Possum in Garage
 

I need some advice how to get a possum out of my garage. I've tried leaving the door open at night and leaving food outside but he/she's still in there. But the food was gone this morning. So he/she ate it and went back in. I'm wondering if it's a female and she had babies?

I feed feral cats and I'm so afraid for them. I haven't seen them for 2 days and I'm getting worried something happened to them.

I've called animal control and they keep connecting me to a wildlife sanctuary and they don't even return my calls. I can't even go in my garage because I'm terrified. :eek:

Possums are harmless...
 

I don't see how they would interfere with your feral kitties. The most aggressive thing
I've seen them do is hiss.

We have them all the time, and our cats just stand there and watch the
possum walk by. Mother possums carry their young for quite a while. When the babies
get to be the size of rats, she will park them in a bush/low growing tree and leave them there
when she goes to eat. We found some babies once that way.

If you really want him out--(we had a raccoon once do this)...
put the food out in larger distances away from the garage and you will
have to stay up and when she comes out finally (when the food is a ways away),
you make it impossible for her to return. Make sure there is no hole on the backside of your garage...they dig you know. We had one under our study here one year.

Once she learns you are putting food out, she will come forth quickly, and venture farther and farther out. That is when you get her. You can rent HavAHART live traps at some hardware stores, and you could trap her too and drive her to a less populated spot and release her. You might have an old, sick one in there, who is going to be resistant to coming out. You'll just have to see.

leave a trail of food to your neighbors garage?

I call it a garage but it's really a miniature version of my house. I can't get a car in there. It has workbenches and all my gardening tools and the bird feed for my feeders.

He's up now and making quite a racket in there banging against the window and showing his teeth. I thought they slept in the day? I don't know if I should open the door again and let him out. Do they bite? Will they bite Hooper?

Possums are harmless just like mrsd said. My 3 cats just sit and watch the possum come and eat then leave. when they are threatened they play dead roll on back feet up get stiff and a gland releases a stinky .."I'M dead odor" . which is what it may do if hopper..dog?? corners him...The possum is probly up set it is in your shead . dose it stay in shead as its home?? anyways I also have 2 racoons and a armadillo all of them scamper up on back proch every night and eat cat food and or just drink water. my 3 cats I have are outside most all the time they have their shoots and are fixed.
my new dog wants so bad to chace after the racoons but I know racoons can be a ugly fight so not if I can help it .
by the way arent the baby possums sooooo dang cute??? I think they are :).
Id place the food away from area if you dont want it comming round. or can call animal controll to take it away...but I dont think it would not hurt you or bite..just wants to eat then be on its way with no hastle .thats what I think.
good luck with your possum adventure ..keep us posted.
PEACE
BMW
lol curious pass it off to the neighbor :)

I'm going in. I have to get in there because all my bird feeders are empty and I have some unhappy birds right now. I can't see him through the window but I know he's in there.

how did entering the shead go? did you leave the door open?
It sounds like it has made that places its home for now ...I should of read post more clearly but just wanted to let ya know it probly wont bite you.
long busy few days here sorry mind not focused when over tired.
if your really scared grab a rake and bat it gently towards the door.
or throw blanket over it .
hope things are working out and it leaves on its own. :hug:

I haven't had the nerve yet BMW. I'm having an anxiety attack and my heart is going a bazillion miles and hour. I'm sorry you're feeling so tired, must be the season. I have a terrible head cold and my head is pounding but I'm determined to get him out.

I have a big broom in there and I'm going to try to swish him out the door. I hope it works but first I have to get in there to get it and find out where he's hiding. :eek: I don't want to hurt him but those teeth scare me and I'm worried for Hooper, yes she's my dog, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and she's only weighs 15 lbs. She's like a little baby. :hug:

Okay heart slow down :( I'm going to try again.

Did you kill and eat it?:eek:

Everyone says they're harmless, but all I know is that I don't like being all too close to them. Years ago we had a total house fire and our neighborhood possums seemed to "help out" afterwards. LOL When we took all of the food out of fridge and chest freezer, among other items that we damaged, we tossed them into a big dumpster that had been parked in our driveway. Overnight, Mr. Possum found his way into the dumpster to feast on some of the spoiled foods. Afterwards he went "exploring" only to find the board that had been nailed up to one of our basement windows, move it out of the way and fall into our basement!!! Trauma levels already tremendously high the following morning as we were inventorying things in the house...only to see this possum go strutting past our feed and crawl into one of the plastic trash bags!! :eek:
Police department wouldn't come and help us catch it..they told us to call the fire department.
Fire dept. asked if it was a "threat to anything", that's when we just hung up and figured we'd trap it ourselves somehow.
He had a ride inside a plastic trash can with a lid on it to the park a mile away where he was turned loose.


Good Luck,


Marilyn

I finally got up my nerve to go in there and get him/her out. I went in and didn't see him but just to be sure I put the ceiling fan on that I have in there. I figured that would scare him out. I heard a hissing sound and started to run. As I ran out Hooper ran in. I got so nervous for her I grabbed her with one hand and started to grab the bird feed which was on the bench with other other. That's where he was hiding, behind the bird feed. I felt his jaw on my hand and ran out with Hooper. I have a big gash on the side of my hand. I cleaned it and it's finally stopped bleeding.

I'm done. If he's still there tomorrow I'm calling the police. :mad:

oh no!!!

you need to get a tetnis shot bj. are you current?

:hug:

That's awful! We had one on our summer kitchen one year..he played dead while Cooper barked at him...he hissed when we poked him with a broom handle and when he finally went out the way he crawled in...loose board, we had someone come and tighten up the whole room.

Someone told me that I should put a loud radio out there...they wouldn't like the noise but I didn't try it.

And I'm sure you're current on you tetnis shot???? :hug:

What's "current"? I can't remember when I had it last. I know I've lived in this borough for 12 years and never had one. But I did have one when I was a teenager because I stepped on a dirty rusty nail. Is that one still good?

bj..wild animals can have rabies. i'm not trying to scare you, but you need to go get that bite checked out ok?


call the er and ask to speak to the triage nurse.

i think the max they are good for is either 5 or 7 years.

hubby had to have another one when he got stitches a fe wmonths ago. it had been 6 yrs.

I never thought of that. I like animals so much and don't ever think they'd do me any harm. Believe me, this is not the first time I've been wrong about that.

I'll call the ER and see what they think I should do.

:hug: TY sweets. don't leave me worrying all night. post or send me a pm.

I wouldn't do that Curious after all we went through last night :grouphug:

I called and she said I need to come in and get it cleaned properly and get a tetanus shot. And since it's still bleeding I might need stitches.

I just hope I'm not sitting there all night. :(

I believe it is every 5 years for shot.
Oh I feel bad Telling you it wouldnt bite you. :( Really bummed that it made a liar out of me and that you got a gash. I would definately get it checked out a.s.a.p.
I would also call the police and tell them as it could have rabbies they should come out without any problem and rid you of that mean bugger as it is a threat to you and neighbors. and also unhealthy if it is living in there.
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
dont worry I got my bumps today too my new dog head butted my chin and now I have a blue marble knot there my face is throbing I have a one sided headache. I was so close to tossing the monkey dog across the room to see how well it could fly as jumpping isnt a problem for her but deep breaths and some cursing gave me time to rethink my painful anger at her. she also ran after my momma cat got 2 claws stuck in her muzzle and a bloody ear . I dont know why I took this new dog :confused:
anyways bp I am sending big hug and I feel badly that possum was ornery and mean...it needs to be taken care of ...and out of your shead,yard and neighborhood. It may be sick as it didnt act like most possums would or do!!! BP I have you in my thoughts and i am sorry feel bad. :hug: i hope tomorrow is a better day and this possum problem is fixed :hug:
PEACE
BMW

oh sweetheart..i'm sorry, but i'm really glad you called. take a book with you. hooper isn't your guild dog? :wink: :wink: :wink:

yeah...we were both a bit worried last night. :hug:

let me know when you get back. :hug:

I hope you aren't still sitting there! (((BJ)))

Now I know why I hate going to the ER. I sat there until 1:15 am before anyone even looked at me. But it wasn't there fault. I go to St. Mary's Hospital which is about 1/2 hour from my house and it's a trauma center. They had a 3 car accident and they had to medivac people there. I hope they make it. :hug:

They opened it up and cleaned it out real good and gave me six stitches. I also got a tetanus shot and a tetanus immune globulin shot because it works faster. They also thought it best I get the rabies immunoglobulin since the possum wasn't acting naturally. So they gave me in shot in the bite and one around the outside of it. Then I need 5 more over the next month. They also gave me a script for antibiotics for the bite wound.

They told me possum's normally don't carry rabies but the way it was acting was not normal. Animal control is coming out today and they're going to "remove" it and have it tested for rabies. I'm taking Hooper and we're leaving while they do it. I can't watch.

Thanks for urging me to go. And BMW, no worries, I'm not upset. They are wild animals so they're very unpredictable. :hug:

So after all that I left around 4:30AM. It's hurting like the dickens right now. They only gave me Tylenol 3's while I was there and now it's worn off. Now I have to wait for CVS to open to get it filled. :(

(((BJ))) I'm so sorry. I hope you don't go to work today. Big hugs and you did the right thing by going. :hug:

No Alffe I'm not going to work today, thank goodness. I'm sitting for one part of the CPA exam tomorrow and I have to cram now..........and try to stay awake. I don't know what hurts worse, the bite or the tetanus shot :(

I am very relieved and glad they are coming to get that possum... if they had done that in the first place :confused: .... (grumble mumble under my breath) would be nice if they would pay for hosp visit and the shots you had and will need to get. we know thatd never happen tho. :rolleyes:
soft easy hugs for you . still feel bad cus all the possums I have come across never acted like the one in your shead :(. :hug: :hug: :hug: so sorry!!!
:grouphug:
Glad your home take things easy if that is possible.:hug:
best of luck on c.p.a. exam ;)

Animal control just left and he's no where to be found. They took apart my whole shed, looked in the rafters and he's not there. They set up traps to try to catch him/her. I was talking to the guy and he said it's very rare for a possum to have rabies but nothing's impossible especially since it bit me. I told him I was worried about my ferals and he said it wouldn't probably bother them but to keep an eye out on Hooper just in case she corners it because it will most likely attack her.

I couldn't remember if I left the door ajar that's why I said to go ahead with the rabies shots. I know it was the right thing even though every muscle in my body hurts right now. And I wish they'd given me something stronger than Tylenol 3s. :(

BMW like I said :hug: no apologies necessary. It just happened. :hug:Animals are very unpredictable.

oh I just caught up with this thread...
you poor dear.
ouch!
((((HUGS))))
bizi

Good luck today on the CPA exam BJ....I hope you're a little less sore this morning. :hug:

(((BJ))) You poor thing. Unfortunate. I'm sorry you feel yucky from those shots but I'm sure it's best to be safe.

Good luck on your exam!!! Smooches and hugs for Hooper as well.

yes, they are only good for 5 yrs..or at least that's the rule that our local hosp goes by. That's awful that he was right there behind the one item that you wanted to retrieve from the garage. Best get it checked out though,

Marilyn

OOO my gosh, you poor gal!!! But we're glad that you went to ER and got it taken care of. Yes, it'd be hard to see them take the possum out, but at least you can rest assured that next time you reach for that bird seed, there won't be something biting you from behind the bag!!!
Speedy healing wishes for you!!!,
Marilyn