Small white animal

by T. Schmidt
(Orangeville, Ontario, Canada)

Perhaps it was an Opossum?

Perhaps it was an Opossum?

I live in the Orangeville, Ontario, area and today, while driving down a country road, I spotted an unusual looking animal by the side of the road.

It was completely white in colour and seemed to have the nose and face of a rat.

However, it appeared larger than I would expect a rat to be. I'd say it was the size of a small rabbit.

I've Googled the topic to see if I could find out what it was, but have not had any luck. Does anyone have any ideas as to what it could have been?

Thanks.

Hello there, I believe what you saw was an Opossum, which are becoming more common in southern Ontario.

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starstarstarstarstar 		medium size white animal
by: Anonymous

Last night our dogs were barking loud and fast, we looked out and saw nothing around, a few minutes later we saw a medium size white animal walking along the fence at back of house, it was pure white and walked like a cat ready to pounce, it did not have a tail and I could not see its face, I am guessing weighed around 40 pounds, our one dog would not go near it. Any ideas what it could be
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starstarstarstarstar 		What did I see?
by: Bill

I'm not sure what I saw at my back patio door last night. From looks , it might be a possum or opossum, it was white and looked like it was trying to get in the patio door, it wasn't afraid of us and the dog. Looking at it, it looked like it was eating cat dry food I left out.
QUESTION: Do they eat cats?

Thanks for the info, Bill. No, Possums don't eat cats, they seem to like a quiet life and stay away from our pets.
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starstarstarstarstar 		NW Toronto they are here
by: Hellen

A couple of years ago after I built a new tool shed and protected the base with a cage to avoid any animals crawling under, an animal like a huge rat (size of a cat) less furry, managed to go inside the cage.

I found out it was an Opossum: night time another one (maybe the mother) went around the shed and they were producing sounds I never heard, like sort of screams.

This one that came, was as big as an adult Raccoon. Same long, pointed mouth. The one trapped disappeared because there was no food anywhere. This happened in my backyard, NW Toronto.

Up today, it seems they must be in the area because some people are still puzzled who they are.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Guelph Sighting
by: Anonymous

Met almost face to face with a Possum this morning as it rounded the front corner of my house, under the shelter of shrubbery as I stepped out on the porch at 7 a.m.

Slowly & deliberately, it turned and disappeared the way it had come.

My home is in a mature northend neighbourhood of Guelph, with parks and river nearby.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Guelph, Ontario opossum sighting
by: Anonymous

Our family lives in the downtown vicinity in Guelph and we just saw what I would presume is a Opossum. White generally in colour and larger than the average rabbit. He just walked through our backyard at dusk (we have a pond with fish)and carried on through the backyards beyond our property. Unfortunately we weren't fast enought to catch a photo ..... maybe another time. If so, I will post.

If you see this critter again, be sure to snap a picture of him - it likely is an Opossum!
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starstarstarstarstar 		Small White Animal
by: Sara

Could be that it was looking for shelter, my Grandmother who lives in St.Anns has seen a few in barrels out in their old barn.

Wow that must have been a surprise to see one as big as your cat I did not know that possums could get that big...amazing.

SG.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Re Small White Animal
by: Sara

If what you saw looks similar to the animal shown in the picture along with your letter then yes I agree it is a possum.

I have heard of other people seeing possums up close I however have seen lots of pictures of them lol. Some time hopefully I will get the chance to see one out of the pages of a book or computer screen.

SG.

Thanks for your input, Sara, on Thursday night I saw what I thought was our cat, near our patio doors. I took a closer look and realized it was a great, big Possum! I suspect it was looking for a sheltered place to spend the winter!

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