# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Hunting & Trapping >  Trapping possum

## Alec_end

Hay I am trying to trap my first possum and I am having some difficulties when I go out to check it the bait is gone and the trap has been set off but no possum. I was wondering if anyone here had any suggestions on what type of snare or trap to use. I am currently using a homemade wooden cage attached to thin rope which is slung over a tree. The rope is then attached to a small stick that is run through the back then put horizontally across to other sticks that are pushed into the ground to form a H shape.

Thanks Alec

----------


## Camp10

> Hay I am trying to trap my first possum and I am having some difficulties when I go out to check it the bait is gone and the trap has been set off but no possum. I was wondering if anyone here had any suggestions on what type of snare or trap to use. I am currently using a homemade wooden cage attached to thin rope which is slung over a tree. The rope is then attached to a small stick that is run through the back then put horizontally across to other sticks that are pushed into the ground to form a H shape.
> 
> Thanks Alec


Got a picture of your setup?

----------


## preachtheWORD

In my experience, the best way to catch a possum is to set a box trap for a rabbit.  It never failed (hardly ever, anyway) that when I set a trap for a rabbit, baited with apple, that I caught a stinking possum! :Sneaky2:

----------


## oldtrap59

Not sure what kinda setup you are using but one thing for sure . Opossum downunder must be alot smarter then the north American varity. Over 50 plus years of trapping I have never set a trap for opossum but have caught 100's of them in sets for other critters. If possible take a pic and let us see your setup. Might help.

oldtrap

----------


## Alec_end

Yer here are some pictures of my set up sorry about the bad quality i took them before school. All advice is mutch appreciated.

Thanks alec

----------


## crashdive123

Hard to tell from the pics, but it looks as though your trap may either be too light, or the spacing between some of the boards may be too wide.  Maybe both.

----------


## oldtrap59

I agree with Crash. From what I can see I would say the trap box is to light and whatever your catching in it is pushing out from under it. Check to see if there is some fur hung up on the bottom edge of the box. If that's how the critter is getting out there should be a bit  of fur left behind. Might tell you if that's how the critter is beating your trap. If so figure a way to make the box heavier.

oldtrap

----------


## Rick

Just curious, but what are you going to do with it when you catch it? Getting a possum out from the trap might be a little tough. They have some pretty sharp teeth and claws. They are dumb but they will arm wrestle with you if you give them half a chance.

----------


## Sarge47

You trap them?  Why?  Shoot, they like to hang around my place & I've run them down on foot!  Then they like to roll over & play dead.  It would be possible to pick one up if you didn't mind losing a finger or a hand.  Now Raccoons are a different story.  How much is Possum going for "down under" anyway, mate?   :Innocent:   :Sneaky2:

----------


## kyratshooter

You have a big hole in your trap!  He's climbing out the hole!

Any openings in the trap must be much smaller than the critter you are trying to catch.

No wonder there are no Australian mountain men.

All my caught possoms have been raiding the feed barrel.  I would have to kill them before I could feed the chickens.

Get an empty barrel, garbage can, whatever, Throw some ripe garbage in the bottom.  Place a board as a ramp up the side with a bait trail to the edge.  You will have your possom looking up at you hissing and swearing the next AM.

It will work, possoms dont go to college, they are not real bright.  It is a miricle they have lasted these millions of years.  They can't even cross a road.

----------


## Ole WV Coot

> You have a big hole in your trap!  He's climbing out the hole!
> 
> Any openings in the trap must be much smaller than the critter you are trying to catch.
> 
> No wonder there are no Australian mountain men.
> 
> All my caught possoms have been raiding the feed barrel.  I would have to kill them before I could feed the chickens.
> 
> Get an empty barrel, garbage can, whatever, Throw some ripe garbage in the bottom.  Place a board as a ramp up the side with a bait trail to the edge.  You will have your possom looking up at you hissing and swearing the next AM.
> ...


They are learning to cross the roads, saw a chicken teaching a class on road crossing. :Innocent:  :Innocent:

----------


## kyratshooter

> They are learning to cross the roads, saw a chicken teaching a class on road crossing.


Do you remember when the chickens roamed free and clogged the country roads?  Kids don't know what they are missing without the "count the dead chicken" game to pass the travel time.

I live out in the sticks, well off the main road, and there is not a chicken in sight.  Times have changed.

----------


## crashdive123

> Do you remember when the chickens roamed free and clogged the country roads?  Kids don't know what they are missing without the "count the dead chicken" game to pass the travel time.
> 
> I live out in the sticks, well off the main road, and there is not a chicken in sight.  Times have changed.


You should come to Florida and go to the beach.  There are always a lot of chic....... oh wait - you said chickens.  Never mind.

----------


## Alec_end

I fixed the hole in the back of the cage and attached three bricks to the top of the cage to increase the weight. I will be setting it tonight. Thanks for all the great advice any other tips or ideas would be great. 

When I finally catch the possum I am planning to kill it and skin it as practise for when I go up to my Nans farm and try and catch some of the rabbits that have been eating the food form her Veggie garden.  Does anyone have any experience skinning possum because that would be very much appreciated?

Thanks alec

----------


## crashdive123

You may as well make a meal or two out of it.  http://ushotstuff.com/wg/OpossumSmp.htm  The link includes skinning.

----------


## Sarge47

Well, rabbit is a lot easier to skin than possum; & it tastes a lot better, or so i hear.  (never ate possum.)  Do you have any rabbits in your area?   :Cool2:

----------


## Alec_end

Thanks for the great link Crash it was really informative and I think that it will be a great help. I dont have any rabbits near my house but my Nans farm is only 45min away and we go up there very frequently. She also has foxes and wallabies but I want to get a lot more experience before I try to trap or hunt them. I m very interested in learning how to skin and tan hides.

Thanks alec

----------


## your_comforting_company

Skinning of large game. same applies to small game, but can be done without hanging. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ead.php?t=9162

tanning with the hair on. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ad.php?t=11062

If you need assistance with either one, let me know.

----------


## Coote

I know I'm a bit late with this reply, but it still might be useful to someone, somewhere.

Aren't possums protected in Australia?   This isn't a judgement, I just thought they were.

Anyway, we've got lots of Aussie brushtailed possums down here in New Zealand.   I've snared quite a few of them, and I've enjoyed eating some of the better ones.

Best wishes from Nelson, New Zealand.    Stephen Coote.

----------


## Rick

Sorry, coote. You can't post a link to your web site. You can put the link in the signature section but not in the body of a post. Thanks for understanding.

----------


## Coote

Oh, OK Rick, no worries.   It wasn't my website, it was just one where I'd already posted the information on skinning possums.   I will see if I can find a simple way of copying the information to this site.   Meanwhile, if anybody interested wants to do a Google search they should be able to find the article.   The article is on a New Zealand site called Ooooby which focuses on growing your own food ("Out of Our Own Back Yards").  Use these keywords and you should get my article in the first couple of hits:  ooooby how skin butcher possum.

----------


## Rick

My apologies. If it isn't your site and you don't have an interest in it then you're welcome to post the link. When you said you had posted the information I assumed it was your site.

----------


## Sparky93

When possums start raid'n the feed barrel around here they end up with a quick case of lead poisening. Possums carry a disease that can kill horses, I forget what the disease is called. I've caught possums in my coon traps use'n spam for bait (not that it matters to a pussum what the bait is). I would have to be starving before I'd eat a possum, one of my rules for food is if when it was alive if it takes a dump then turns around and eats it, it will not make a good meal. I've seen documentaries on people that live in the appalation mountains that find racoons and opossum as a delicacy though.

----------


## wtrfwlr

Do you eat chicken?

----------


## Coote

Thanks Rick.   Here is the link to an article about skinning and butchering a possum:
http://ooooby.ning.com/group/meatism...-and-butcher-a

The possums in NZ and Australia are quite a bit different to the native American possums I believe.   I think there may be several different varieties in Australia, but the one that was introduced to New Zealand is the brushtailed opossum.   It is a marsupial.... the females have a pouch that they raise their young in.

Here's an adult silver-grey variant.
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Here's a brown one showing his displeasure at my approach.  It is held in a snare made from plastic packaging tape:
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

And here is a juvenile possum trying to look fierce.   This one got away.
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Here is a very young possum that was still in its mother's pouch.   It is amazing how big a baby manages to fit into what seems to be a small pouch:
Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Possums are considered to be a major pest species down here.   I guess they do eat a fair bit of native and horticultural vegetation.  However I like having them around and quite a few people make money from their fur.   We'd have nothing much to hunt in this country if it wasn't for our introduced 'pest' species (which include deer, pigs and goats).

Best wishes from New Zealand...   Stephen Coote

----------


## Sparky93

That thing looks like an overgrown squirrel crossed with a gremlin! Opossums are the only marsupial native to north america and thier newborn babies are as small as a jelly bean in their pouch, or at least so I've heard. Never actually seen a baby possum. Their a lot cuter than our possums.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## Coote

The newborn Aussie possums are tiny too.   I guess I've seen them not much bigger than a jelly bean.

----------


## wholsomback

Peanut butter all over your trigger,opposum are gready and they just can't stop licking the stuff up ,it gives you a better chance of him wanting the trigger so therefore he sets the trap.We use it all the time here in Texas and catch lots of them but if your after fox pancakes,waffles and hotdogs are the best,don't laugh it works they can't resist the sweet stuff.

----------


## Wise Old Owl

For starters - has anyone suggested a REAL trap, instead of hitting the animal with a pallet?

Why not just pick them up like I do?Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## Pocomoonskyeyes3

Have you tried a different type of trigger? A Figure 4, Paiute, or "Treadle trap" would be more effective IMO. The trigger you have on that trap just looks "Stiff" to me. If the openings in your box are not the problem, and it is heavy enough that they can't lift it, then the problem would have to lie with the trigger mechanism itself.

----------

