Tag Archives: get rid of opossum

Get Rid of Opossum

opossum remival

Being a techie at a stadium is one of the best jobs a person could ever do, but it should never include getting rid of an opossum.

Opossum hanging by his tail.
An opossum that spooked a theater by hiding in it’s orchestra pit.

I’m part of the stage crew at a large theater downtown.  Every day is a little different, depending on the show or concert that will be playing here.  Some days are spent lighting and re-lighting for a show that’s coming through our city, spiking the stage (putting tape marks all over the stage so we know where a set piece is supposed to go in the middle of a show), testing the sound system, or making sure the green rooms and dressing rooms are prepared.  Some of our guest celebrities are very particular about how they want their dressing rooms arranged and stocked.  Some days are spent with maintenance, such as keeping the house in good repair, making sure the seats are clean and comfortable, or repairing curtains.  Other days are spent striking sets and loading them up in trucks for the show’s next city appearance.  It’s exhausting, physical work, and there aren’t a lot of women who do what I do professionally, but it’s my passion and joy.  And, I’m lucky enough that my husband works here, too.

One day when we wer

e doing maintenance on the house, I made a horrible discovery.  There was an opossum under the orchestra pit.  No one had ever trained me how to get rid of an opossum.  But, there it was, backed up against the other side of the pit, its eyes gleaming in the darkness, its lips pulled back in a hissing and toothy grimace.  Not only do I have to get rid of an opossum, I have to get rid of a live opossum.  I’m no nervous nelly, but that’s really not in my job description.

I backed out of the space under the orchestra pit.  That area is technically lower than the river, so I shouldn’t be surprised to find animals down in there.  Maybe that’s why the opossum was down there, to feast on mice or rats or whatever made its way down there.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this explains a lot.  Lately, some of the actors and musicians from our latest musical production had been complaining of weird smells around the stage.  Some of the crew had been “spooked” by odd noises when they were working alone in the area.  We joked that it was our resident ghost.  Really, what theater doesn’t have a resident ghost?

But, this explained everything.  It was just an animal.

I made my way up to the office, where my husband was working.  “Hon, we gotta get rid of an opossum,” I said.

He had to see it for himself, of course, and I think he came out of the orchestra pit faster than I did.  Before long, we called Allstate Animal Control to get rid of the opossum.  Fortunately, their guy got it out before we set up for the show that night.  Of course, we still let the actors and musicians believe it was a ghost.

Get Rid Of Opposum

I need to know how to get rid of opossum and fast! 

            My wife and I have an RV, and we used to spend every summer driving around to different places, enjoying life on the road.  I got sick two years ago, though, so the RV has just been sitting on our pad on the side of the house.  My wife was so great.  Sometimes, when I was feeling the worst, she would pull out a map and we would figure out where we wanted to go on our next trip.  Planning it all out gave me something to look forward to, and I swear it helped me get well faster.

            So, this year, I’m well enough to go.  I waited until the weather warmed up a little, and then decided to get out there and get the RV ready for our upcoming trip.  I woke up that Saturday morning excited and ready to work.  Had no idea, though, what was in store for me.

            I opened up that door and WHAM!  The smell hit me like a ton of bricks.  Cupboards were open, stuff was strewn all around, stuffing from the dining bench had been pulled out and matted around.  The worst part, though, was the excrement.  It was huge and smelled horrible . . . one of the worst odors I’ve ever smelled in my life.  And some of it even looked fresh.  Disgusting.

            Now, my day of excitedly getting the RV ready for our summer vacation turned into a day of getting rid of opossum and cleaning up after them.  Good thing my wife came running out of the house when she did, too.  I was headed on into the RV with a bag to start the cleanup, but she told me that opossum droppings can have roundworm.  The last thing I want to do is get sick with something else right now.  We decided to call in a professional to do the cleanup and help us get rid of the opossum. 

            Made me so mad to see all our stuff being hauled out of the RV and thrown away.  A lot of it could be salvaged, but some of it was broken or filthy.  I just hoped they could get that awful smell out of there.  No matter how clean and sterile they got it, I wouldn’t be able to sleep in there if any of that awful stench remained. 

            A neighbor caught an opossum in a raccoon trap a night or two after that, but I was sure there were more.  I’m sure some mama opossum had babies in there, and opossums tend to return to their nests year after year.  We had to make sure we got rid of every opossum before I’d be comfortable parking our RV in our driveway again. 

            Fortunately, the cleanup went well.  They sterilized the RV and got rid of the smell.  A few more opossum were trapped while we were gone on our trip that summer.  We had a great summer after all, but it still made me mad to think some opossum family had made their home in our place.  Good thing I hadn’t known about it while I was sick.