You should leave the possums alone, they're basically the backyard janitors.
Skunks are cute, I have a mutual understanding with the one that lives under my deck. I miss the foxes that used to live in my neighborhood, the rabbit and squirrel population has exploded without them
Follow up post, so far so good. Not sure if the groundhog id just grossed out by the dog hair just as much as I am or what but he hasn't shown up since the hair was sprinkled on the fence.
You live in Ringwood right? Something may have eaten it. I watched a red tail hawk fly 2 feet over my head and wack a squirrel 20ft. away from me on a ride once (beginning of Skylands trail). It was very cool.
I've been patiently waiting a long time to witness that exact thing in my backyard.
Hawks don't fly away with anything, at least not something that large. They do their business on the ground with the wings spread covering what they're doing so larger birds (bald eagles) don't come take it. Tear it apart, then fly away with pieces.
Still alive and kicking, just lost interest in the wife's veggies (for now). As per hawks being able to prey on groundhogs...if it can't lift it, it would kill it on the ground and then eat it at its leisure, I've seen one doing exactly that only to lose its prey to a wake of vultures.
It says up to 12lbs. But @JDurk article is probably more the case. The one I witnessed was a small juvenile. I would think it would have to be a pretty big hawk to fly away with a 10+ pound critter myself, but ya never know. I have a 7 lb. Chihuahua so hawks and other birds of prey are not a welcome sight.
