Several years ago my neighbor caught a huge opossum in a live trap that had been plaguing his chickens. I’d seen them in the woods at a distance or dead on the road all my life. But never close up. Dang thing was positively prehistoric. I was actually shocked at how nasty it was. It got turned loose in a secluded woods. They are not protected in Illinois.
They are actually good animals. They eat ticks, they are natures cleanup crew, they aren’t aggressive, and they don’t carry rabies.
They do stink, depending on what they have been eating. They will get in a chicken house sometimes and eat eggs.
varmints