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This is one of the statements that many people
will believe with regards to opossums, as they are
most nocturnal creatures, and people will rarely
see them out and about during the daytime hours.
The fact is that there are several different
reasons why an opossum may be active during the
day, and sickness including rabies can be among
the reasons why the opossum is active during those
times. The key to dealing with the animal safely,
if you have to come close to it is to be cautious
and to give it plenty of space, and to know the
key signs that may tell you whether or not the
animal really is sick.
Is The Opossum Acting Erratically?
If the opossum is moving freely and simply appears
to be going about its business normally, then in
many cases you can look to other reasons why the
opossum is active. However, if you see signs in
the animal's behavior, such as unusual aggression
or an unsteady movement, then this may be a sign
that the opossum actually may be ill. One of the
main signs of rabies is a severe aversion to
water, so an opossum that jumps away from puddles
or other water sources could be suffering with the
disease, and should be treated with extreme
caution.
Learn about the Opossum's Mating Habits
Signs Of Rabies And Sickness
As well as the hydrophobia, another sign that an
opossum may be rabid is if you can see a visible
white foam being produced around the mouth of the
animal, and this is another tell-tale sign that
you should treat the animal with caution. While
rabies is one disease that can affect opossums,
there are relatively few bacterial conditions that
can affect opossums due to their naturally low
body temperature, but signs such as mucus or
excretions being produced around the eyes and nose
of the animal can be another sign of sickness in
an opossum.
Find out: How big do opossums get?
Reasons Why An Opossum May Be Active
During The Daytime
The most common time that you will see an opossum
active during the day is if it is a female that
has a litter of young opossums to look after, and
the demands of being a mother will sometimes mean
foraging at different times of the day. There may
also be local factors that affect the availability
of food sources, such as a garbage collection or
something similar that means a certain type of
food is only available during the day, and the
opossum may be taking advantage of that.
For more information, you may want to click on one
of these guides that I wrote:
How
much does opossum removal cost? - get the
lowdown on prices.
How
to get rid of opossums - my main opossum
removal info guide.
Example
opossum trapping photographs - get
do-it-yourself ideas.
Opossum
job blog - learn from great examples of
opossum jobs I've done.