Here in New Zealand they are a big problem. They have no natural preditors & multiply at a vast rate. They eat thousands of tons of vegetation per annum. People are activley encouraged to kill them by any means. We have a timms trap in our garden that kills them by the neck. Schools have fund raising possum hunts where they are mostly shot at night in the trees. I don't know about avoiding capture but they can put up a bit of a fight if cornered by a dog.