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DEAR JOAN: We have seen an adult opossum in our backyard, but it now seems like there’s a baby left behind in our yard. This creature comes out even during the day and moves around slowly.
Is the presence of this somehow a cause for concern? Is there a humane way to relocate it?
Anantha S., Bay Area
DEAR ARANTHA: If you weren’t concerned about an adult opossum in your backyard, then you shouldn’t be concerned about the youngster. Of all the wild critters you could have in your yard, the opossum is about the least threatening and worrisome.
The opossum might look too small and young to be on its own, but that’s the way it is with opossums, the only native marsupial north of Mexico. After only 13 days in the womb, the tiny babies climb up their mother’s body from the birth canal to her pouch, where they attach to a nipple and stay there for about 50 days.
After that, they are old enough to leave the pouch and climb onto their mother’s back where they spend much of their time being ferried about. As they get older, they aren’t able to squeeze back inside the pouch, so one day, they drop off their mom’s back and start their own opossum lives. They are about 100 days old at this point.
Opossums have some attributes that many people don’t know about. They eat thousands of ticks, thereby helping to slow the spread of lyme disease, and because of a healthy immune system and low body temperature, they rarely contract rabies. They also have a certain amount of immunity to rattlesnake venom, which allows them to kill and eat the snakes.
If you don’t have chickens — opossums are fond of both chicks and eggs — your opossum shouldn’t do too much damage.
There is no way to humanely or legally relocate the opossum. State law allows you to trap an opossum but then you must either release it on your property or kill it.
You can trap it and release it outside your fenced backyard, or block its den (usually under buildings or decks) and remove food and water sources. They are good climbers, so this one will probably go away on its own.
DEAR JOAN: I’ve been getting an acorn woodpecker at the peanut feeder off and on all morning. I haven’t had one of these for some time. He’s causing the scrub-jay to be concerned.
Liede-Marie, Bay Area
DEAR LIEDE-MARIE: I don’t blame the jay. Those woodpeckers can pack a wallop that even a bully bird like a scrub-jay can appreciate.
Attracting the hummers
Late last year, I ran a letter from a reader who finally had success in attracting hummingbirds to her yard after she put up a Canadian flag. Those bright red bars and maple leaf seemed to call the birds to her like nothing ever had before.
Another reader, Joyce Alameda, wasn’t keen on putting up a flag, but when she saw some red, artificial gerbera daisies at her local Dollar Tree store, she decided to give them a try, and now her hummingbird feeders are being mobbed by hummers.
If you’re having trouble getting hummingbirds to give your feeders some attention, try putting some vivid red in your yard, or better yet, growing plants that have a lot of red blooms or foliage.
