Like everyone else I'm so glad this didn't impact you Siam. My workplace (medical center) usually sets up a matching fund for things like this so am waiting (like so many) to contribute. It also sends aide teams with staff volunteering...too soon right now, but hope they'll be doing that again for this. Knotz & Siam - my undergrad advisor was the head of the herpetology section so all his advisees got to 'volunteer' for collecting trips.....and there were lots of big specimens to be found in southern Mississippi and Louisiana. Chena - boy am I old! I remember when armadillos were just gmoving as far east as the Mississippi. Too bad they can't be trained to dig where you want them to. they can really move the dirt. will

They are not good animals to have around. While they may kill and eat rats (along with anything else) that they find in nests, they should not be considered predators. If they are located in close proximity to us, they can incur damage by finding any sources of food that they can: pet food, bird seed, garbage, etc. They not shy about breaking into garages or sheds, or even homes. They also carry a heavy load of parasites and diseases with them, many of which can be passed to us, our pets, and other wildlife. In non-urban or suburban setting, they are able to co-exist with others, but better watch out for the hen house! I don't think you'll sell too many people on the idea that 'possums are a great way to control rats. ;-)

We live in the city also. Yes, they LOVE cat food!! I always have cat food out for stray cats, imagine my surprise when I saw my 1st opossum! They don't do any harm that I have seen & they eat all the things that we usually hate! SLUGS, mice, rats, bugs etc. A wonderful lady on here (Marilyn)rescues them in Texas. She told me they love yogurt. Sooo, every night our visiting opossums get yogurt, cat food is always out & some of whatever we had for dinner, they love chicken! I consider myself very fortunate to have opossums visit me. One winter we had a big one make his home on our back porch! I loved Pete. I have never seen a skunk. It is true that they RARELY get rabies, if you saw one during the day someone probably disturbed his sleeping spot. Also, I believe they have poor eyesight but a very good sense of smell. They are not agressive, only in self defense. My cats do not bother them & they do not bother the cats, sometimes they run from the cats.

First off, let me say that I love herps, having collected my first one like 50 years ago. I have been an active member of a local herp organization in the Midwest for 40+ years. You have some very good points; however, us folks that love these misunderstood animals must take a more realistic approach to trying to save what species that still exist. First we need to realize that whenever it comes down to the survival of man verses a snake - the snake will loose. And the truth is, I put a higher value on mankind. Change is going to happen - we can't stop it. You can manage it though. A good example might be white-tailed deer in the U.S. Midwest. The deer population is higher in many areas now that when I was a child. We can set aside areas of land to keep some animals going, but snakes will never get great press like a big cat or beautiful bird of some type. Education is the key answer to slowing things down. It can help to change peoples view of snakes. A great example might be India. There, many people die each year from snakebites, yet the locals don't go about killing every snake they see. Even there, in time, the habitat will be eliminated. My whole point is that we must be smart about how we try to protect snakes. Condemning everyone who doesn't like them won't gain us much favor. We are going to need creative ways to protect these under-appreciated creatures. What might be some idea?