This old fella paid us a visit last night…absolutely stunning, and probably the biggest I’ve ever encountered…was at least 3 metres long. As a comparison,
The width of the fence paling is about 4 inches.

WOW! I like snakes, but man... one that big in the back yard, no thanks. I'd be counting my chickens and pets 3 times a day LOL!

-DallanC

What's his name? Big Jake? Slim?

DallanC wrote:

WOW! I like snakes, but man... one that big in the back yard, no thanks. I'd be counting my chickens and pets 3 times a day LOL! -DallanC

Funny you should say that mate. The girl next door has a couple of chooks in a snake proof cage/run, and a couple of small dogs (I call them Rats on Stilts), and she very quickly covered up the pet entry in her back door.

Bushmaster wrote:

What's his name? Big Jake? Slim?

Nothing slim about this big fella mate. He was as thick as my forearm in the middle, and the skin around his belly was a bit flabby, so I’d say he had recently scoffed a possum.

Bushmaster wrote:

What's his name? Big Jake? Slim?

Steaks, wallet and shoes would be appropriate

Seriously back when I grew up in Indonesia, we have a pet snake that live in our roof to catch mice.

gelandangan wrote:

Bushmaster wrote: What's his name? Big Jake? Slim? Steaks, wallet and shoes would be appropriate Seriously back when I grew up in Indonesia, we have a pet snake that live in our roof to catch mice.

I’ve heard it said that many houses in Brisbane have a Carpet Python living in the ceiling space…and the people who live there don’t know. Keeps the mice and possums out.

Vince wrote:

I’ve heard it said that many houses in Brisbane have a Carpet Python living in the ceiling space…and the people who live there don’t know. Keeps the mice and possums out.

Ok, I had to google pictures of Australian Possums... because I wondered how they compared to US Possums. Yours are downright cute compared to ours... ours look like a big 10lb toothy Rat.

Technically I guess ours are really called Opossom... but I've never heard that name actually used, its always just "Possums". Ugly buggers for sure.

-DallanC

Some bright spark brought them Ozzie possums here. The numbers are mind boggling. I have killed and skinned out couple hundy in a night and helped mate skin out six hundy off a line of cyanide. Have shot fifty in a night before. About $100 a kilo for plucked fur...between ten n fifteen possums yields a kilo.

Good lord that's incredible the population is that dense.

-DallanC

gelandangan wrote:

Seriously back when I grew up in Indonesia, we have a pet snake that live in our roof to catch mice.

We had a "black snake" that lived in the crawl space for a while. Never saw any mice around during that time. My wife named it "Manfred". A friend of mine had one that hung around his place, named "Willie". I might need to find another in the spring...

herpsofnc.org/racer/

DallanC wrote:

Vince wrote: I’ve heard it said that many houses in Brisbane have a Carpet Python living in the ceiling space…and the people who live there don’t know. Keeps the mice and possums out. Ok, I had to google pictures of Australian Possums... because I wondered how they compared to US Possums. Yours are downright cute compared to ours... ours look like a big 10lb toothy Rat. Technically I guess ours are really called Opossom... but I've never heard that name actually used, its always just "Possums". Ugly buggers for sure. -DallanC

Best thing I’ve heard about the opossum is that they will kill and eat a heap of ticks every night. Goodness knows how they manage to search out such a tiny beastie though.

IDK, we don't have Opossums them in my state. Oddly 50 years of hiking around in our outdoors here hunting fishing and just doing whatever, I've never had a tick on me. Deer Keds yes... but never a tick (most people confuse the two insects).



-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

Good lord that's incredible the population is that dense. -DallanC

many years back,spotlighting with car battery in a wheel barrow...we got to small empty hay barn on edge of swede crop paddock...I was armed with my trusty open sighted single shot remington .22lr there were 13 possoms in rafters of that small shed..I got 11 of them...that shed was no more than 4x8 yards square...

That sounds like a helluva lot of fun. I was reading up on them a bit, they have hollow hair. That would make for some fun fly tying patterns for fishing. I wonder how hard it is to get a pelt here in the States.

-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

That sounds like a helluva lot of fun. I was reading up on them a bit, they have hollow hair. That would make for some fun fly tying patterns for fishing. I wonder how hard it is to get a pelt here in the States. -DallanC

Assuming the pelt is properly tanned and disinfected, it shouldn’t be a problem. I know there is a ban on kangaroo products going into the US…not sure about possum products though.