Plenty of Possums

by Elizabeth, Gale, Frank, S.W., Rose, Dale, Joanne, Marina, Kara
(Downtown Toronto, Oshawa, Brampton, Windsor, Port Colborne, Waterdown, Nottawa, Bolton, London, Hamilton, )

Elizabeth from downtown Toronto wrote ... I just saw one crossing my street. I live on Washington Avenue, a block south of Bloor. It runs between Spadina Ave and Huron. September 10, at about 9:15 pm, so it was dark but not late at night. I saw it in silhouette, but there was nothing else it could have been. This is not the first time I've seen one here. The first time - I'm not sure of the year, but it was before everything was on line, so some time ago. I went downstairs at 4 am (why? probably to put something in the garbage for the early morning pickup) and there was one on my porch. I looked at it. It looked at me. I said, "What are you doing here?" and it made itself scarce. Next morning I phoned the Rare Bird Hotline (that's now on the internet, not a phone call to an actual person), and asked if it was a rare sighting and should be reported. "No," he said. "They're here."

Gale from Toronto wrote to report ... this is the second time I have seen one of these adorable little animals. I was walking my Sheltie dog at about 7:15 am and the two foot long with tail animal came from behind a home on my street (Malamute Crescent, Toronto, Ontario). My dog wanted to get a closer look, however the little animal scurried along two other houses before turning on the corner house. Once myself and my dog crossed the street, the little animal doubled back and continued on his way. Greyish beige on the body, brown on paws and nose and ears. Was truly a wonderful experience. This little animal seemed to be very people and dog shy. I think it may live somewhere behind my home or one of my neighbours. I would have loved to have a picture taken of it, but two sightings in five years, not likely to get a picture.

A reader from Toronto wrote ... this was in Toronto near Danforth and Woodbine Ave - Lumsden Ave. I just saw a possum in the backyard. Thought at first it was a cat. It wandered to the back when I came around the fence from the driveway. It was late afternoon so still light out. I thought they would only be around at night. Put out some bread in case it comes back.

Frank from Oshawa reported ... we were watching our daughter's dog, Ben, for the weekend here in Oshawa. We have a large flower garden in the back and he usually stays out of it. The garden is very dense with many large plants. On Saturday afternoon we let Ben outside to run in the yard and when I checked on him I saw that he was running through the plants and would jump up once in a while and bark. He finally forced the possum out and it started to go along the fence line. When Ben ran at it the possum fell over and laid still. I picked up the dog and brought him into the house. We watched the animal from the sliding doors. It lay still for a while but finally got up and slowly walked over and went under the deck.

Another reader from Oshawa wrote ... I put my Shih Tzu-cross dog out on her leash and then had to go back down to the yard to find out what she was barking at. There was a possum under our back deck, which has a storage enclosure underneath it, but it didn't appear to be frightened of us as it stood looking at us from the other side of the enclosure, with only about 2 feet between us. I immediately looked it up on line and found this site.S.W. from Brampton wrote ... I was just walking my dog and about 20 feet away from us a possum was walking on my street, heading towards a golf course. It was very friendly and did not seem scared. It was located by Riverstone Golf Course. I was amazed by seeing one so much that I forgot to take a picture. Hopefully I'll see it again!

Rose from Windsor said ... we just arrived home from vacation to find one sitting on our fence we hit the fence with a broom in hopes the noise would scare him off but to no avail. We will be calling a pest control company tomorrow to relocate him. We sure hope he has no friends or relatives around !!!

Dale from Port Colborne told us ... I went out on my deck tonight for a smoke and found a small gray possum already occupying the deck! Scared silly, I ran back into the house and he scurried away. Now we have skunks, raccoons and possums in the neighbourhood! Oh joy!

Joanne from Waterdown said ... we have a possum living in the jubilee garden of the convent where I work. I work straight nights and check the grounds each night as part of my job and a couple of nights ago I opened the door to the garden and an opossum sauntered by, just calmly minding its own business. Being me, I immediately looked for something for it to eat. Finding a piece of uneaten pizza in the garbage, I threw it out to the little fella and it was immediately taken and carried off into the dark. Now, he seems to be around every night, I call him Opie, not sure if a male or female though, if it is a female will call it Olivia. I love having wildlife around!

Marina from Nottawa wrote to say ... I saw him out in the middle of the winter last year against the house, hiding under the snow-blower, and now, in September, on the front porch, checking out the cat bowl!

Kara from Bolton wrote ... I was shocked to see one in the neighbour's front yard late last night! It made my day. I've never seen one in real life.

A reader from London said ... I just saw a possum in the Old East Village of London, on Princess Street near Quebec Avenue, it turned and hid when I waved my arms.

Ann from Hamilton said ... there was a Possum crossing my front porch with one baby on it's mother's back.

One of our readers wrote to say ... there was an opossum who took up residence on the steps to my house for about a year. I mostly saw it in the evening/night and it seemed to be sleeping on the second step from the top (perhaps as I had a side entrance, it was a nice sheltered space for it to rest?) It seemed very comfortable around humans as it would just look up and then away in a bored sort of way when I stepped out of the door.