There's a Opossum who lives on campus, he got stepped on by rednecks earlier today and we thought he was dead.

About 4 hours pass, he's now shivering and moving his limbs, and there's also a gash on his head (don't know how).

Is there any animal control place or whatever that would care? What should I do? His life may depend on your answers!

1/25/2011 4:48:55 PM

Poor thing... I would if I was in the area.

Hope it doesn't suffer too much and recovers.

1/25/2011 4:51:15 PM

https://www.ncwildlife.org/Apps/NonGamePermits/Lookups/WildlifeRehabilitator.aspx?countyListing=WAKE

1/25/2011 4:51:17 PM

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.



1.Basket + White Sheet + Front Door of any vet + Knock + Run
2...?
3. Profit.

1/25/2011 4:55:16 PM

BTW, did you see 'rednecks' stepping on it?

If so, I hope they get kicked in their stomachs by and get stepped on by horses.

1/25/2011 4:58:23 PM

Update: he's hanging in there, we're just waiting for the special tiny instruments to arrive from El Paso.

1/25/2011 4:58:25 PM

Can we schedule a walkathon for him?

1/25/2011 5:06:18 PM

trianglewildlife.org

1/25/2011 5:15:24 PM

Troll thread.

1/25/2011 5:27:34 PM

i changed my facebook photo to an opossum

he'll be up, climbing in trashcans, and being disappointed by lil' dino's sandwiches again in no time

1/25/2011 5:38:56 PM

1/25/2011 5:41:57 PM

i hate a fuckin possum

1/25/2011 6:05:30 PM

O Possum! My Possum!

1/25/2011 6:09:47 PM

Quote :

"https://www.ncwildlife.org/Apps/NonGamePermits/Lookups/WildlifeRehabilitator.aspx?countyListing=WAKE"

He went to the first name on this list. She was extremely sympathetic, kept telling me about how harmless they are...

But college students in Carharts are not.

I'll give some more details later. FykalJpn wins thread.

1/25/2011 6:50:42 PM

Quote :

"kept telling me about how harmless they are..."

tell that to my chickens. they'll eat the head right off one.

1/25/2011 7:41:13 PM

ohhh i would like to hear updates, please.

once i saved a hawk, he died

i hope the opossum does better!

this is where i took my hawk, if anyone ever needs this for future reference: http://trianglewildlife

why were people stomping on it??? were they doing it on purpose?

[Edited on January 25, 2011 at 7:50 PM. Reason : .]

1/25/2011 7:50:07 PM

Fuck a possum. My dog killed 3 or 4 that would try to get in her dog food. Nasty fucking bastards.

1/25/2011 7:51:16 PM

well fuck people who just step on live animals too

at least your dog KILLED the thing and didn't just leave it injured and suffering

plus i'd like to think there's SOME intellectual difference between humans and dogs, but...i guess that just isn't true for some humans. i mean seriously...humans that torture animals for fun...not cool. i don't care what the animal is (note this is different from hunting, because i don't even want to bring up that debate...in my book there is a huge difference between hunting v. stomping an animal so, lets not even go there please and thanks!).

[Edited on January 25, 2011 at 7:56 PM. Reason : .]

1/25/2011 7:54:25 PM

Pretty sure that you could have used a term other than rednecks.

1/25/2011 8:07:41 PM

The scary thing is people who do these kinds of things to animals likely have some sort of depraved psychosis.

1/25/2011 8:15:38 PM

Quote :

"Pretty sure that you could have used a term other than rednecks."

yeah, like idiot, inbred rednecks

1/25/2011 8:29:01 PM

+1

1/25/2011 9:11:48 PM

I ain't saying they were right to do it, just my personal preference that I'm not a big fan of possums. I try not to step on them just like I try not to run over them, but shit happens. I'd feel a lot worse if I did run over someones dog than a possum though.

1/25/2011 9:19:52 PM

a possum rummages through the recycle bin occasionally, i smack it with a flyswatter and it goes about its business

1/25/2011 9:32:43 PM

^^ yea i understand, i'm the same way. i just wanted to point out that just because you don't like an animal doesn't mean it is ok to make it suffer!

^ LOL.

1/25/2011 9:50:45 PM

I actually saw this happen and was kinda shocked. It was definitely a wtf moment. These rednecks just chased it into some AC vent or what not outside of Burlington and then when it ran out they all ran away except one of them who proceeded to stomp the shit out of it and then walk away.

1/25/2011 10:15:12 PM

save a marsupial

1/25/2011 10:20:26 PM

Info

The gash on his head was from the assailants using a stick, which I was noticing as he was being picked up. It was done by 3 students who did lots of chasing and who knows what. Animal was breathing upon delivery. Won't have more information until later, but I figure I'll at least follow up, ask about condition and release (if relevant). Here he is, although you can't see much. There was blood around the ear, maybe you can see it here.





Question for thread

I'll go ahead and venture to ask, what is the legal status of killing or harassing animals that are both wild and in public? My understanding is that these are state/local level laws, probably trivial offenses, and probably otherwise granted with permit. But I don't know. Maybe someone else does. Separate to this, is there any university office that should be, or would likely care to be, notified?


My own dirty opinion

I'm not interested in pursuing a detailed description, and I'm sorry for those offended by this, but it seems like a clear-cut NC State redneck stereotype is in order here. I feel like I know this type of person and wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if many people I know or have known would do the same thing encountering this animal which was guilty of being uniquely larger than a squirrel and much easier to catch. I understand the environment that produces kids like these, and I think I pretty much know what was going through their heads.

Additionally, I don't fault someone for killing an animal (unprotected) for fun in a rural setting, I don't. It's certainly dubious morally, but in a strictly internal sense. But to killing an animal you have nothing to do with in an urban setting my response is kid, you should damn well know better. I don't even dispute that landowners has the right to nuisance control. But punks were trying to take a life that they had no authority to take.

This isn't the first time I've seen this in the area. Quite some time ago, I had the unpleasant duty of informing a cat owner that their claimed, but 100% outside cat, had been mauled and left on the side of the road, clearly by people. I don't know what to say other than some people out there didn't learn how to behave in society.

I'll cool it at this point.

1/25/2011 11:34:18 PM

Quote :

"I actually saw this happen and was kinda shocked. It was definitely a wtf moment. These rednecks just chased it into some AC vent or what not outside of Burlington and then when it ran out they all ran away except one of them who proceeded to stomp the shit out of it and then walk away. "

Wow.

I hate possums, but this is unduly vicious. It's an indication of mental issues I think.

1/25/2011 11:37:56 PM

killing any animal is illegal in nc except under very limited circumstances

1/25/2011 11:44:48 PM

Quote :

"I try not to step on them just like I try not to run over them, but shit happens. I'd feel a lot worse if I did run over someones dog than a possum though."

Yeah, and running over accidentally is very different from running over/stepping on intentionally.

Anybody who kills animals for fun (child or adult) is fucked up in the head for one reason or another, and should be forced to seek professional help and/or punished by the state.

1/26/2011 4:55:18 AM

If what was described by witnesses is what actually happened, I believe that falls under the cruelty to animals statutes of the state.

Which means you could (and probably should) report this to the police. At the very least some jackass will get his comeuppance.


I'm impartial to possums, I've killed a few in my day, and had coon dogs that's killed a few; but I've also slowed down to let 'em keep rambling on across the road.

1/26/2011 6:30:43 AM

What the fuck is wrong with people?

1/26/2011 8:42:51 AM

Be very careful handling this animal. Possums carry a lot of nasy diseases, including hepatitis.

1/26/2011 8:45:53 AM

so do people

and they both bite

1/26/2011 8:54:51 AM

^^ taking a wounded animal to a rescue only involves picking it up once, and obviously you use a towel.

Large animals are completely different.

1/26/2011 10:00:15 AM

^a towel will save you from all disease and doesnt transfer fluid at all

and none of yall would be able to handle one of these rednecks, much less three


but id have had to beat dem asses if i had seen this


also, i dont feel its right attributing forms of animal cruelty to "rednecks", im a redneck and would never do this shit and most "rednecks" have a distinctive respect for life and the environment


these are just dumbasses, hell probably some fuckin new yorkers that aint never seen a opossum and thought it was a rat, i dont think a southerner really bats an eye to a opossum.

Quote :

"I'm not interested in pursuing a detailed description, and I'm sorry for those offended by this, but it seems like a clear-cut NC State redneck stereotype is in order here. I feel like I know this type of person and wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if many people I know or have known would do the same thing encountering this animal which was guilty of being uniquely larger than a squirrel and much easier to catch. I understand the environment that produces kids like these, and I think I pretty much know what was going through their heads"

youre a fuckin idiot and you dont understand a motherfuckin thing

[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 10:46 AM. Reason : f]

1/26/2011 10:40:13 AM

Update

Had fractured skull and spinal injuries. Apparently it was clear to the expert that it had no chance of living (I couldn't tell), so a vet euthanized it.

She offered to come by campus and give free educational lessons on how awesome opossums are and why they're important, if there's any campus organization that was interested. Really nice, glad that I got it to her.

1/26/2011 11:35:19 AM

they are amazing creatures.

1/26/2011 11:36:02 AM

1/26/2011 11:50:07 AM

^^

1/26/2011 12:16:45 PM

since it died and you used a lot of your time and a community expert's time to try and save it, i think you should notify someone at student conduct. good thing it will probably be easy to find those fucks again- i'd check the little tree with the bench under it just beside harrelson.

1/26/2011 12:47:59 PM

...saw an opossum on campus last night. COINCIDENCE?

1/26/2011 12:59:48 PM

Quote :

"I actually saw this happen and was kinda shocked. It was definitely a wtf moment. These rednecks just chased it into some AC vent or what not outside of Burlington and then when it ran out they all ran away except one of them who proceeded to stomp the shit out of it and then walk away."

seriously. i would have flipped.
flipped

that shit pisses me off.

1/26/2011 2:31:49 PM

I mean honestly I don't know any of them but I got a good look at them and this happen like exactly on Tuesday around 11:35 there were about 5 to 6 of them.

They were wearing the usual denim jeans but one had an orange hunting jacket w/ a camo hat. The one that stomped the actual animal out was about 6 or 6"2 with short brown hair. They of course looked like a normal group even having a signature fat kid with them and they are surely to be walking around that area again sometime soon.

Fuck those dudes I had to watch the worst part of that shit.

1/26/2011 2:41:02 PM

When did it become cool to be cruel to animals?

1/26/2011 3:06:35 PM

and yet no one called em out, you just let it happen

jesus christ.

1/26/2011 3:16:26 PM

Quote :

"Additionally, I don't fault someone for killing an animal (unprotected) for fun in a rural setting, I don't. It's certainly dubious morally, but in a strictly internal sense. But to killing an animal you have nothing to do with in an urban setting my response is kid, you should damn well know better. I don't even dispute that landowners has the right to nuisance control. But punks were trying to take a life that they had no authority to take."

Rural, urban, space, under the sea, doesn't mater. Anybody who damages/kills fauna or flora for fun is morally repugnant and fucked up in the head and should be taught a lesson one way or another (counseling, fines, imprisonment, etc, depending on the severity).

I can't believe that you would draw a distinction between rural and urban settings. That's extremely weird and contradictory.

[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 3:58 PM. Reason : First time I have written the face palm smiley... had no idea that TWW actually converted it!]

1/26/2011 3:57:42 PM

Not to TSB the Lounge up or anything, but flora really? I mean, unless you're doing enough damage to cause harm to the habitat of sentient beings, do you really consider damaging flora "morally repugnant and fucked up in the head?"

1/26/2011 4:07:55 PM

yea because if you see someone girdling a tree then i think you have a right and an obligation to be pissed about it.

1/26/2011 4:09:24 PM