Look what's lurking around my yard...

[texaspolloloco]

The most humane way would be to shoot it if you can. One shot dead! No messy potions or chemical warfare. Just one shop problem solved!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Wow - you made that argument way better than I could! The best I could come up with was that the average possum lives 6-7 years and my house has been in the family for over 10 years, so I was here first! But that sounded WAY too childish, so I deleted it, lol!

Where do you get the dry ice from? Is that process kind of like carbon monoxide poisoning? Definitely seems very humane, which is what I'm looking for. I don't want to blast the possum to bits in anger - I just want to end the predator threat as peacefully as possible. I've been perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to whatever roams around out there at night as long as it left my animals alone. This one crossed that line, so it's time to take action. I'm not going to feel guilty about that!

The process is a bit different. The carbon dioxide displaces oxygen and causes suffocation; so does nitrogen gas. Carbon monoxide actually is toxic and makes it impossible for red blood cells to bind with oxygen.

Many supermarkets sell dry ice - call around. Try marinas, fishing supplies, and bait shops as well.

 

[nitter]

Actually a better way would be to put a tarp over the trap and run a hose from an exhaust pipe (lawn tractor, car) under the tarp. Let the engine run for awhile and... Problem solved! They actually sell a funnel with clamps on it and garden hose theads just for this purpose

 

[nitter]

It works great for skunks too! They don't spay using this method

 

[Julie1077]

Our local GFS sells dry ice.

 

[Australton]

WRONG ANSWER! Do not transport wildlife unless you have contacted fish and game and determined it is legal in your state; transportation may spread parasites and diseases to new areas where they were previously unknown.

Opossums roam downtown San Francisco from time to time; and that area has been developed since the middle of the 19th Century. It isn't always a matter of people moving into where the animals were living, the other way around is just as common. Bambi, for example, loves suburbs because there is no hunting. Bobcats enjoy living under backyard sheds in Bellevue and Redmond, WA, where they thrive on a diet of rats, domestic cats, and small dogs. Coyotes live in downtown LA. Cougars haunt California suburbs, as do raccoons, skunks, and the ubiquitous opossums.

Our method is to live trap, then place two blocks of dry ice in a garbage can and pour a little water on it to start the carbon dioxide gas evolving. I place several layers of cardboard to make a platform for the trap to avoid causing freeze burns to the animal, making sure that there is room for the gas to flow easily around and into the trap. I place the animal, trap and all, in the garbage can, and close the lid. This suffocates the animal and is generally accepted as humane.

Nitrogen gas is even better, except for those burrowing animals who are capable of detecting lowered oxygen levels.

If they are native they have a right to be there. Every animal has a right to life no matter how insignificant the animal is. The attitude if just killing what is bad and dangerous has got us where we are today with some of the worlds largest predators on the brink of extinction.

Now i am not saying possums are going to go extinct but you should at least give it a chance to live. I am not sure about the area where you live but moving an animal back into there natural habitat or environment is not moving the problem on to someone else unless there is a hill tribe living in the forest with chickens.

What do you think used to be in downtown LA or California before there was human habitation there? these area were occupied by nature and wildlife i was not talking about a 6 year old possum but the species that lived there before we destroyed it all. I don't understand how people can love one animal so much yet despise another for doing what is instinctive? Kill any animal and that blood is on your hands. You won't forget it.

 

[24279102]

I can't believe that you live in Texas and don't own a gun!! Please don't feel secure that he won't get in through all that hardware cloth and wire. If persistent and hungry enough...one chewed through the welded wire to get in to my coop. Fortunately I was going to check on the girls before bed and saw the eyes in there. It was dispatched with a shotgun. They are nasty disease carrying creatures!

 

[6of6chicks]

Deleted 7/24/2014.

 

[6of6chicks]

Deleted 7/24/2014.

 

[Australton]

@6of6chicks I have several times. I lived on a farm when I was young and my job was to lock and unlock the chickens and collect the eggs. I came out one day to find 5 of our browns torn up every where by a wild cat. I also came out one morning to find a fox still in the coop ripping into our rooster.
I have also witnessed some wedge tailed eagles grabbing silkies off the ground next to the coop.
Now the cat we trapped and took to the pound the fox got away and we made improvements to the coop to try and prevent it happening again and the eagles well they are native and under Australian law ALL native animals are protected.

There are always laws protecting livestock as no government wants to loose there agriculture industry due to a predator. This is why the Tasmanian Tiger is now extinct! Governments protecting industry. Off topic I know but you get the point