Will Possums Go After Baby ND Goats?

[HoneyDreameMomma]

Feel free to laugh, but it wasn't something I even thought twice about until this morning. We close our barn at night, but there is a small space underneath the door that the barn cats and squeeze in and out of. Apparently possums have been squeezing in and out of it as well, and one got into the barn and killed one of our hens. My son found it in the middle of its meal when he went to feed the animals this morning. DH dispatched of that particular possum, but we have so many of the critters around, it got me wondering...

We have our goat birthing stalls in the barn - two occupied with moms and babies and one with a momma due to give birth before the end of the week. I know a momma goat is a much more formidable opponent than a chicken, but would a possum ever go after a baby ND?

Whether or not possums would go after goats - I really don't want them in the barn. Any suggestions on how to get rid of them without harming the goats, cats, and chickens that go in and out of the barn? We keep all animal food covered in air tight containers and have been putting the cat's food dishes (whether they're empty or full) 'locked up' at night. We've tried live traps, but baiting them is a problem, because the cats go after the bait before the possums get a chance (you'd think they'd learn after getting trapped a few times ). Anything a possum likes that a cat doesn't?

Our LGDs are in the goat yard and are excellent at chasing off possums. I thought about moving one of them into the barn until the babies are out there with the herd, but we really only have one fully trained LGD - the other two are still puppies, and we need the adult LGD with the majority of the herd (coyotes are bad this year).

 

[Pips]

trapping food: chocolate or marshmellows are good supposedly for possums and most cats won't eat them (not sure if your cats like chocolate).
access: close of the barn, no way to climb in, no openings, no trees to jump off on to the roof, etc ...
prevention: remove any food sources if you can.
getting them out: smoke them out, one way door with everything sealed of as an escape route
Some cats can actually get on with possums, they become buddies so they are usually no help whatsoever unless you can get yourself on a particularly nasty psycho cat.
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ladrinka/media/mini-P6300011.jpg.html
Possums will attack smaller stock, chickens & newborns etc ..
You can use sprays as well .... I am not sure if they sell them in US but they should. Never tried any but think most of safe for animals and just create a nasty smell they don't like.

I would put one of your untrained pups, if you can trust them, in the barn as well.

You can also create a possum luxury Possum villa somewhere safe far away from the barn. This can be good for two reasons; if you create a perfect habitat for them that they would prefer they don't access the barn, even giving food is possible. Secondly once they have set up shop it is much easier to have them exterminated. Put the tree house nice and high and bait it. Even put a few Possum condos out, the more the better. Only problem with this can be expensive and time consuming or both.

 

[goatboy1973]

Trap the possums with a trap designed for possums/ raccoons. If you catch cats in the process, just turn them loose. Personally, I would fix the problem (the space under the door) which seems to be root cause. The possums will leave if their access point is cut off. I am sure that if you have this faulty door that lets big animals in like cats/possums there also is rats and probably snakes also.

 

[goatboy1973]

Fix the door and you will eliminate the elaborate scheme of building possum condos and trying to out smart them or killing them when you were the one who has created the food source and the avenue (literally) to get to it! It appears that you are bailing water out of a sinking ship when you should just fix the leak.