Is it safe to handle an opossum with bare hands?
Normally, opossums are not aggressive at all, they do not act in an offensive manner. On the other hand, if they are caught by you or by a wildlife remover or if they are trapped in a cage while they are hungry, the problem may possibly arise. The animal may attack anytime and it might also bite you. On the other hand, this is not a typical practice and it may happen one in different cases when the opossums start to attack you to be able to rescue it. There are lots of reasons for which people typically want to catch these animals. Some of them just want to catch these creatures for the sake of catching them, while some really want to catch them to stop the infestation in their property. There are different kinds of people who want to get the possums for various reasons and in case you are among them, it is just safe to say that they cannot be caught with bare hands.
When you catch the possums, there are different ways to do it, but live trapping is one of the best and it is also highly suggested by authorities, since it is a humane way of catching them. This is typically done using a cage trap. At most, they catch the animal using a snare pole. You must be very careful when you handle them with your hands. It is not suggested to catch them by hands in any way. It is not really advisable to catch and to handle the possums with bare hands, because you will have a hard time doing that, that is just for professionals in animal control. These are very submissive beings, they are not the aggressive type, but oftentimes, they will defend themselves if they are caught or if there is a threat to their safety.
If you will handle the possums with your hands, it is just advisable to go for a well-respected animal control expert to handle them through their tails. There is no need to be scared by them, because they will not attack unless you provoke them. You can creep up to them in a noiseless manner, if you are scared that it will run away, then it will if it senses someone. You can walk to it with confidence, but don’t ever try to catch it with your bare hands, only an exterminator can do that. If you will start to wave a hand in front of it, you can distract its attention, then you can catch it by its tail. As soon as you get hold of it, you must keep it away from your body, so it will not attack you with its paws or with its teeth.