Opossums are the only marsupials in North America. While they are relatively docile creatures, they can cause damage to your home, get stuck between your walls, eat your food supplies, and leave their feces everywhere.
What do you do about opossum removal? The easiest way to remove opossums from your property is to contact a wildlife control agency like ours. We have the knowledge, experience, and equipment for best methods on removing and relocating the creatures, with minimum fuss for you. But if you are looking for the means to get rid of them yourself, read on.
HOW TO GET RID OF OPOSSUMS
Opossums are omnivorous creatures and can scrounge for snails and plant roots just as happily as digging through your trash or eating from your pet’s food bowl. So keeping a tight lid on your food supplies won’t cut off access to theirs, or necessarily encourage them to leave.
OPOSSUM REPELLENTS
There are a few products that claim to be effective opossum repellents, including:
- Commercial repellents and sprays
- Motion-activated sprinklers
- Audio devices (also labeled as ultrasonic emitters) are ineffective and have been declared fraudulent by the Fair Trade Commission.
However, when opossums have found someplace to nest, they are usually there to stay, even if it means finding new paths to avoid sprinklers or other repellents. For this reason, the only way to get rid of them is to remove them physically, especially if they have made their home in your attic.
TRAPPING OPOSSUMS
Don’t try to catch an opossum by hand, even with gloves on. They are wild animals and can carry diseases; the last thing you want is to be bitten or scratched by them if they struggle to escape.
If you are going to catch them yourself, you’ll need to set traps. There are two main options:
- Lethal traps are indiscriminate and will kill whatever they catch. You’ll also have to dispose of the carcass.
- Live traps (such as cage traps) are humane, unlike lethal traps, and allow you to relocate the animal.
Before setting out to buy traps, however, you need to check your local state laws. There are regulations in place regarding trapping, relocating, and killing wildlife. In some areas where opossums are overpopulated, it is illegal to release the animals; catching them may come with the obligation to kill them.
SETTING THE TRAP
For the best results, knowing the ideal locations and bait to catch the opossums is essential.
- Bait the trap with overripe fruit or whole raw chicken eggs (don’t use meat, as it will attract cats).
- Set the trap near the nest, or anywhere you have observed high opossum activity.
- Opossums are nocturnal, so set the traps just after sunset. Check them early in the morning and before going to bed.
Once you have removed the animal, make sure that you seal any entry points to prevent other animals from taking its place.
If you find opossums living in your yard or home, you’ll want to remove them swiftly. The easiest way to do that is to get a professional to do the job for you.
The Damage that Opossums Do to Your Property
Opossums are one of the most common animals you’ll find on your property, and unluckily they’re also some of the most damaging. These little creatures are not afraid to worm their way onto your property, leaving behind a trail of damage and potential danger. That’s why opossum prevention is crucial, visit here to learn how to keep opossums away. Opossums can cause serious damage to your attic, the underneath of your house, to your exterior, and much more. While it might seem easier to leave these animals be, there are countless potential damages that opossums can cause if left alone.
Physical Damages
Most commonly, opossums stay within an attic or the highest level of your property. In these situations, opossums can leave behind torn-up air ducts, insulation, walls, and flooring, all of which can have negative effects on you. These animals may use their tiny, but very sharp, teeth to damage your property, or may claw their way into different areas. Replacement air ducts are incredibly expensive, and repairing walls, flooring, or insulation isn’t too cheap either.
Alongside messing up your attic, opossums can also tear through or destroy wires and cables which can be incredibly difficult to replace. With their sharp teeth and claws, these animals may accidentally cut into the soft exterior, or even purposefully play around with wires. These cut wires and cables not only have a cost attached to them, but they also have the potential to cause serious, long-term, damage to your property. Fires, insulating damages, and lost utilities are all common results of opossums.
Biological Damages
In addition to scratching attics and damaging wires, opossums also have the chance to leave behind feces, urine, and more. These items, while already dangerous to you or your family, can stain or damage an opossum’s habitat. Opossums leave behind an absurdly large amount of waste, which can prove quite damaging. These animals’ urine can stain features, the feces can be incredibly stinky while promoting parasites and bacteria, and food can rot.
There’s also the chance for an opossum to die inside on your property, oftentimes attracting more parasites, bacteria, and even other animals. Yes, opossums can even lead to other animals invading your property and causing more damage. That’s on top of the physical damage that opossums’ claws can cause, the biological damage, and the potential fire hazard posed.
Heading Outdoors
While those previous damages are more than enough to be concerned about, opossums can potentially damage items around your main property as well. Any gardens, trees, outdoor areas, or more, can and probably will be attacked by an opossum, as they oftentimes have food sources for the animals. Gardens are easy targets, attracting opossums in search of food or waste, while other areas may have lesser attractors like flies or leftover food.
Preventing and Fixing Opossum Damage
All these damages show just how important it is to not only take care of your property, such as removing invasive animals but also how much you need to immediately take care of opossum problems. Our experts, here at Precise Exterminating Service, Inc, offer pest control and animal removal services, including with opossums. In addition to taking care of your opossum troubles, our team also provides damage repair and exclusion solutions to help you get your property back to normal. We understand how tough these situations can be, so check out our services if you’re facing some of these issues.
Even with our help though, it’s important to take matters into your hands before anything even occurs. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of animal removal services(?). While the physical damage that opossums leave behind is already enough to be worried about, the real worry is with the animal’s waste left behind. Remember, this waste can not only attract other pests and harmful organisms but also tear away certain materials and potentially make you sick.
Opossums can cause potentially quite a lot of damage to your property, so it’s important to understand what they’re capable of, and how important it is to get help immediately. If you’re dealing with opossums, call our team at Precise Exterminating Service as soon as possible. We’ll get over to your property to get rid of the problem and work to help repair damages along the way.
How to Remove Possums Under Shed
A common wildlife complaint across properties in the United States is that of nuisance wildlife nesting underneath the shed or porch. Unfortunately, the dark and quiet of these den areas make them highly pleasant and attractive for a host of wild animals, like raccoons, skunks, and of course, possums.
In the lines below, we’ll look at what you can do to remove possums from under your shed, and also how you can attempt to prevent such a problem from appearing in the future.
Getting them out
First things first, let’s make sure we remove the possums from under your shed before discussing prevention.
Live trapping
Using a live trap is one of the best ways to capture a nuisance wild animal without actually hurting it, not to mention the only choice if you’re looking for a humane option here. A live trap is largely similar to a traditional trap, with the addition that it’s not actually lethal, and won’t harm the trapped opossum. Instead, it will just immobilize the critter, and allow you to safely release it out in the wild.
This can be an effective method for getting rid of one opossum or two, though we do recommend checking local regulations, to find out if you can actually release the opossum out into the wild, once trapped beforehand.
Repellents
Another good option for convincing troublesome opossums to leave is to use natural deterrents. Stuffing the den under your shed with an ammonia-soaked rag can cause such an intense, nauseating smell, that it makes the den under the shed inhospitable to possums.
Remember, animals are quite likely to vacate a living space if it becomes unappealing to them, so stinking up the place can turn out to be a great choice that also won’t harm the opossums.
Alternatively, you could also try using predator urine directly in or around the den. This can either be procured naturally (from a pet dog), or bought in specialty stores that commercialize fox and dog urine, particularly for this purpose.
The presence of a predator will cause possums to vacate the premises quite rapidly.
Call a wildlife removal company.
If you’re not looking to get down and dirty, or wish to have a guaranteed result, we suggest calling a professional wildlife removal company to get rid of your possum problem for you.
Not only are these people equipped with the proper tools and protective gear, but they also come with a lot of experience in wild animal removal, and can also give a helping hand in regards to preventing future invasions.
Preventing possums from bothering you in the future.
Speaking of which, let’s talk about the different ways in which you can prevent future invasions.
Seal up the den.
The first thing you need to do once you’ve removed the animals from underneath your shed is to fill up the hole they inhabited. Otherwise, you’re just asking for trouble, or rather, inviting another wild animal to move in.
You can seal up space under the shed with dirt, concrete, expandable foam, and other similar materials that are difficult to shift.
Install a fence.
An important step towards protecting your property is to install a fence, as this will keep out opossums, and many other types of nuisance wildlife.
Remove food and water sources.
Remember that the number one reason why opossums are flocking to your property is they’re searching for food and water. So try to remove obvious sources, such as exposed trash cans, pet food bowls left out, ponds or bird feeders, leaky pipes, and the like.