How to Catch an Opossum with a Live Animal Trap

Watch how to humanely capture opossums with live traps using the Solutions four step process! This video will show exactly what to do when you have opossums on your property!

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Want to skip ahead?

1) IDENTIFICATION & INSPECTION: 0:20
2) TREATMENT: 1:33
3) PREVENTION: 3:41

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It’s not uncommon for opossums to wander onto your property in search of food, water, and shelter. Having opossums can cause damage to your property or even health issues. In this video, we’ll go over how to identify opossums, how to trap them using professional live traps, and ways to prevent them from coming back.

Opossums are nocturnal marsupials that look almost like large rats. They typically have gray fur with a distinct white face, long whiskers, and hairless tails.

Opossums can be found on properties foraging for food. First, check any garbage bins you keep outdoors. An obvious indicator is if the bin is tipped over, but you can also look for trash in the surrounding area.

You can also check any fruit or vegetable plots for eaten or chewed plants, as opossums will vary their diet.

Before trapping, make sure you put on your personal protective equipment, or PPE, especially gloves. Gloves will prevent you from transferring your scent to the trap or bait, which will dissuade opossums from approaching.

In order to maximize our chances of catching the opossum, we need to remove food sources that may compete with our bait. This includes sealing trash bins, picking up pet food after dark, fencing away fruit and vegetable gardens, and sweeping up fallen fruits, berries, and seeds.

Place your live trap far away from human or pet activity, along the edge of your property. Physical boundaries like fence lines, dense foliage, and garden edging make great placement guides, so set your trap along these structures.

If you are dealing with an opossum indoors, you can set your trap near entry points in the garage, attic, or basement.

Once you are satisfied with your trap placement, you can bait and arm it. Check your trap twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Once you have captured an opossum in your live trap, place a towel over the cage to avoid frightening the animal. Be sure to contact local authorities like animal control to confirm laws in your area about animal trapping and make sure you are correctly relocating the animal. Travel to your release location, which should be more than 20 miles away. Place the trap on the ground facing away from you, and open the trap.

After you’ve successfully used your live trap, there are a few preventative measures you can take to make sure you do not have another animal problem.

Maintaining a clean area indoors and outdoors is an important step to take. Keep trash outdoors and in sealed containers. Remove any clutter or debris from your property, as this could be used by animals for nests or burrows. Regularly check the property for spots that retain water. Any potential food sources such as pet food should be properly sealed in a container and stored away.

Prevent opossums from entering your property by sealing any openings you may have found along the perimeter or foundation.

Be sure to visit our website for an in-depth guide and access to each of our products. We guarantee that these live traps and tips will help catch opossums around your property, and we offer same day shipping to help you get control quickly.

Solutions is a small family owned business, and we rely on referrals from customers like you. So if you liked this how-to guide and when the products work for you, please share and tell your friends and family about us.

Thanks for watching!

[lpmoron]

Place empty but still messy peanut butter jar in the back on the trap. Place set trap in a feed sack covering the back and sides of the trap. Leaving open door exposed. Has worked 2 nights straight. I save all my peanut butter jars for just this purpose!

[sauce]

Amazing!! Just last week in. My neighborhood i was walking my dog at night and i came across a full white one and its my first encounter with an opossum in chicago

[SlapNSniff]

you don't have to follow all those tips. I literally put a small amount of cat food in the back of the trap and put it in my back yard and caught him. Opossums are really simple to catch.

[Tatertot]

01:50 How would a trap too large give them a chance to escape? Wouldn't it make it less likely for them to escape since it's longer and they have to walk farther into it to get the bait?

[epicrato]

This is one of the best animals you can have in your backyard. They even eat ticks while not getting sick by it.

[lindsi]

OPossums are a great backyard animal to have unless you are raising chickens or have a garden we have a good many in our yard and I've never had a tic on my dog the have multiple benefits

[WMUser]

Any advice on trapping a cat while avoiding a possum?

[brady.widlake]

Guess i shouldnt have left a slice of swiss cheese in my yard... now i got a gigantic pregnant opossum in my yard

[hunterboy]

I set a live trap around 4pm. Used marshmallows and dog food for bait. Had a possum in it by 930pm.

[donotwantahandle]

We have a opossum in our barn (he sleeps between the roof and the sarking - you can see the lump) and he defecates everywhere and pushes things off the workbench. I want to catch and relocate him.

[questaskybreezy]

Opossum can barely see this is why they freeze, they are amazingly beneficial wildlife to have as they eat mice nests and snakes. They are badly maligned and abused. These guys can't see or hear to well and have no defense. Please do not hurt or abuse they are better for our world.

[lauriecox]

Thank you for this video I have a bad opossum problem my mom trapped on and we thot it was all but nope i found a nother one last night in my backyard

[nobody-]

This would be great but we have cats outside

[yourlocalcontracter]

can you call animale controle and have them take them

[Evan-rjgn]

Why would the trap be useless if it was tipped over?

[ShiftyReaperGaming]

They just climb in my trashcan and when I get home in the morning I close the lid and the trash truck dumps the trashcan in the back of his truck and crushes them. Easy job for me. No safety stuff for me 😂😂😂

[michaelretana]

Opossums are cool though I feed 2 of them my cats leftovers..humans cut down all the trees to build homes maybe that area was already their home 🤔 what if they have baby Opossums and they relocate the mom

[ladydragon]

Possums are not a danger or threat to humans, they are necessary to a healthy ecosystem, they keep bug populations down they eat ticks.

[Thebald]

I had to go by cage today because I have an opossum that keeps getting into the house somehow.. I've caught the little bastard 2 times and put him outside but it keeps getting back in.. Now it's time to relocate... Lol.. Anyway thanks for the info

[AdamsGarageComp]

What’s the best way to get rid of them after they are caught?