that is roaming about in the garage. (Yes, the same one the wife wants cleaned, if you saw the haiku thread.) If I were to use a havaheart style trap, what bait works best?

Roaming about the garage? Use a broom.

in high school we caught one using a squirrel trap and a can of tuna

Is the possum for sex?

Fruit works great

Havahart trap baited with sliced apples.

For disposal after capture, If you can't shoot it then drown it.

And do it the night before trash pick-up. You don't want the carcass to be sitting in your garbage can for a few days.

Rodent trap baited with dog or cat food

Cheap can of cat food.

If it's a trash can and not a country burn pile secure your trash and then you don't have to go to step 2 how to dispose of a Possum carcass or how to cook a Possum if you live in east texas.

rootube said:

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If it's a trash can and not a country burn pile secure your trash and then you don't have to go to step 2 how to dispose of a Possum carcass or how to cook a Possum if you live in east texas.

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He's having possum for his supper in East Texas. You ain't, 'less'en you catch one yourself.

1. Get trap.
2. Put cat food in.
3. Take trap with possum out into the country.
4. Release possum.

Seriously, they are about the most harmless animals out there, and really interesting creatures and good for eating bugs, etc. I've used several in education programs at the various places I've worked for.

Cat food or very ripe peaches. Works every time.

Perfect advice. Never understood the desire to kill opossums. Totally harmless and like to eat all the things we despise. Ticks, cockroaches, rodents, and the like.

CE Lounge Lizzard said:

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rootube said:

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If it's a trash can and not a country burn pile secure your trash and then you don't have to go to step 2 how to dispose of a Possum carcass or how to cook a Possum if you live in east texas.

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He's having possum for his supper in East Texas. You ain't, 'less'en you catch one yourself.

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"I done et"

Dog food or sardines or cheap cat food. Don't kill it, just take it somewhere and turn it loose, they are the good guys.

large trash can with a handful of dogfood in the bottom. build a set of steps out of boxes or something similar. lean trashcan against boxes. the possum will climb the steps and fall in the trashcan. the next morning you take the trachcan and a 20 gauge out to the very back of your property, dump the possum out, shoot it and let the buzzards clean up the mess. Or at least that is what I have heard you can do.they might be benificial but they are an absolute nuisance in your garage.

Banana gets them the first time, every time. Make sure the banana is ripe......closer to brown. Spotted is perfect.

Your timing is near perfect for Thanksgiving.

Per my mom's cookbook, feed it cornbread and buttermilk for at least two weeks (longer is better). Dispatch possum and skin, removing tail. Discard offal or save for bait if you have refrigeration. Mix equal parts salt and pepper and coat inside and outside of possum. Place in large dutch oven with onions, carrots, and potatoes. Roast 3-4 hours and remove from heat. Reserve juice for gravy.

zooguy96 said:

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1. Get trap.
2. Put cat food in.
3. Take trap with possum out into the country.
4. Release possum.

Seriously, they are about the most harmless animals out there, and really interesting creatures and good for eating bugs, etc. I've used several in education programs at the various places I've worked for.

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For the most part, I agree with you. They are a definitive host for Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), though.

Cat food & sardines tend to work really well. Just don't relocate to a horse farm.

Sardines in oil is the best by far. If you are going to set the trap up in your garage then you'll want to put down a plastic painters drop cloth or trash bag under your trap but I'd cover it with old towels, sheets or something that you can throw away to cut down on the noise when the possum steps on the plastic. Open the sardines about an inch and pour a line of oil from in front of the trap to the step plate, don't use more than about half. Open the can completely and put it in the back. You'll have a possum shortly.

I caught mine with cat food but I used 2x8 lumber to make a 45 degree guide so that he/she/it was steered directly into the mouth of the havahart. It was really pissed, lol. I chose to wear a welding glove on the hand that held the handle side as he was very frisky. 1 mile away, opened it up, the little shnit hissed at me and took off.

Opossums eat ticks???

Dammit! Now I feel bad. I've only killed a few and assumed a couple were after my hens. But I hate ticks way more than I liked my chickens.

AgEng98 said:

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Your timing is near perfect for Thanksgiving.

Per my mom's cookbook, feed it cornbread and buttermilk for at least two weeks (longer is better). Dispatch possum and skin, removing tail. Discard offal or save for bait if you have refrigeration. Mix equal parts salt and pepper and coat inside and outside of possum. Place in large dutch oven with onions, carrots, and potatoes. Roast 3-4 hours and remove from heat. Reserve juice for gravy.

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Assuming I have internet service, but not refrigeration, can I hot hold the possum and go catfishing? Or will that ruin the family Thanksgiving possum?

I put out a trap two weeks ago to catch the skunk that's sprayed my dog 6 times this year. Used cat food as bait. So far I have caught the same possum 3 times but no skunk. Do that but I'm not sure why you have a problem with the possum unless it keeps eating your skunk bait.

Related question does anybody have a better idea than cat food for skunk bait?

Oh just saw you said it is roaming around your garage. Just walk up to it, grab it by the tail and take it out. I promise you won't get possum cooties/AIDS.

Sardines. We used to sell possums for 50 cents, lol

lexofer said:

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Oh just saw you said it is roaming around your garage. Just walk up to it, grab it by the tail and take it out. I promise you won't get possum cooties/AIDS.

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This. Possums are ridiculously easy to catch.

If ya are worried, put on some leather gloves. Grab it by its tail, then hold the scruff of its neck to keep it's head still. Even if ya don't secure its head, it is very unlikely it will bite, but I still advise being cautious.

Put it in a pet carrier, and relocate it elsewhere. If ya are gonna relocate with a car (i.e. carrying it inside the vehicle) wrap a towel around the carrier, otherwise your interior might smell like possum crap afterwards.

fredross2003 said:

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zooguy96 said:

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1. Get trap.
2. Put cat food in.
3. Take trap with possum out into the country.
4. Release possum.

Seriously, they are about the most harmless animals out there, and really interesting creatures and good for eating bugs, etc. I've used several in education programs at the various places I've worked for.

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For the most part, I agree with you. They are a definitive host for Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM), though.

Cat food & sardines tend to work really well. Just don't relocate to a horse farm.

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Serious question about the equine thing, I've heard it both ways on that. I've heard that they do not/can not
transfer it to horses, and I've heard that they can. First time I ever heard of it I was at someones house that was emptying a .22 into one near their horse barn. So, I'm curious to know the issue there.

AgEng98 said:

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Your timing is near perfect for Thanksgiving.

Per my mom's cookbook, feed it cornbread and buttermilk for at least two weeks (longer is better). Dispatch possum and skin, removing tail. Discard offal or save for bait if you have refrigeration. Mix equal parts salt and pepper and coat inside and outside of possum. Place in large dutch oven with onions, carrots, and potatoes. Roast 3-4 hours and remove from heat. Reserve juice for gravy.

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I would like to know if we are finishing off the possum in captivity or leaving buttermilk cornmeal out on the steps every night.

cat food or tuna in a trap.

I've got one that i routinely run into taking out the trash. We just nod at each other and go about our business.

I caught 2 skunks in the past week. Trap was baited with canned cat food, dry dog food and marshmallows

I've been told bread with peanut butter on it works too but I've never tried.

Caught an opossum too, using similar bait.

Let all 3 go out in the "country"

I like to keep one under the shed. Less likely to bite my kids than a snake. Wife hates possums but she hates snakes more...

And if you have kids just let her know...


'Possums will eat anything they chance upon that is edible from fruits, vegetables, carrion, insects and yessnakes. In fact, 'possums are immune to viper and rear fanged snake venom, which includes all the venomous snakes in their range from cat-eyed rear fanged snakes to rattlesnakes.Jul 22, 2016"