So I think I have a possum, and I think he likes to get up in here:
I suspected something was up when I was out on the back porch painting and heard rustling up top. At first I thought it might be a squirrel. But then I saw its rear end, teasing me from inside that little critter triangle hole. I saw it’s paw too. Here’s what a possum looks like:
I bought a trap at Home Depot and put it up there next to that hole with some wet dog food bait in it.
It’s super nifty how the contraption traps in a humane way, but it costs around $65, and after a couple days, no possum. I then heard rustling in my attic. Could have been a squirrel on the roof, but it seemed an awful lot like something in the attic.
I began thinking of how I could get some additional attic traps without spending a fortune. Would you believe that Dallas Animal Control does not loan traps when it gets hot? They told me it’s because people forget to check them and then the animal dies. Someone probably killed a cat that way once, and now we all have to suffer or pay sky high extermination rates.
Upon thinking about this further I decided to go ahead with a project that’s overdue anyway — removing that old metal porch roof altogether. Eliminate it’s habitat (assuming he’s not in the roof). Michael and I are leery of ladders and so I am hiring a couple guys to come take care of this for me, and they are working on it right now. I will report back soon with results. I expect the roof removal to have a big aesthetic impact too, opening up the backyard and letting more light in the house.
I would love to hear possum- or rat-trapping stories from the blogosphere!!! If anyone has advice for me let me know……
erin covert * hands on 
Did you know opossums are realated to anteaters, armadillos, and sloths? Learned this last night from an animal documentary. They kept referring to the claw family, as in all these guys have big front claws. Excited to see the back yard reno.
Very seriously, I’ve discovered that ripe strawberries do wonders for catching opossums, as they will do just about anything for them. I had one up on my back porch that I named “Harold”, and as the picture shows, Harold absolutely refused to let loose of his strawberry even under threat of capture or possible death. In fact, when I let him go, he kept a death grip on that strawberry, and watching an opossum walk with three legs and using the fourth to hold His Strawberry is really something to see.