How to Get Rid of Opossums In Attic



We perform opossum removal in over 1700 USA locations - serving the whole USA. It is my goal to educate the public about opossums and other wildlife, and provide tips for safe, effective, and responsible wildlife removal.

HUMANE HINTS: In some cases you can resolve a possum problem without trapping the animal - for example, you can eliminate whatever is attracting the opossum to your property - garbage, pet food, etc. If you use a cage trap, be sure to set it in the shade and relocate the opossum as soon as possible. Never attempt to poison opossums. Unfortunately, there are no effective or registered opossum repellents. Read below for how-to hints.


Summary of Step-By-Step Instructions if OUTSIDE:
1) Purchase large cage traps - rated raccoon size, usually about 10" x 12" x 30" or so.
2) Set traps and bait with marshmallows, or, if stray cats are not a problem in the area, cat food works as well. Make sure traps are scent-free and flush to the ground, and set in the shade.
3) Relocate any trapped opossum at least 10 miles from capture site.
4) If you have opossums living under a deck, shed, or other structure, install an exclusion barrier - steel mesh around the perimeter, and down at least 12 into the ground, with bottom of mesh sloping outward.

Summary of Step-By-Step Instructions If IN THE ATTIC:
1) Inspect the house to find out how they are getting inside - likely somewhere on the roof, or eaves.
2) Search inside the attic, you might find the adult(s). You can actually snare or grab them in the attic.
3) You can actually set traps inside the attic, if you wish, but you must check them frequently. It might be better to set traps outside, on the roof near the entry hole, or better yet, to set one-way exclusion doors on the hole.
4) If you've trapped a possum, it might have young clinging to it, and relocate them all together, at least 10 miles from capture site.
5) Repair the entry hole and clean and decontaminate the opossum feces out of the attic.

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How to Get Rid of Opossums - The best method is to trap and remove opossums in large cage traps. If you have possums living in an attic, they can be excluded via one-way exclusion doors, but cage traps also work in this case. The traps can be set in the attic or on the roof, and either way, you need to check the traps frequently so that the animal does not suffer. Read more information about opossum trapping here. If the possum is living under a shed or porch or deck, then after you trap and remove it, you ought to install an exclusion barrier.



The opossum is the only marsupial that is native to the Americas. While it once originated in South America, the opossum is now making its home in areas all the way up in Canada. The opossum is easy to identify because it is unlike any other animal in North America. It is about the same size as a large house cat and has a white face, brown body and a long hairless pink tail. It is a common animal to see in garbage bins, alongside highways and in your backyard, which is the last place that you want it to be.

Opossums are nuisances and can damage your yard and your home. Opossums are very food driven and if they think they can score a meal from your house or yard they are sure to come back again and again to ravage your garden, garbage and house. Opossums make a huge mess when they have found accessible garbage cans; they will also eat your pet's food and break into your house or under your house. They will find the smallest of holes and chew them bigger until they can fit into them. Popular places that opossums will take up residence include your garage, attic and under the porch. They like to live in attics, and will rip up the insulation in your walls and attic, chew on wires and will most likely die in your house which causes a biohazard to you and your family. Even if they are outside, opossums carry harmful bacteria and germs under their claws and in their mouths, so if they bite your pet, they can transfer diseases like rabies to them.

Getting rid of opossums is much more difficult than you would think as some methods simply do not work on them. For example, if you thing that you can use coyote or fox urine to deter opossums from coming around you are sorely mistaken and will spend money on expensive devices and chemical that won't do anything. Other devices like ultrasonic sound emitters also do not work on opossums. Read about how to keep opossum away - prevention techniques.


However, you probably want to know what does work on getting rid of these pesky critters. The first thing that you should do is call your local animal control office, the state fish and game department or your local branch of the department of agriculture. Different states have different rules for how you should go about ridding your property of opossums. Furthermore, these offices will sometimes offer free services or can lend you live traps.

The most common and safest way to get rid of opossums is to trap them. There are many cheap and effective traps that you can pick up at hardware stores or in some of the offices listed above. The next thing you will want to do is to bait the trap with something they like to eat. You can bait that trap with things like tomatoes, melons, grapes, bananas and apples. You must set the traps at night and close them during the day because opossums are only active at night and if you leave the trap open during the day you will only catch squirrels or cats.

Once you have trapped the critter you will have to relocate them into a local wooded area that is at least ten miles away from your own house, otherwise they will come back. After you have relocated the opossum you must take the steps to prevent them from coming back such as securing your garbage cans, patching the holes that they made to get into your house and keeping your pet's food inside. If you take these steps to get rid of opossums you will not have any problem keeping them out of your house and out of your yard.

We can help you identify an opossum using only its tracks, and let you know whether it’s okay to pet the little critter, and why it is they play dead. If you do have an opossum in your midst learn if a Pest Control Company will remove opossum and the pros and cons of hiring a pro or removing opossums yourself. If you’re tackling the problem yourself, be sure to read up on our analysis of High Pitch Sound Deterrent Machines. You can also find information on how to kill an opossum in the yard as well as how to humanely kill an opossum in a cage. Never fear, we also have information on how to relocate your opossum safely . Learn, too, whether or not opossums hibernate, how to tell whether or not they are sick, and what to do if you find a nest of baby opossums or even just an orphaned one.

More in-detail how-to opossum removal articles:


Information about how to kill an opossum - with poison or other methods.
Information about how to catch an opossum - remove one stuck in the house.
Information about opossum repellent - analysis of types and effectiveness.
Read about What Bait To Use For Opossum Traps here.

Opossum Information & Facts

Virginia Opossum Appearance: Opossums can vary in size from two to four feet from the nose to the end of the tail. This drastic size range is complimented by an equally drastic weight range of between one and fifteen pounds. Silver and black in color, these animals have a hairless tail which can be used with some dexterity to grasp branches and other objects. The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial in North America, and as such, it has a bodily pouch used to transport and protect offspring. This animal also has opposable thumbs on the rear feet, an adaptation that allows maneuverability in trees.

Opossum Habitat and Behavior: A nomadic creature, opossums tend to travel where food is most plentiful. An animal that seeks shelter off the ground, these marsupials are mostly at home in trees, though a human dwelling will suit them fine. Opossums are native to deciduous forests but will travel into urban areas to feed off human garbage and pet food. Though they rarely make permanent homes, an opossum will stay in an area as long as a food source is abundant.

A main characteristic of the Virginia opossum is its ability to feign a state of death. A defense mechanism, this ability occurs when the animal feels threatened. The false death state is not a controllable response, but more of an involuntary reaction to specific stimuli. An opossum in this state can remain comatose for up to four hours. While unconscious, the animal will emit a foul odor from the anal glands inside the rectum. This odor, combined with an opened-mouth grimace, portrays an accurate and believable visual of death.

Opossums can have up to three litters a year, breeding during the months of late fall and early winter. Infant marsupials must climb into their mother's pouch for continuation of development. This pouch not only provides protection and further development, it will facilitate nutrient and waste transfer for a short period of time. Most opossum pouches are really just thick skin folds, and some opossums do not have them at all. Young born to a mother with little or no pouch will secure themselves to her teats for the duration of time that would have been spent inside a pouch. When the opossums are old enough, they climb onto the mother's back and eventually detach at the time of weaning.


Opossum Diet: Opossums are omnivores and eat a variety of invertebrates as well as small mammals such as mice. These animals will scavenge human garbage and will also dig up roots and bulbs. An opportunistic feeder, opossums will consume a large variety of edible matter, though they tend to be partial to snails.

Opossum Nuisance Concerns: Opossums are generally wandering feeders, though they can initiate conflict with humans when the animal moves in to an attic or under a porch. Opossums are also drawn to pet food, and this love of domestic fare can create fighting with the household pets. An opossum in the home can be very unsanitary. The animals leave large piles of waste throughout the entire area they inhabit.

Virginia Opossum Diseases: The Virginia opossum is remarkably resistant to many diseases found in the animal population of North America. Rabies, for example, rarely infects this marsupial, a fact widely contributed to the animal's low body temperature. Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection common in the wild population is one disease opossums have been identified as carriers of, though this is infrequent. External parasite on the opossum may spread secondary diseases, like typhus or Lyme disease.

This site is intended to provide opossum education and information, so that you can make an informed decision if you need to deal with a opossum problem. This site provides many opossum control articles and strategies, if you wish to attempt to solve the problem yourself. If you are unable to do so, which is likely with many cases of opossum removal, please go to the home page and click the USA map, where I have wildlife removal experts listed in over 500 cites and towns, who can properly help you with your nuisance opossum.

Read more about opossums through my educational articles, written based on my years of professional experience. Read about the kind of Damage, and if opossums climb or live in trees. Find out if Possums attack cats, dogs or other pets and what to do if an opposum gets What if an Opossum Gets inside your House. Learn why opossums tend to Die Under Houses and if opossums hiss. I can let you know if the City or County Animal Services will help with an opossum issue, and if it is safe to handle an opossum with Bare Hands. Read my advice on how to keep opossum out of your Garden and Garbage Cans. Learn how to use One-Way Exclusion Funnels to remove opossums and if you should Feed a Baby Opossum.

Read whether opossum feces are Dangerous To Touch Or Breathe and what Equipment do you need to trap an opossum. Find out the Diseases Opossums Carry and about the opossum's Natural Diet. Find out if an opossum that is active during the day actually Rabid. Read whether opossums are dangerous to cats, dogs or other pets and what to do if you are bit by an opossum. Learn if an opossum uner a shed or porch will have a Nest of Babies, and my best advice for how to keep opossums Away from Your Property.

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