(Note: I think it’s important to know the terminology and words used when learning any new business including mobile home investing. I came up with ‘Terminology Tuesday’ as a way to go over the terminology used in the mobile home business. It’s important to know the terminology when talking to people in the business so you’re all on the same page).

**** Tricks of the Trade is a new series I have started that will be included with “Terminology Tuesday” posts. The goal of this series is to share with you the “tricks of the trade” I have learned in the mobile home business.

Recently, I took this home back:

These residents had paid for 6 years but decided to move because they just weren’t satisfied with the community anymore. So they left…and the house was a mess!

In any case, I went through the usual steps of getting the home fixed up which meant getting my cleaning crew to take a look. As we were, going through the house we found a small animal in the bathroom. So, I decided to share my experience. Read on!

How to Remove a Small Animal From a Mobile Home

Step 1: Determine if the animal is dangerous or not

If the animal appears to be aggressive, step away and close all doors sealing up any openings for it to escape. Call animal control or a private company that specializes in animal removal immediately.

In my case, the animal did not appear to be aggressive. I found a small baby possum in the tub in one of the bathrooms. Here’s a pic:

(Note: Sorry, it’s an ugly picture. The house is a mess and needs major work!)

In my case, I tried calling animal control but ran into scheduling issues. So, I decided to remove the animal myself.

If the animal does not appear harmful, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Close all exits so the animal cannot escape to other parts of the home

Before you do anything, make sure all exits are blocked off. This way the animal cannot escape to other parts of the home while you prepare and get your gear together.

In my case, I closed the bathroom door and came back to the house when I was ready.

Step 3: Get your gear together

In order to catch a small animal, there are many different items you can use. Look around your home to see if there’s anything laying around you can use temporarily. Here’s my gear I brought for the job:

I couldn’t decide whether I’d use the pick-up tool, net or broom (or a combination of both!) for the job, so I decided to bring them all…just in case.

(Note: When handling animals, be sure to bring a good pair of gloves which I always have around with me in my car. It’s in the picture above but being so dark it’s hard to tell!)

Step 4: Take a deep breath and get the job done

When catching a small animal in your mobile home, you want to be cautious but at the same time get the job done. Though it can be a bit scary, just remember you’re trying to save the animal so it can live a better life…outside of your home.

For me, I was definitely scared. But as I approached the tub, I realized this baby possum was stuck here and couldn’t get out.

Once I realized that, I took my pick-up tool being very careful and gently scooped up the animal. It was scared but didn’t move much.

Then, I dropped it into my bucket and voila: I successfully caught it. 🙂

Step 5: Seal off any openings in your mobile home so this does not happen again

Go through the house and seal off any openings. For mobile homes, it’s very common for animals to get underneath the home especially if there are gaps in the skirting.

For this home, there was an opening in the skirting:

So I ended up closing it up as much as I could before scheduling my handyman to come and attach it properly:

Then, I covered up the hole with a bucket temporarily where the animal got through which was a vent in the next room:

Step 6: Let the animal go

Since the baby possum wasn’t a threat, I decided to let it go outside. Here it is just before:

And here it is outside:

(Note: Be sure you let the animal go away from the home. You don’t want it to come back and end up on your doorstep!)

Conclusion

There you have it: How to remove a small animal from a mobile home.

I hope this “Terminology Tuesday” post has been helpful and has given you some useful information – it definitely has for me.

Happy investing!