We had a possum in our yard during the daytime, which is a little unusual. The next morning, it was still there. My husband said he was concerned about its behavior and for me to keep the Grandkids inside the house. I watched it through the window and it acted like it had something caught in its throat or like it had a sore throat or something. It kept sort of hacking and its tongue would hang out. Then it would act normal, except that it would let you walk right up to it. Most of the possums around will slowly walk the backyard fence right away from you if you walk towards it.
We finally decided to call animal control since we didn't know if it had rabies or some other sickness that the county should know about for public safety reasons. About 40 minutes later, they came. The possum was dead. They bagged it and took it with them. I asked if they would check for rabies and I was surprised at the answer. I was told that o'possums are rodents and unlike racoons, rodents don't carry rabies. They said the possum most likely died of distemper. NOW WE KNOW!!!
I got the picture from the animal control website because it looks just like that big ole possum in our yard. I only took video of its behavior.
Opossums are marsupials, not rodents. The Virginia Opossum are North America's only marsupials. They still can get rabies, but it is rare because they are naturally resistant.
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