Help possum in my attic!
I called animal control twice and they placed a cage with food. The possum just ate the food and was never caught. Animal control didn't go all the way into the attic either, we were just told there's no way for a possum to get in and out and that it must be a squirrel but it moves to slow and heavy to be a squirrel. We can hear the possum making a clicking sound at night and we can hear the nails against the floor. One night I saw the possum hanging out in front of my door step and my neighbor saw it climbing our tree. we have been into the attic several times an we don't see anything, but come night time and the party is on. Any good pest control in town?
luvjazz Yep you have a possum in your attic lol did they leave the cage ? If so reset it and smear peanut butter on the pan in the bottom and set it in your attic . There slow and stupid when you catch it it will just sit there with its mouth open trying to scare you. There extremely easy to trap hurry before it starts destroying your home .
Tombo 
GC It's going to be a lot cheaper for you to buy a have a heart trap a large one put any kind of food in it dog food cat food tunafish whatever I guarantee you will go into the trap. Once you have entrapped throw a towel over its and taken for a ride I have taken countless numbers of possums and raccoons skunks to state lands just down the road from my house and let them go
oldredemail me and you are welcome to borrow my trap - it's big enough for a possum - oh and they also like cat food - I often drizzle some food - dry or otherwise leading into the trap
5catmom 
Borrow someone's trail cam and stick it in front of some food and you will know in one night what it is. I did it last week because something was getting into my catfood cans in my garage plenty of opossum pics on the camera the next morning. I 'm gonna leave him for a few more days til it warms up. Feel bad kicking him out in the cold.
fishmaker1 
Calico696 5catmom is right, possum love cat food. Going by my experience, they appear to move slowly and seem quite shy...surprisingly they are not that way at all. They use that as a protective measure and will attack without warning unlike most animals.
I've always felt that the possum like the rat are quite misunderstood and treated like underdogs because of their appearance. They are very intelligent and are very important to our ecosystem.
luvjazz- I hope you capture him/her without any harm to you or the little critter.
positive 
Gadfly 
not my picture but cute --- btw even little baby possums can act fierce- it's pretty funny - they bare their teeth and try the be scary
As soon as we get a little warmth, you might try those bug bombs. I have had some good luck chasing critters out with them, although in the warmer months. Since it stinks for awhile, tends to either move them out even if they are in out of the way corners.
I just over-deploy them a bit to make sure it gets really gassed up.
Just do it as we go above freezing and hopefully it will work still after it gets colder at night.
mistergoogle 
terry 
Joe M Take a few shots of whisky get some big gloves and show it who's boss then make a hat and some stew or don't feed your dog for a few days then send em up there
Just do what Turtleman does...hide out and wait for it to appear, grab it by the tail, drop it into a sack and tornado it.
LJRubi Catch it in the trap and set it loose in nearby woods unless it seems injured...then call on me and I'll take it to antler ridge wildlife sanctuary in newton......
Sorry for the late response to some. I'm in panther valley. My husband is actually scared...Shhh! Lol. My friend told me he knows someone that can do a free inspection for me. Panther valley workers came out and checked the roof, they said there was no evidence of openings on the roof and I might just be hearing the house settling...we ate all positive of what we are hearing up there.
If you want to narrow down your choices of what animal it could be, just type in "opossum sounds" or " bat " or "squirrel sounds" and you will be able to hear exactly what they sound like. I have had to do that on a number of occasions. It works pretty well. I hope you get the critter out soon.
Spring Fever luvjazz I'm in pv too - so as I said - easy to lend you a trap - would be glad to set it up - and if it catches something I'll be glad to remove it...........though I hope it's really just your house settling...................
2 things need to happen. You need to catch whats up there and kill it. Rat traps work well. If you use live traps then shoot it when you get it outside. Then you need to seal the holes to your attic. Expanding foam works good. Its also easy to see when some critter has chewed threw the foam. For holes in the foam, stuff it with steal wool then re apply the expanding foam. So plan for an inspection at the week / month / 6 month / year mark. If you don't do both of these, the problem will just come back.
sack, why kill it? If it's in a trap all you have to do is take a drive far enough from the house and release it in the woods.
I've caught them in a Hav A heart trap and released them. Out of everything I have caught, the possum was the one that I felt threatened by. All the other animals just want to get out. The possum clearly wanted to attack me. He bashed his head into my Hav A Heart trap so many times trying to get me that he made himself bleed. I always have an axe handy when I release animals in case they try anything funny.
M & K I can't believe sack and others say to kill it - a number of us have offered to help - do you need our assistance or has the problem been solved?
Scratching sounds in the attic? Reagan's mom heard scratching in the attic. Sounds like possession to me.
M & K- Any animal is going to act vicious/aggressive when they are trapped because they feel very threatened and they do not know what is happening.
Even domesticated animals will act that way....I might act that way too if I were in a trap and didn't know what was going on.
Ridiculous to suggest killing it. What a foolish and limited response. Trap it humanely and release it.
Greg Trapping it and releasing it elsewhere makes sense, but is very difficult to do legally.
I was trying to get rid of a groundhog a few years ago and talked to the state about what to do with it on e it was trapped. They said my only option other than releasing it in the neighborhood where it was captured (pointless) was to drop it off at some state owned reservoir hours away. They said my best bet was just killing it, and their recommendation was to drown it. They said to drop the cage in a pond or stream "until the bubbles stop". Probably one of the more horrific things I could think of. More humane to give it to the dog!
If you do trap this thing and release it elsewhere, just know it's probably not legal and exercise judgement.
Brendan I have more than one place...private property where a critter can be released...and the contacts should any care be needed....
We have allowed many rehabbed wild animals to be released on our property; if anyone needs a safe place to release a wild animal who is being a nuisance in a populated neighborhood - ***PM me!!*** We are very isolated, and animals are welcome here.
There are very few valid reasons to kill an animal in an attic. Trap and release, and you can call a pest control company to do this for you.
5catmom - if Antler Ridge needs another private property on which to release wildlife, they can use ours. PM me and I'll tell you about our place if you like. (One skunk only allowed per year! - lol j/k)
Picture here is of a young fox, moments after his release (in our field) from months of care in a wildlife rehab. Tell me he doesn't look overjoyed!
Rebecka Thanks Rebecka - and wow is that fox gorgeous.....I've helped with young foxes at one rescue - watched them race into the woods when old enough - what a glorious sight - have done the same with skunks, a coyote and raccoons --I'll let Antler Ridge know about your place.............would love to visit one day.
Curious that we haven't heard any more from the original poster. I wonder what's going on......................hoping the critter is okay
Before you condemn killing the animal, you should really read on what the law says. www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/relocation_policy.pdf‎
really???
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Here you go.... http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/pdf/relocation_policy.pdf
While tangential to this discussion, its worth noting that snakes should never be relocated. Snakes depend on specific habitat elements that they know and depend on, and they cannot survive moving to an unfamiliar area.
Virginia Opossum
Didelphis virginiana
Daily Bag Limit: No daily bag limit.
Seasons:
Hunting:
Oct. 1 - Mar. 1
Nov. 15 - Mar. 15 except Jan. 1 - Mar. 15 on WMAs
Shooting Hours: 1 hour after sunset to 1 hour before sunrise. 7:41 p.m. start on Oct. 1. Closed Dec. 9 - 14 and Dec. 18.
Trapping Hours: Traps may not be set prior to 6 a.m. on the respective opening day.
*Rifle permit required when hunting with rifle.
Licenses, permits and stamp required.
Rules and regulations apply.
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