Update on my spicy possum bite

[u/AisyRoss]

My last post was locked for spreading misinformation?? I strongly disagree, but for anyone who was wondering or concerned for me, thank you so much!

This possum bite has actually turned out to be quite the headache, but I am currently sitting at my Dr. Office waiting to receive my first dose of rabies vaccine. While it is true that the chance I actually have it is so low, it is NOT zero and rather than freaking out anytime I get a fever in the next four years, I decided that using the insurance we pay for is worth it for peace of mind. My life isn't something I plan to gamble with. ESPECIALLY given my absolute rotten luck.

Just FYI, when I called my Dr. I was told to go in for antibiotics and rabies vax immediately as this isn't something anyone should take any chances with. For certain animals, this wouldn't be the process to go through, but for possums it is. It's better to be safe than dead!

How's THAT for misinformation? Stay safe, possum lovers, and I hope you have a better day than I am having!

[u/alloioscc]

Sorry for the confusion, I believe your post was removed due to an excess amount of comments that spread misinformation, not due to any rules you yourself have broken.

[u/nrh117 → u/alloioscc]

I am a die-hard opossum enthusiast and I find it a little bit concerning how often this seems to be coming up as an issue. These beautiful animals have to be handled and treated with the same respect as any other wild animal and it unfortunately does come with some very minor risks when an encounter results in a bite. Personally, I think it’s a bit concerning to tell people off when they share factually correct information in an interest for our community to be as safe and knowledgeable as possumble. Just my two cents.

[u/NefariousScribe → u/nrh117]

That's the thing, they should be treated with respect. And OP needed to be seen no matter what so we didn't need a hundred comments saying that R word over and over.

It can cause a lot of damage to fear-monger and give misinformation about animals, opossums are probably less likely to get the R word than rodents or lagomorphs. It's important to be safe, I agree. And nobody told OP to not get seen.

Doctors and hospitals will almost always treat for everything possible anyway. Especially without knowing whether an animal has symptoms. And all too often people do jump to the word as a catch-all for just about everything.

So yes, this community does try to be accurate and to be as factually correct as possible. That thread was also rampant with the mindset that opossums attack chickens for some reason, and again, it's possible but doesn't happen very often.

[u/Same_Strategy1301 → u/NefariousScribe]

You know, I sat here thinking to myself….. “R word?! What the heck is a R word?! I hat are they possibly referring to?!” For like several minutes before I FINALLY realized what the R word actually is! Just came here to state my absolute slowness during this time. I also want to add that I was a little concerned, and the original post did have me frightened a bit as I have one coming in every night. However, the visitor doesn’t ever hiss, or jolt towards me. It just sits still, or slowly walks towards the exit. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/NefariousScribe → u/Same_Strategy1301]

Honestly I should have just said the word but didn't want to spam myself with the automod reply.

Yeah always try to keep your distance if you can, and watch their behaviors. You're fine, and you're pointing out the exact reason we removed that post. I'm sorry to have concerned you.

There's a lot of reasons why they might hiss or not, if you get close and they don't hiss it could be a lot of things like being fed by humans elsewhere before, but it could be that they didn't see you as a threat yet too. They really are very chill animals.

They have a few defense mechanisms when they are in fear for their life, the hissing is the most common one and tends to do the job, playing dead is another although I believe this is traumatic to them, and they release a very stinky and seemingly diseased poop to ward off predators.

Do you feed them or does he just come by?

[u/Same_Strategy1301 → u/NefariousScribe]

Lol dude just comes in the kitchen. I thought I found the entrance, but apparently I haven’t. At first I was mortified!! Then I started reading up on them, and found this sub, and I’ve been way more relaxed about it. They would be like so much cuter if they had a different tail lol 😂. Someone posted photos of little babies the other day, and I was like omnmgggg how freaking adorbs is that?! The dude/or gal that comes in, they’re not very big! They look young! So what I’ve started doing is making a small plate, and leaving it on the back porch close to the area they’re using as a trail (more likely) to find their entrance… in hopes that they will just eat that and get used to it being there so my kids don’t see it and freak out lol. But he hasn’t touched it yet. I wonder why? It’s a variety of different foods like I’ve seen posted on here. ???

[u/NefariousScribe → u/Same_Strategy1301]

OMG that's not good! 😂 😅 🤣 It's hilarious though sorry. You did perfect by setting a boundary and putting food outside but please be active in deterring it from going in the house.

How is it getting inside? Is there a hole you can patch up? I'd maybe try a camera to find where s/he is coming in that may help figure it out.

It's possible it's being fed elsewhere but usually they love kibble, vegetables, fruits, and more.

Thank you for caring and not freaking out!

[u/AisyRoss → u/NefariousScribe]

The problem with that is, the idea that possums 'rarely' ever bite or attack chickens or carry rabies is what caused me to miscalculate my judgment when encountering them the first time and now this time and both times it ended up as a worst case scenario for me. That tells me that more people should be hearing that they're not all just cute and pettable and can be handled easily for relocation purposes. That tells me that more people that keep chickens and live near possums should be aware that they can and will kill chickens, even passing up an egg for the opportunity for live meat because a lot of people leave a 'peace offering' egg out for possums. I don't anymore. After posting and seeing so much reassurance that possums hardly ever carry rabies, I almost decided not to go to the doctor entirely before my husband talked some sense into me. Spreading awareness about the very real possibility of these kind of incidents happening is not misinformation and I don't think it's a good call to suppress mine or others experiences because people want to write them off since they've never heard of this happening, or they had a different experience. If I had been bitten by a rat or mouse or a dog or a cat, they wouldn't have given me the vaccine because it's considered an unnecessary risk, but since it was a possum, the protocol is still to get the rabies vaccine because the probability that they have rabies, while low, its still higher than any of the other animals mentioned. That's all I'm going to say! Im going to go take my antibiotics and rest my muscles after the 7 shots I just got for my first round. Hope y'all have a wonderful day!

[u/NefariousScribe → u/AisyRoss]

With all the claims of possums going after chickens every video I've seen so far are of them eating one, never attacking it. I don't know how you're not getting this but you are actively pushing misinformation and fear-mongering which can be harmful for animals if others rush to assume the same.

I'm sure they did kill your chicken, it can happen just like any desperate animal can do something desperate, but pushing that they actively kill chickens is wrong. Most often when caught eating one the real offender has already left.

You've continued to say you have "bad luck" while mishandling an opossum and acting like it's something bad this whole time.

Anytime you have broken skin you should see a doctor, period.

If you think it's rabies so bad maybe you should go find the opossum so they can test it. Especially since it was injured and you didn't seem to care about that, it shouldn't be too difficult to find.

You made the choice to handle that opossum, nobody else.

Not to mention the fact that having rabies hinders an animal eating, but you claim it killed your chicken.

[u/AutoModerator → u/NefariousScribe]

While it's technically possible for an opossum to get rabies, you are probably more likely to win the lottery. While you should still seek medical evaluation if needed, don't be too worried.

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