Opossums in the Attic

How did I know there was an opossum in my attic?  Noises—strange, almost unearthly noises.  And a lot of thumping around.  Enough to keep me from sleeping.  Maybe sleep depravation is the reason I got the crazy idea in the first place.

I thought maybe I could sort of set up a reverse trap.  Instead of trying to get the opossum INTO something, I was trying to get him out.  Using a loose board, a string and a can of food, perhaps I could lure the animal out of there.

Well, it mostly worked.  I was pretty creeped out seeing those bright, glowing eyes as the animal checked out his surroundings.  And it was a lot bigger than I expected, although perhaps I should have guessed it was large given all the noise it made. Carefully lowering himself towards the food, he didn’t recognize his danger until it was too late.  Down came the opossum.  Out of my house.  Out of my life.  I hope.

Unfortunately, getting an opossum out of an attic is not as simple as I thought.  What if it comes back?  I am not sure how it got in.  I think it might be that loose vent on the gable.  But, anyway, the point is that getting rid of the possum is complicated.  As I said, the animal had been there a few days.  Do you know how much poop a possum makes in two days?  A lot.  Big.  Black.  Smelly.  Gross.  Much worse than cleaning up after the dog.  The dog poops and pees in the yard, not in my attic.  Not where it soaks into the very structure of my house.  Gross beyond explaining.  Yep, I got the animal out, but what about everything else?  How do I get the very memory of the opossum out of the attic?