Is it safe to handle an opossum with bare hands?
As you catch an opossum, you might suddenly find yourself in a
dilemma over what to with it next, and how to handle it safely.
Removing an opossum from its trap and getting it out of your home
might find itself to be harder than it looked at first. After all of
the hard work you went through to trap the animal to begin with, you
are now left with a scared, yet dangerous animal armed with sharp
nails and teeth to handle. You might be wandering about right ways
to do it. In some cases, opossum might look like it’s sleeping, and
it might look completely calm. You might even feel tempted to touch
the animal with your bare hands, and here are the reasons why your
shouldn’t do it.
Let’s talk about obvious reasons not to touch an opossum first. Once
the animal is trapped, it will become scared and aggressive. Even
though they are cute animals to see, you shouldn’t underestimate
opossum's ability to defend itself. Opossums are strong animals.
They are equipped with sharp teeth and claws, very swift and
precise. These animals have great reflexes, and are capable in
hurting your hands seriously in a second. Besides dangerous bites,
scratchers and tares an opossum might inflict on your, there are
several other health risks that might come from touching an opossum
with your bare hands.
If your touch an opossum with your bare hands, chances are that it
might bite you and you could get infected with numerous serious
diseases, rabies being one of them. Opossums are a species of
animals that can carry and transmit rabies, which happens through
bites. Rabies is usually transmitted through animal bodily fluids,
saliva being one of them. If an opossum bites your, it can spread
numerous diseases through your system, which is a risk that is
simply not worth taking. If your get bitten by an opossum, you are
going to have to get medical assistance as soon as possible, take
several blood tests and get a shot, to make sure that you don’t
develop any serious diseases.
Instead of touching an opossum with bare hands, you should consider
wearing a pair of thick gloves, or better yet, not touch the animal
at all. The best solution for you would be to either get expert help
in removing the animal, kill the animal on the spot or remove it
while it is still in the trap (in case you are using a cage trap).
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