Articles

Look down! In your trash. It's a rat, it's a cat, it's a ... possum?

August 7, 2009

Danielle Wong

STAFF REPORTER

An adaptive species of "massive rats" on a raccoon's diet are becoming a common encounter for Toronto homeowners, wildlife experts say.

A decade ago, opossums – or possums – were a rare sighting in urban regions of Greater Toronto. But over recent years, animal control technicians have seen a surge of the ratlike marsupials inside the city.

"In the last couple years, there's been a little explosion of them," said Derick McChesney, owner of the wildlife removal service SWAT (Specialized Wildlife Apprehension Technicians). "We've at least doubled the (possum) jobs we do a year ... There's been a dozen this year and we're only halfway through."

The possum, about the size of a large fat cat on short legs, is an omnivorous scavenger that, like raccoons, tends to feast on people's garbage.

If approached, these creatures can show a feistier side and bare their sharp teeth when feeling threatened, said Toronto Wildlife Centre's executive director, Nathalie Karvonen.

But possums are probably just about as dangerous as a raccoon, said Carlo Panacci, who owns Cain Pest Control in Toronto.

These nocturnal animals can have up to 14 babies in an average lifespan of two years.

They seem to be moving up from the United States and entering Toronto in the Etobicoke area, McChesney said. "Ninety per cent of the calls we get about possums are in the west end," he said. "That area has a lot of ... warehouses and the possums come in on the trucks, hanging on underneath the trailers."

Karvonen said the Wildlife Centre doesn't track the numbers, but the increase of possums has been progressive over 20 years – it's not a recent rise.

"They do quite well in urban settings ... except in the winter."

Toronto Star