[themacpack]

Funny you should mention this. Just this past Saturday I came home to find my girls had an opossum cornered in our pasture. I couldn't tell what it was at first because it wasn't moving ("playing possum", lol) and I thought they had drug one of the grain tubs out into the snow again. It was only as I was hopping over the fence that I got a clear look and saw what it was. They were all over trying to nose and paw at it and that worried me because I didn't know how long he'd put up with that before he got fed up and went on the offensive -- and they can be nasty creatures/carry some nasty stuff. I sent DD around the long way towards the barn so the horses would follow her and move away from it. It STILL didn't move even after they had been away for a bit so I was afraid it was hurt and couldn't leave which would mean the girls would be right back at it when we went in so I put on tall boots (little extra protection for the feet/legs) and grabbed my trusty broom (only thing w/in reach at the time). Once I got close he started moving off so I followed him to keep him going and he eventually took refuge in my neighbors shrub. The nice thing about having snow on the ground is I can tell if he comes back around and so far it seems like he didn't want to move in - was just passing through.
Anyway - if you do want to relocate it, you need to move him several miles away and preferably to an area where he won't simply be a pest for someone else to deal with. Oh, and relocating is not a guaranteed death sentence to the opossum. They are relocated all the time through re-hab programs when they are found injured and can do just fine as long as they are put in an area that suits them. They will face the same challenges any other animal in that area will - they may be killed, but they have just as much of a chance as thriving in their new surroundings.