COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND BIOSECURITY An opposum was captured at Pier 1 at Honolulu Harbor on Tuesday.

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COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND BIOSECURITY

An opposum was captured at Pier 1 at Honolulu Harbor on Tuesday.

COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND BIOSECURITY An opposum was captured at Pier 51 at Honolulu Harbor on Tuesday.

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COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND BIOSECURITY

An opposum was captured at Pier 51 at Honolulu Harbor on Tuesday.

COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND BIOSECURITY An opposum was captured at Pier 1 at Honolulu Harbor on Tuesday.

COURTESY HAWAII DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND BIOSECURITY An opposum was captured at Pier 51 at Honolulu Harbor on Tuesday.

Hawaii agriculture officials captured two live opossums on Tuesday at separate locations at Honolulu Harbor, the state Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity said. Another opossum was caught at Hilo Harbor last month.

According to the department, the first opossum was spotted at about 6:45 a.m. at Pier 1 after a shipping company reported seeing it running around the container yard overnight. Inspectors from the Plant Quarantine Branch responded and captured the animal using a pole and net after it took shelter under a shipping container.

At about 11 a.m., workers from a different shipping company at Pier 51 on the opposite side of the harbor reported catching another opossum in a cat trap. Agriculture inspectors were dispatched to retrieve it.

On Sept. 15, inspectors in Hilo trapped another opossum at Pier 1 three days after one was seen crawling into the undercarriage of a docked vehicle. The car was later moved into a shipping container, where traps were set with cat food and water.

As a health precaution, all three animals were euthanized and sent for rabies testing. The Hilo opossum tested negative, and tissue samples from the two caught on Tuesday are being sent to the mainland for analysis.

State officials noted that several opossums have been found in Hawaii in recent years, often arriving as stowaways in cargo or containers. Captures have occurred in Kona, Iwilei, Kalihi and downtown Honolulu, as well as earlier cases dating back to 2005 at Honolulu International Airport and Hickam Air Force Base.

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Opossums are native to North America and are omnivorous, feeding on insects, bird eggs, rodents, fruits and vegetables. While they are less likely to carry rabies than other mammals, they can transmit parasites and other diseases, according to the department.

Anyone who spots an illegal animal is urged to call the state’s pest hotline at 808-643-PEST (7378).