An awful surprise in my shop.. just awful..

You have a choice to not pay for trash pickup? It’s part of my water bill. No trash pickup, no water service here…

-- Please like and subscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/daves-workshop

possums aren’t all that dangerous.
Why not leave the door open a smidge and put out some food for it out side your shop?
It’s bound to get hungry in there soon.
Wire traps acenbe had from our local wildlife officiers on loan. Maybe youcould call yours and get it relocated.

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Well I also don’t have a water bill :) I live outside of the city kind of in a rule area so I have well water. No water bill but the well pump is electric so if I loose power then I don’t have water.

If I was to pay for a trash service to come pick up my trash once a week it would be something like 60 dollars a month. I have never used it. Cant see paying that much when I have a dumpster I can use at work. I also burn most all the paper trash so I usually only have a bag or two a week.

-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"

oh ya big scardy cat…get in there with a broom and chase the possum out of there…and clean up the trash if need be and take it off…...or i could see thgis picture im my mind…you up a tree with the possum under it tell you to leave me alone while i dine on your trash…lol…we have them show up all the time…eating our outside kitty cat food…they just run off and come back later when no one is around…the older ones get to be pretty ugly…there not to bad when there young…kinda cute actually…so being the man you are…have fun..lol..

-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']

I pay the HOA for trash removal, and I pay the county for trash removal. They ALL talk trash. The critter is a real problem, call your local neighborhood hired killer. You don’t want him contaminating your wood and equipment.

-- David in Damascus, MD

LOL – rent the neighbor’s dog.

Seriously, Bob is right. Possums don’t move very fast so you could easily remove him from the population with a suitable club if you so desire. You can grab them by their tail and lift them off the ground and they are helpless.

If it were me, I’d just open the door drag the bag with possum outside, shut the door, and poke, prod, shake the bag until he comes out and runs away. Clean up the mess and you’re home free.

-- Joe

More than likely he is not living in the bag !!

Wait till daytime, take bag to trash(after make sure he not in it), shut garage door, Case closed !!

Leaving the garage door open invites all kind of animals into your world !!

I Had an Armadillo come into the shop with me one night, I shook my finger at him & told him to get out before I hit him with a 2×4. Which He did !!

-- Pat - Worker of Wood, Collector of Tools, Father of one

Joe- There is no way, no how I would even consider picking the thing up by its tail… I got chills reading that.

Grizz- Your image of me up the tree is no joke… If this thing jumped out at me thats exactly where I would be. I would say “Feets don’t fail me now” and I would be up that tree in a heartbeat.

I know it sounds wimpy of me but I have this psychological fear of strange rodents. I’m not scared of mice, snakes or spiders but possums just freak me out.. Maybe its because I have only been in close contact with them a couple times my whole life. I am not worried about it hurting me, its more that I fear the actual confrontation with the beast.

-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"

Dan—Do you have a human society or animal rescue league organization nearby? If so, check with them. In some locales they have humane officers who can deal with situations like this. Where I live, the local Humane Society will loan you a catch-and-release trap that is both safe for you and doesn’t harm the animal.

dbhost—Us country-folk don’t have city water, so we don’t get a water bill (we pump our own)! In our township, the town board sells garbage bags for $1 apiece, and those are the only bags the refuse collection company will pick up. The proceeds from the bags pay for the service, so it doesn’t show up on our property tax bill.

—Gerry

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

UPDATE: The beast has been trapped! I went to garage to discover that the beast trapped himself at the bottom of one of my trash bins… Now you guys look at this picture and tell me you would pick this monster up by its tail or fight it in hand to hand combat… No thank you… My wife said I am the man of the house and I shouldn’t be scared… I am the man of the house by admitting I am not man enough to mess with these creatures.

I will start building the trash enclosure ASAP and the side door to garage will not be shut.. The cats can freeze for all I care.. No more monsters in my garage!

-- Dan - "Collector of Hand Planes"

Good Job, & you didn’t have to do anything. Be sure to take hiom a couple of miles down the road, otherwise he will find his way back.

-- Pat - Worker of Wood, Collector of Tools, Father of one

OMG … looks like a girl I used to date! LOL

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

Glad to see you didn,t kill it . Some people kill everything just because it scares them . It,s pretty pathetic really :-(

-- John in Belgrave (Website) http://www.extremebirdhouse.com , https://www.facebook.com/groups/extremebirdhouses/

One night a few years ago we had a mama possum and her kittens up on our deck (which is at least 10 feet above ground) and they were walking on the rails looking at the bird feeders.

So I go out there with a croquet mallet intending to whack the mother, but didn’t have the heart. Mama was showing her teeth and all of that, but I ignored her and decided to stroke their backs with the handle of the mallet. They loved it! Just like a cat or dog likes to have their back’s scratched. So, then I got closer and tried petting them with my hand, and they thought that was even better!

So, I went back inside to observe them, and after they decided there was no food to their liking, they climbed down and went back into the forest.

Anyhow – glad your situation has been resolved. BTW – if you change your mind and decide to pick one up by the tail, the secret is to distract him with one hand while the other hand grabs the tail and immediately elevates him off his feet. Important to be quick. Never been bit, but those teeth do look nasty. When hanging by their tail, they just kind of give up and hang, no flopping around or whatnot.

-- Joe

He is so cute, maybe you can kick the cats out and keep the little guy. LOL He’ll keep all the unwanted guest away for sure. Our pests are Coyotes, skunks, and there is a Boar around here somewhere, I certainly leave them alone. Oh yeah, I think possums can climb trees.

No they don’t look scary.