  

- - - - - - - -
>> Rabies is extremely rare in opossums and some opossum experts even
question whether it’s even possible for the virus to establish itself in
the body of this mammal enough to transmit rabies at all, according to
the Bi-State Wildlife Hotline, which explained candidly the defensive nature of this marsupialIf they are seen during the day something likely spooked them from their dwelling pretty bad where they had to exit.
 
@beastmode:
 
He came on my patio and was eating the stray cat food. I've heard if they come out during day it means they are sick. Thank you for unscaring me!! Lol
 
@sweetie: Is not scary at all, sometimes they want to have 'early breakfast' before the mob goes out. It doesn't necessarily mean they are sick---just another myth about wild life. Of course, being nocturnal they prefer nightfall, but as i said, if hungry or due to weather conditions they want to fill up early LOL 4951
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sweetie Active Indicator LED Icon 11 Forum Moderator
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 7:30pm  
according
 
@coco1248:
 
Thank you coco !! The 3 raccoons come here at night so maybe the possum decided not to dine with them at night ! Lol 4951
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doddlebug Active Indicator LED Icon 17 OP 
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 7:39pm  
Checked on yahoo and google and websites state that although it's rare opposums and any mammal can carry rabies.   4951
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FoFa Active Indicator LED Icon 17
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 7:56pm  
Sounds like that pest worker needs to check up on things first.Just say'n.All mammals can carry rabies. However, it's actually very rare for possums to carry the disease. This is party because opossums have a slightly below average body temperature, and the rabies virus can't thrive at this lower temp.Opossums are nocturnal creatures that scavenge for trash and eat the remains of other animals. Such lifestyle habits may point to opossums being prime hosts for rabies; however, opossums are rarely known to contract rabies and are even less likely to pass it on to other organisms they come into contact with.The animal's natural defense mechanisms commonly mislead people into thinking that opossums and rabies go together, as the pests use techniques like swaying, excessive drooling, and angry hissing to dissuade would-be threats.When people see an opossum out during the day, they commonly begin to suspect that the opossum is sick and maybe even carrying rabies. Rabies concerns are substantiated in their minds when they go in for a closer look and the marsupial hisses with a mouth full of drool and an aggressive, erratic gait. Many an opossum has met their doom from a nature lover with a gun, trying to put the animal they believe is rabid, out of their misery. The only problem is that the animal almost certainly did not have rabies. In fact, it’s possible that it wasn’t even sick. 4951
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Jpgurl Active Indicator LED Icon 18
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 7:59pm  
Also said opossum and any mammal including cats and dogs can eat rat poison bait or eat a varmit that has eaten rat bait. That will make them come out during the day and foam at the mouth. They die of liver poisoning. 4951
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bug man Active Indicator LED Icon  New Member
~ 6 years ago   Apr 3, '17 10:30pm  
Most rat bait is a blood thinner. So they just bleed out. Most of the time there is not a concern with a secondary kill.
It is a myth that they eat the bait and get thirsty, go outside to die. 4951
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Jpgurl Active Indicator LED Icon 18
~ 6 years ago   Apr 4, '17 5:38am  
Most rat bait is a blood thinner. So they just bleed out. Most of the time there is not a concern with a secondary kill.
It is a myth that they eat the bait and get thirsty, go outside to die.

@bug man: Really???? Well my DD is a vet tech and we had to take our dog to the vet because he tried to get hold of a rat that was out during the day acting erratically. The vet told us that rat poisons affect the liver - the toxin moves through the blood and the liver fails because it can not filter out the toxin - in effect poisoning the liver. It takes days for the liver to fail- the animal becomes erratic and it's behavoir changes ( like coming ur in the day when nocturnal). The vet said that secondary poisoning IS a REAL concern and that vets will see many secondary poisoning In areas where people put out bait. If caught within very quickly the dog/cat can be saved. Thankfully my DD was home- recognized what was going on and our dog was ok. I put the rat out of his misery- he was not bleeding out when the dog and I first found him
 
 
4951
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buffaloglenn Active Indicator LED Icon 11
~ 6 years ago   Apr 4, '17 8:35am  

- - - - - - - -
>> Most rat bait is a blood thinner. So they just bleed out. Most of the time there is not a concern with a secondary kill.
It is a myth that they eat the bait and get thirsty, go outside to die.
 
@bug man: Really???? Well my DD is a vet tech and we had to take our dog to the vet because he tried to get hold of a rat that was out during the day acting erratically. The vet told us that rat poisons affect the liver - the toxin moves through the blood and the liver fails because it can not filter out the toxin - in effect poisoning the liver. It takes days for the liver to fail- the animal becomes erratic and it's behavoir changes ( like coming ur in the day when nocturnal). The vet said that secondary poisoning IS a REAL concern and that vets will see many secondary poisoning In areas where people put out bait. If caught within very quickly the dog/cat can be saved. Thankfully my DD was home- recognized what was going on and our dog was ok. I put the rat out of his misery- he was not bleeding out when the dog and I first found him
 
 

@Jpgurl:
 
 
The vet may have been talking about older style rat baits that used arsenic or the ones that caused calcium levels to spike and rodent death (which also could affect cats and dogs).  Current baits use warfarin type products that are lethal to rats at doses so low they don't affect cats, dogs, or people.  4951
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beastmode Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 6 years ago   Apr 4, '17 8:42am  
Opossums have a remarkably robust immune system, and show partial or total immunity to the venom of rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and other pit vipers.[10][dead link][11] Opossums are about eight times less likely to carry rabies than wild dogs, and about one in eight hundred opossums is infected with this virus.[12] 4951
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Jpgurl Active Indicator LED Icon 18
~ 6 years ago   Apr 4, '17 8:57am  
@ buffaolglenn- ok that makes sense. This was 12-13 years ago when Ol Man TJ was a young dog.
 
@bugman my apologies- 4951
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beastmode Active Indicator LED Icon 12
~ 6 years ago   Apr 4, '17 9:06am  
I paid about $500 to get my dog's stomach pumped eating some rat poison last year. I had it in a spot I swore there was no way she could get to it but she dug for an hour under  the deck and got it. Luckily I saw her eating it and brought her to the vet. Probably overkill though, doubt it would have had much of an effect on her. Such a small amount of poison, maybe slightly sick. She will eat just about anything so I am sure she has eaten a lot worse.  4951
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Retired_Engineer Active Indicator LED Icon 13
~ 6 years ago   Apr 4, '17 3:50pm  

- - - - - - - -
>> Rabies is extremely rare in opossums and some opossum experts even
question whether it’s even possible for the virus to establish itself in
the body of this mammal enough to transmit rabies at all, according to
the Bi-State Wildlife Hotline, which explained candidly the defensive nature of this marsupialIf they are seen during the day something likely spooked them from their dwelling pretty bad where they had to exit.
 
@beastmode:
 
He came on my patio and was eating the stray cat food. I've heard if they come out during day it means they are sick. Thank you for unscaring me!! Lol

@sweetie:  A couple of months ago, we let our dogs out in the backyard.  One of the dogs quickly sniffed out something different and found a medium sized opossum.  He grabbed it in his mouth, gave it a good shake or two, them dropped it.  The opossum didn't move so our dog just left it.  My wife thought the opossum was dead.  I told her to bring the dogs in and give it a while.  Sure enough, about 15 minutes later, we looked out and the opossum was gone.  It was just "playin' possum".
 
 
4951
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