It’s common for us as possum people to receive enquiries related to trapping possums. We understand peoples needs and why they see this as a solution but as professionals with years of experience in the industry we feel it’s best to educate our clients rather than offering a service that simply wont help solve the problem and is actually illegal in many circumstances. This page is here to help!
Many companies will offer a service to set traps at a high rate without any guarantee of a the desired result so be careful what you pay for!
The issue with trapping a possum in your roof is that it does not solve the problem of possums returning. Many people aren’t aware that if you do trap a possum you are only allowed to release the possum within 5o meters the trapping site and must be on the property. As you can imagine the possum will return to the building very quickly often within 24 hrs. The only guaranteed way of preventing possums returning to your building is by proofing the building from top to bottom. Anyone offering to relocate a possum is braking the law and not offering a quality service or solution to your possum problem.
Let’s assume you want to ignore this advice and begin trapping and relocating possums. We compare this to taking water out of the corner of a lake, more water simply flows in….. Doh! Due to possums territorial nature, a brush tail will habitat and protect an area as its home, removing possums simply opens up area for another possum to move in. Possums can be compared to homing pigeons, relocating them will cause them to travel many Km’s to return to their (your) home. We have had many stories of people trapping multiple possums over months and years without realising they are likely relocating the same possum to the local park.
Traps have a purpose and as a home owner your’e allowed to trap possums so let us help if we can. The only time we would recommend a client uses a trap is when someone has carried out repairs to their building and accidentally trapped a possum in. This can be difficult and often the trap will not fit in the area where possums are trapped. We don’t recommend carrying out repairs to entry points without the help of a trained possum pro, if you have attempted this please remove repairs and contact us quickly.
There are options for trapping available to homeowners and building managers. We do not offer this service as its inhumane and a difficult process. As previously outlined it also does not permanently solve your possum issue. Below are links to guide you on the process.
https://www.wildlife.vic.gov.au/managing-wildlife/possums
https://www.wildlife.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/27445/GICOrder10July2003.pdf