The bothersome basement bachelor

Marilyn, a long-time resident of Ōpoho, used to regularly hear possums at her property. In recent years, possum activity had reduced significantly but there was no mistaking who the culprit was when Marilyn heard raspy calls in her basement in the night! 

Marilyn’s daughter did some detective work and caught video footage of a possum in the basement in the daytime. Marilyn set up a Timms trap close by to try and catch it, however, after many attempts and no luck catching it under the house, some friends suggested she reach out to City Sanctuary. 

Emily, from City Sanctuary, set up two traps mounted on trees close by and showed Marilyn how to bait, blaze and monitor the traps. The possum took no interest in the bait and continued to regularly visit the basement for several weeks, so Emily decided to change the game plan. It was time to evict the unwanted overstayer with some new tactics! 

A motion sensing camera was set up in the basement and the possum’s access point was located and blocked off while it was out. With no access to its den under the house, the possum left and things went quiet for a while… then one night Marilyn heard a possum running across her roof! Two days later, she finally caught a large male possum in one of the traps in her yard. Marilyn’s persistence paid off and she is now ready to swing into action in case another possum pops by. Great work Marilyn!