It's good to be alert when you see one of these guys out in the 
daytime, but it's not by iteself cause for serious alarm.
Possums, like raccoons and skunks, are largely but not 
exclusively nocturnal.  Perfectly healthy ones are sometimes out 
and about even in the middle of the day.  There are also lots of 
illnesses and conditions other than rabies that can weaken one of 
these animals and cause it to spend more time searching for food 
during daylight than usual.

Be cautious, keep yourself, your kids and your pets away from it 
and watch it for signs of rabies or distemper-- excessive 
salivating, poor condition generally, lack of fear of humans 
and/or unusually aggressive, and most alarmingly if it's actually 
staggering.  And if you or a pet comes in contact with it, go get 
yourself rabies shots right away just in case.  Rabies is 
incurable and essentially 100 percent fatal once symptoms appear, 
and it's a horrible way to go.

Find out what the procedures are where you live for dealing with 
a possibly rabid animal, whether there's an animal control 
officer you should call or shoot it yourself if it's showing 
signs of rabies.

But if it's just wandering around in the daytime once in a while 
and otherwise behaving normally, odds are high it's OK.

Jane
(founding member of Arlington MA town rabies advisory committee 
once upon a time years ago, after town authorities completely 
bungled handling a death struggle between two rabid skunks 
literally on my front doorstep...)



MARIE/KEVIN HEMEON wrote:

> If it is early am it could be a hold out. Otherwise I'd watch out as it is most likely rabid. Was it the middle of the day? Kevin
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Mary-C. Marro<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
>   To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> 
>   Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2007 2:41 PM
>   Subject: [VTBIRD] My backyard
> 
> 
>   Since I usually go to work and return home when it's dark, Saturday brought a 
>   couple of wonders:  daylight all around me, a carolina wren and an opossum 
>   (aren't they nocturnal??) at the bird feeder.
> 
>   mcm
>   rutland
> 
> 
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