'Possum Wrangling (My New Winter Project)

I'm learning a lot about opossums. Did you know if you have a opossum on the property you won't have any rats, mice, snakes, slugs or snails? Opossums are an excellent pest control strategy. Still, I know he's under the house making nests out of my insulation and maybe even damaging my heat ducts. If I could train him to live in the shed and be pleasant, I'd let him stay.

Yum. Yum.

So, round three.

At first light I inspected the area behind the shed. Unfortunately, there is only about a foot between the back of the shed and the fence so it's hard to get at and hard to even see. There IS a hole going under the shed barely visible! This confirms he's using those old vole runs underneath the garden. Obviously the tunnels go under my house and come up somewhere in the crawlspace which gives me the willies. I read a website that suggests stuffing newspaper in the hole. When he comes out at dusk he will push the newspaper away and that is the indication that he is out for the evening. One is supposed to sprinkle flour around so as to see his tracks go in and out, but it's so wet from the downpour of rain, it wouldn't work here.

Hard to see but the fence is on the right (yellowy-brown)
and the shed is the off white on the left. Right in the
middle of the photo between the blackberry canes
you can see the bottom edge of the
shed and some of the newspaper sticking out.
 

ALSO, about two feet away there is a hole in the fence! Ah ha! He has been here a while making all kinds of secret escapes and passageways. This could be how he was disappearing so fast, unless he just went into the hole under the shed.

About the time of my first spotting of him, my neighbors who are not living in their house had a pest control company walking around their property. I wondered why. I found out today when I contacted them the pest control man screened off their house to get rid of him. Not sure how they knew if he was in or out since it was all done during the day, or maybe they entrapped the Mrs. Santy Claws and she died under the house? Maybe that's why they moved out of the house? Dead opossum bodies would stink to high heaven. Thanks a lot stupid, inconsiderate neighbors for doing a half-ass job and forcing Santy Claws to take up residence at my house! They also told me they have placed poison around the house. Idiots! I hope Santy Claws finds his way to my trap or he is doomed! If he dies under my house, I'm doomed!


My goal is to capture him before I seal off the hole. I want to make sure he's out. I've tweaked the trap to make it (hopefully) more effective.

 

First, I sheltered the garbage can with bigger and better plastic so if he does finally crawl in he won't be sitting there freezing in the rain.

 

Second, I've also given him a smorgasbord of food to eat to keep him busy while he waits for me to take him away. The food co-op I shop at gave me some overripe persimmons and I added some tuna. With the peanut butter, a three-course gourmet meal is waiting for him!


Now I just wait...