Mouse-eating opossums run amok in Brooklyn

The city played possum -- and Brooklyn residents lost.

In a bizarre attempt to outwit Mother Nature, city officials introduced beady-eyed opossums in Brooklyn years ago to scarf down rats running amok in the borough, according to local officials.

Surprise: Operation opossum didn't work.

Not only do wily rats continue to thrive, but the opossums have become their own epidemic, with bands of the conniving creatures sauntering through yards, plundering garbage cans and noshing on fruit trees.

They've even taken up golf, with two sightings of the whiskered marsupials at the Dyker Heights municipal course in the past week, local officials said.



Read more: Brooklyn residents overrun by possums used by the city to wipe out rats - NYPOST.com

Two words

Cane toad :smileylaughing:


Deja bleedin vue ! - will they never learn ????

Obviously the next step is to release thousands of coyotes or wolves to eliminate the opossums..... :bunny3:

You would think the alligators in the sewers would eat the possums :)



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This may help with the problem:

Stuffed Roast Opossum

Ingredients:

• 1 opossum
• 1 cup salt

Opossum Stuffing

• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon fat
• opossum liver
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• chopped red pepper
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 hard-boiled egg, chopped fine
• salt, to taste
• Directions:

Prep Time: 3 hrs
Total Time: 4 1/2 hrs

1. 1 Roast Opossum:.
2. 2 The opossum is a very fat animal with a peculiarly flavored meat.
3. 3 It is dressed much as one would dress a suckling pig, removing the entrails, and if desired, the head and tail.
4. 4 After it is dressed, wash thoroughly inside and out with hot water.
5. 5 Cover with cold water to which has been added 1 cup of salt.
6. 6 Allow to stand overnight. In morning, drain off the salted water and rinse well with clear water.
7. 7 Stuff opossum with opossum stuffing (stuffing recipes next); sew opening or fasten with skewers.
8. 8 Place in roaster, add 2 tablespoons water and roast in moderate oven (350°F) until tender and richly browned, about one and one half hours.
9. 9 Baste every 15 minutes with drippings.
10. 10 Remove skewers or stitches, and place on heated platter.
11. 11 Skim fat from gravy remaining in pan.
12. 12 Opossum Stuffing:.
13. 13 Brown onion in fat.
14. 14 Add finely chopped opossum liver and cook until liver is tender.
15. 15 Add crumbs, a little red pepper, Worcestershire sauce, egg, salt and water to moisten.

"I served this to my ex mother-in-law for her birthday dinner and she loved it! The only suggestion I would make would be to cook it in a pressure cooker because it was a little tough every place there were tire marks..."

I'm from Seattle and the opossum showed up in our area about 20 years ago. They are not native and I have no idea how they got there. I didn't know they ate rodents, I always thought they were rodents, just big ones. I guess they may be good for something.

They are native to the NE US, but why anyone thought they would be any sort of match for rattus norvegicus is a mystery. Releasing a lot of (also indigenous) black snakes, and convincing people to leave them alone (yeah, sure) would have been a much better idea.

Possums have a good winter pelt, so maybe someone will start trapping them.

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, and I don't think I ever saw a possum there- there is a surprising amount of greenery, so I'm not surprised they could find a decent home, though.

they are the biggest pest in New Zealand

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Possum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Australian brush tailed possum was introduced into New Zealand in 1837 to establish a fur trade.
In 2009, it was announced that conservation measures (such as by the DOC) had met some significant success, and had reduced the possum numbers to less than half of the 1980s levels, a drop from around 70 million to around 30 million animals. Almost half (13.3 million hectares) of New Zealand's vegetated land is under some form of possum control, either for conservation reasons, or to reduce the spread of bovine tuberculosis

and in the news today
School criticised over possum throwing
10:44 AM Thursday Sep 23, 2010

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A rural Manawatu school which held a possum throwing contest has drawn SPCA criticism and upset many in the community.
Children at Colyton School last week held possum carcasses by the tail in a contest to see who could throw them the furthest, the Manawatu Standard reported.
Palmerston North SPCA centre manager Danny Auger said the school was not breaking any laws, but that did not mean children should be encouraged to mistreat dead possums.
"It's morally wrong to throw a dead animal around. It's about time that people wake up and smell 2010 and realise that these sorts of things shouldn't be happening."
Mr Augers was worried that children were not being taught to respect dead animals.
He would visit Colydon School to ask them to stop holding such events.
The school refused to comment.

Be better to eliminate the city officals who thought up this hair brained scheme in the first place.

^^ At least the animals were dead; many do it to live animals and dwarfs.

where rhetorical hell did they get the idea possums eat rats ?
It's not april 1st is it?
This is hilarious .
Even if possums did eat rats (just the thought makes me chuckle ) their habitats are so different their paths would rarely cross.
I'd love to know what city slicker came up with this pearler.
I'd particularly liked to have been at the meeting where the idea was proposed.
Possums eating rats. Too funny.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by genghis61

Mr Augers was worried that children were not being taught to respect dead animals.

---

What, no more flushing dead goldfish down the bog then?


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Took my family about 10 years to tell me that that was what had happened to Bill and Ben. I thought we had buried them in the garden.