Opossum Shields Itself Under Homeowners Deck In Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Challenge

A homeowner in Atlantic Highlands, NJ was enjoying a nice quiet night out on his deck when he spotted something that scared the daylights out of him — an opossum walked right out from under his deck! Immediately, he called Cowleys for help and I was sent out.

Now opossums are NOT possums. Possums are a tree-climbing marsupial that only lives in Australia, but they are a distant cousin to the opossum. The opossum, like its cousin, is a marsupial that has a pouch and carries its young around and is the only pouched mammal in the U.S. and Canada. Opossums have two big toes that act like opposable thumbs called halux, that help the opossum's easily climb trees. These critters have such a good immune system, they are hardly ever found with the rabies virus and they are not considered reservoirs for Lyme disease. Opossums are nocturnal creatures and usually live alone when they are not actively breeding.

Once I arrived I began a thorough inspection of the deck area and found opossum hair in a dugout hole leading underneath the deck. I also found several claw prints along the deck area. 

Solution

In order to successfully capture the opossum, I set-up 3 baited ground traps. One trap around dug out hole leading under the deck, one at the end of the deck, and the third one underneath the neck arlo. Each trap was placed along the opossum travel path to ensure a successful safe capture. Once the opossum is safely captured, I'll remove the traps, fill in the burrows, and repair the damage to the deck area.