Possums

No. True possums, marsupials of Australia, do not eat chickens' eggs.

However, the North American Virginia opossum, the only marsupial in North America, is omnivorous and will eat chicken and other bird eggs when available to them.

Yes.

Possums will normally eat small avocados, I have two avocado trees in my backyard; and I can see the small avocados dissapearing from the trees. I have also seen possums at night at the driveway of my house. My yard-keeper showed me a path in the lawn by the fence where they walk at night; he agrees that the possums are the ones eating the small avocados.

A pygmy possum is a tiny marsupial of Australia and, just like its name suggests, like a miniature possum, ranging from 7-11 cm in head-body length. It has a long, curling tail and large black eyes.

Most pygmy possums are grey with paler fur underneath. However, the Southwestern Pygmy Possum, also known as the Western Pygmy Possum, is different to its eastern cousins. It is a bright cinnamon colour.

To find out more about pygmy possums and to see pictures, click on the related link below.

We had the same problem a few years ago. I enjoyed hearing them run around, but did not enjoy their mess!! We first made sure that the babies were big enough to live on their own by placing a 2 x 4 from the ground to the roof. Sure enough, the little ones eventually began to use it in order to get in and out. One caution. Getting them all to leave at the same time doesn't happen. Plus, when we did think they were all out at one point and we took the board down, the mother got back in the babies ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. One actually jumped onto my pants leg and climbed up onto my head trying frantically to get back to Mom. We put the board back up.

Sooooo, how did we get rid of the uninvited freeloaders??

We hired a professional with 2 or 3 Have-a-heart traps. These were secured to our roof and around the property. They do not hurt the animals, but they do allow you to catch them. Once we saw that we had one, we called the professional who came and picked up the cage and brought the critter about 30 miles away to a heavily wooded area. Each new animal we caught was released to the same spot 30 miles away. Soon, we had no more pests.

Try the Have-a-Heart traps as long as the babies are big enough to survive out of the nest.

I had flying squirrels in the space between my 1st & 2nd floor. They entered from the roof to the gutter and into the covered porch and into the space between the floors. They nested and had a litter. They would play all night running around and had a store of nuts and chomped on them everynight above our bedroom. Well they were cute so I got a harmless cage trap to catch them but they were so light they couldn't set it off so I took a whole hickory nut (the only thing that would work) and put it on a rat trap (mouse traps are to small) and that caught them (all 5) and I hated to kill them but had no choice. I think one of them left on his own and brouht back his wife the next winter and had their family and I had to catch them also. After that I cut the trees within close proximity to the house so they could not get back up there.

We had squirrels in our attic too. They chewed a hole in a place under the eaves and got in that way. We hired a local company (Cridder Ridder) that humanely traps and takes them to a wooded area for release. $30 per quirrel plus a truck fee. They caught only two...thank heaven they hadn't had babies yet!

We had a mother squirrel and her babies take up in our basement! I'm still not sure how she got in and out of the house. I tried at first to open a basement window to encourage her out but she wouldn't go for it. I think something happened to the mother because we started hearing the babies but they wouldn't stop calling for her.

We live in a city that has a very generously spirited animal control department. I called them and an officer came out and helped me catch the squirrels. She was going to take them to somebody who helped rehabilitate them. We found one baby but another one hid to where we coudn't find it. I found it a few days later dead in a bag of clothes.

So long story short, contact your city or county's animal control policy and see what they can do. Mine has also helped me remove a bird of prey from my back screened in porch (I'm sure my cats were happy about that) and she gave me advice on how to help some birds that kept falling out of a nest in our car port.

We actually got rid of our squirrels without hiring professionals, but only because we knew exactly where they had entered, there was only one point of entry, and the hole was easily accessible from the ground via a stepladder. It took us 5 days. Step 1. Put boombox in attic playing FM rock at full volume throughout day. Burn incense to contribute to olfactory overload. Seal opening at dusk w/heavy gauge wire mesh, hoping most squirrels have moved to better neighborhood. Step 2. The next morning, outraged hare Krishna squirrels not put off by boombox and incense make presence heard. Scrabble at opening trying to get out. Husband removes mesh. Stands at distance from opening to prevent more squirrels going in before these guys leave. Wife pounds on ceiling with cane from inside, driving squatters toward exit. Squirrel is seen to leave. Mesh is reinstalled. Step 3. Repeat step 2. Step 4. Repeat step 3. There were five squirrels left post boom box episode. Step 5. Silence from attic for over 24 hours. Squirrels start trying to break in from outside. Husband nails board over hole.

The question of whether it is more humane to relocate squirrels or to kill them is a subject of controversy. Some experts believe that relocating them is inhumane because the squirrels who are already in the area of relocation will not accept the relocated inhabitants.

Horned lizards spray blood from the corners of their eyes in self defense. Camels sometimes spit, not always in self defense, but sometimes it is in self defense. Chinchillas spray in self defense. Some snakes spit in self defense, and so do cats. Skunks spray a liquid from their anal sacs in self defense.

Cricket bites are more annoying than dangerous. These little insects bite out of self defense, so unless they're trapped in your hands or between you and your clothes, there isn't much to worry about. When a cricket does bite you'll know for sure - it will be a small sharp pain and burn. The best remedy is a dab of polysporin - this will help prevent infection but also relieve the pain and burning pretty quick. In my experiences, the polysproin did the job within about 1-2 min (stopped pain and burn, reduced redness and mild swelling). Of course if you are allergic to insect bites, you need to seek health care immediately. As far as the insect community is aware, there are no poisonous crickets. In fact, if a cricket is in your house, I would be more concerned about finding holes in my wardrobe and clothes than being bit!

No. Possums live in tree hollows or roof cavities in suburban houses. They have even been known to inhabit unused fireplaces and dog kennels.

In New Zealand the stoat, ferret and Brushtail possum are very damaging to the enviroment.

In Australia the main animals that cause problems are rabbits, cane toads, feral pigs, feral cats and camels.

Yes. Possums are causing considerable destruction to New Zealand's environment, to which they were introduced in the 1800s. In New Zealand, possums are taking over native bushland, pushing out native species of birds, for which New Zealand is unique.

Possums feed on the vegetation, reducing its availability for native species, and nest in the trees, forcing smaller species out. There are no natural predators of the possum in New Zealand, so their population has increased dramatically.

Possums strip the native plants of leaves, buds, flowers, fruits and seeds, meaning less chances of propagation. New Zealand trees do not have defensive chemicals of some Australian native trees, meaning the possums can continue to eat from one tree until the tree has been severely affected.

Many of these plant species are disappearing from the New Zealand forests, and allowing invasive non-native species to take hold of the forests.

NZ doesn't have a tropical climate, though it does have rain forests, the main one being at the base of the South Island where rain fall gets measured in feet per rain fall.

Technically, a rainforest is a forest with a very mixed species of vegetation. It does not have to be wet.

Washington State is fairly wet, but with a substantial conifer monoculture, no one would call it a rainforest.

New Zealand has no native marsupials, however there are some small populations of introduced wallabies living in the wild. There are also millions of Common Brushtail Possums, which were introduced to the islands by settlers wanting to start a fur industry.

Different foods - fruits, vegetables, crops - are able to be grown throughout the year in Australia, due to its largely temperate climate. Some fruits, vegetables and crops are specialised winter crops, some are summer crops, etc.

'buidelrat'

In Australia, where true possums live, such an action is illegal and could result in prosecution, particularly if cruelty is involved.

Given that possums are such a pest in New Zealand, and ecologically damaging, you would probably be applauded.

Ngaio, Nothofagus (NZ Beeches), Nettle (yes there is a tree nettle I hope you don't meet), Nikau.

One cannot compare whether or not a particular animal species is "better" than another. Both of these native Australian marsupials are completely unique and suited to a particular niche.

While the Tasmanian devil is Australia's largest remaining dasyurid, or carnivorous marsupial, the mountain Pygmy possum is the only Australian marsupial that hibernates.

yes

the answer is the king himself! good ridle too.

The mahogany glider is not endangered. Its conservation status is "threatened".

Chicken and eggs actually have different proteins in them, and it is the egg protein which can trigger an allergic reaction.

People who are allergic to eggs, have an immune system which overreacts to certain proteins which are present in eggs but not in chicken meat. The main trigger is usually a protein in the egg white, but some people also react to the protein in the yolk.