how to get rid of Opossum from a $25,000 palm ?

[trioderob]

Dad calls me last night.

He tells me his friend is freaking out because she can not get rid of an opossum from her palm tree in Los Angeles.

She tells my dad that the palm is worth 25k and she does not want it to get messed up.

I told him to get a hose and buy a special nozzle to shoot a blasting spray on the little %^*$

Was that good advice ?

[Funkthulhu]

.22

[trioderob]

[Jeff Searle]

Lets be real, what palm does she have that's worth $25,000? And a spray of water won't run him off. I can promise you, if she puts a trap at the base of the palm with something that smells good, she'll trap it the first night.

[KennyRE317]

Lets be real, what palm does she have that's worth $25,000? And a spray of water won't run him off. I can promise you, if she puts a trap at the base of the palm with something that smells good, she'll trap it the first night.

pretty much exactly what i'm thinking

[doranakandawatta]

If you have a solution for opossum we can use for porcupines...I take it!

Do you have porcupines in LA?

[trioderob]

the first thing i asked him was about using a trap and he said it did not work.

the lady is old and may be a little funny in the head

you guys dont think blasting it with water will run it off ?

Edited November 20, 2013 by trioderob

[Alicehunter2000]

.22 air rifle if you don't want the noise. Smaller .177 air rifle will work probably too...go for a head shot.

[DoomsDave]

Possum curry, with cashews

[MattyB]

How about leave it alone and it'll go away on it's own.

[Palm crazy]

How about leave it alone and it'll go away on it's own.

I agree, I’ve never had any plant damage from these. Can she call animal control and have them capture it and release in another area?

[trioderob]

ROAST OPOSSUM

1 opossum, skinned and cleaned

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp. fat

1 opossum liver, chopped

1 c. bread crumbs

1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 hard cooked egg, chopped

Salt

Pepper

4 strips bacon

Rub opossum with salt and pepper. Brown onion in fat, add opossum liver and cook until tender. Add bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, egg, seasonings, and water to moisten. Stuff opossum with the mixture and truss. Place in pan belly down. Put bacon strips across back. Add 1 quart water to pan. Roast uncovered at 350 degrees until tender, basting every 15 minutes. It will be done in about 2 1/2 hours. Serves 2-4.

[palmislandRandy]

How about leave it alone and it'll go away on it's own.

It's not a gopher!

[Bill Austin]

Call JD Jed Clampett in Beverly Hllls he will know what to do.

[Moose]

the first thing i asked him was about using a trap and he said it did not work.

the lady is old and may be a little funny in the head

you guys dont think blasting it with water will run it off ?

Here is a little old lady who could lend a hand

[_Keith]

Dad calls me last night.

He tells me his friend is freaking out because she can not get rid of an opossum from her palm tree in Los Angeles.

She tells my dad that the palm is worth 25k and she does not want it to get messed up.

I told him to get a hose and buy a special nozzle to shoot a blasting spray on the little %^*$

Was that good advice ?

Sheesh, somewhere in LA is a Cajun. Call em. Cost you a 12 pack.

[Xerarch]

Build a road next to the palm, the opossum is sure to attempt to cross and get ran over.

[Cindy Adair]

A local licensed wildlife rehabilitator swears by playing loud rock n roll music (seriously, classical and jazz won't work) to discourage many types of varmits trying to live where we don't want them.

How loud and for how long I don't know. Guess they don't have noise blocking headphones.

As long as it's not a rabid raccoon, and they don't hurt my palms they can stay? I actually did have a rabid raccoon in my backyard (captured it, tested positive, the real thing) so I'm not concerned about opossums!

Sell the palm unless it's really rare and nice and toss the opossum in for free? Then use the $25,000 to plant lots more palms!

[trioderob]

I good news - very good news indeed.

the opossum is gone !

my dad called me and said they blasted it with a spot light and it ran for the hills

go figure.

[_Keith]

I good news - very good news indeed.

the opossum is gone !

my dad called me and said they blasted it with a spot light and it ran for the hills

go figure.

Yeah, great, ummm, no. It'll be back.

[KennyRE317]

So what was the $25,000 palm?

[KennyRE317]

I don't know what kind of animals in my yard but it ate most of the leaves off a bunch of Chamaedorea radicalis seedlings where all I have left is the spear

[Stevetoad]

What damage could a opossum do anyway? And where did they get a Lodoicea from?

[DoomsDave]

Possum won't hurt anything . . . well, maybe transmit a little rabies, the usual.

[amazon exotics]

.22

+1

[Gonzer]

.22

Get real!

[paulgila]

So what was the $25,000 palm?

yes,i am curious,as well.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

Possums are great and should never be run off. They are natural exterminators and will kill and eat any mouse, rat, snake or other unwanted small vermin it comes across. They are good guys not bad guys and usually don't live longer than a year or two anyway.

[Jeff zone 8 N.C.]

ROAST OPOSSUM

1 opossum, skinned and cleaned

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp. fat

1 opossum liver, chopped

1 c. bread crumbs

1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 hard cooked egg, chopped

Salt

Pepper

4 strips bacon

Rub opossum with salt and pepper. Brown onion in fat, add opossum liver and cook until tender. Add bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, egg, seasonings, and water to moisten. Stuff opossum with the mixture and truss. Place in pan belly down. Put bacon strips across back. Add 1 quart water to pan. Roast uncovered at 350 degrees until tender, basting every 15 minutes. It will be done in about 2 1/2 hours. Serves 2-4.

I'm sure the above recipe is a good one but here is an improvement on it........... before putting the opossum in the pan obtain one or two bricks. Of course clean them well with water only. Put the bricks in the pan and the opossum on top of the bricks. Cook it this way as instructed. When done remove from oven, THROW THE OPOSSUM AWAY AND EAT THE BRICKS! Bon Appetit.

Bon Appetit

[trioderob]

I think the palm is a CIDP

its worth 25k

[Jim in Los Altos]

Possums are great and should never be run off. They are natural exterminators and will kill and eat any mouse, rat, snake or other unwanted small vermin it comes across. They are good guys not bad guys and usually don't live longer than a year or two anyway.

My thought too. I've had an occasional possum in my yard and never had an iota of damage. They hunt for small meaty creatures to feast on. I wish I had more possums visiting but my dogs scare them off.

[Jim in Los Altos]

I think the palm is a CIDP

its worth 25k

Does this CIDP have precious jewels embedded in its trunk?

[_Keith]

Possums are great and should never be run off. They are natural exterminators and will kill and eat any mouse, rat, snake or other unwanted small vermin it comes across. They are good guys not bad guys and usually don't live longer than a year or two anyway.

My thought too. I've had an occasional possum in my yard and never had an iota of damage. They hunt for small meaty creatures to feast on. I wish I had more possums visiting but my dogs scare them off.

I have them regularly as well. They cause no damage to plants at all. The do tend to dig around in the soil leaving it on top of and mixed in with the mulch, which makes weeds a bit harder to control.

[Jerry@TreeZoo]

I always blamed the digging on armadillos.

[_Keith]

Possums just kind of root around, but don't truly dig like Armadillos. The possums in my garden rarely make a hole deeper than a couple, or three inches at the most.

[mnorell]

I cannot believe that members of this forum would advocate the senseless killing of wildlife, particularly a completely innocuous species such as the opossum. Please educate yourselves on these creatures, our only native marsupial. You might find that you will learn to love them. I have them at the house here in the Keys as well as at my place in Mississippi, and I lived around them in California from childhood onward. I have never seen them create damage of any kind and I personally find them fascinating and sometimes quite entertaining to watch. They are for some reason maligned by many, probably because they are not as "pretty" as squirrels, though they are one of our most interesting and harmless, indeed beneficial natives, They are "cleanup crew" types and subsist on carrion and other such matter. And I would suggest that someone let the woman in question know that she and her priceless palm have nothing to fear from a meek opossum.

[Darold Petty]

Kudos to you Michael. I always feel sorry for them because they have such a homely and off-putting appearance.

[_Keith]

I was assuming most, if not all of that was humor.

[Jim in Los Altos]

I inadvertently referred to the animal in question as a possum, which is incorrect unless referring to the species in Australia. Here in the Western hemisphere, it's opossum and a different but similar animal. That's my animal grammar lesson for today.

[trioderob]

the thread was a little bit of a farce.

the call to my dad was all true but i think the women was a little "mashugana"

she had a possom in her CIDP and someone must have told her the large mature palm was worth a fortune.

she freaked out and called my dad

back to the regularly scheduled scientific botanical threads .................. ........... ........... .... .. .

Edited November 22, 2013 by trioderob