Getting Rid of Opossums and Raccoons in Mission, Texas

In case you ever get an opossum or raccoon living in your attic or crawl space under the house, you can easily get rid of it humanely in the City of Mission.

Why not live and let live? Opossums don't carry rabies or other diseases that should concern you; but, you will find that these animals, which are nocturnal, make all kinds of loud noises in the wee hours of the morning, enough to wake you and keep you awake. They will also damage insulation and other things around their nest. They will also defecate and urinate, leaving you a nasty surprise should you ever have to crawl into those areas. And, finally, they carry fleas. Those fleas will find their way into your home and onto you.

The City of Mission does have traps available for you to use from their Animal Control department. However, due to demand, you would have to wait nearly 90 days to receive one. In that time, the vermin can cause all kinds of damage in your attic or wherever it is making its home.

Fortunately, you can purchase your own trap to catch it much sooner. There are traps available for around $40 at hardware stores. You may find a cheaper one at the flea market on 4 mile and Conway.

Once you have the trap and are familiar with its operation, you can use a half apple or orange as bait at the far end of the trap, past the pressure plate that closes the trap.

You should place the trap in the place where you think the animal is most likely to enter and exit, this is important. If there are multiple openings, then you should block all of them except where you have the trap. If possible, set the trap right up to the opening, or somehow position it so that the animal must come to it when exiting at night.

Your success will depend on funneling the animal's movements through the opening in the house of your choice. You should also put the trap out after catching one opossum; there is the possibility there is more than one. If you do not catch them all before closing the entrance to your attic or crawl space, they will die, resulting in a dead animal stench. Be sure to trap them all.

Once you successfully trap the opossum, call the city's Animal Control department. They will send an officer over to pick it up. That's it.