Fast, Safe, and Humane Opossum Control for Your Home
If you hear strange noises at night, notice a musky odor, or find tracks and droppings around your home, you may have a visiting opossum.
If you hear strange noises in your attic at night, are experiencing a musky skunk-like smell, or notice damage to plants around the yard, it’s time to consider opossum removal. At Critter Control, we can safely remove the opossum from under the porch or shed, or inside your attic. Critter Control specializes in the humane removal and exclusion of opossums from residential and commercial properties.
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Signs of an Opossum Problem
Opossums, like many of the creatures we encounter, are nocturnal. Unless you see an opossum, it may be difficult to discern whether the critters in your attic or yard are opossums, raccoons, squirrels, or rodents. But, you know something’s causing damage or keeping you awake at night with its scampering and vocalizations.
Here are some signs to look out for:
- Strange Noises: Opossums are quite vocal and communicate using a wide range of sounds, including hissing, growling, clicking, and screeching.
- Musky Smell: Opossums secrete a musky smell to mark their territory.
- Gnaw Marks: If in your attic, under a porch, or in a shed, you might see gnawed wood and wires.
- Feces: Opossum feces are about one to two inches long, smooth on the sides, and curled on the ends. Older feces can be covered in a white or yellowish mold.
- Exterior Home Damage: Opossums will get into an attic by climbing up the side of a house or jumping onto a roof from a tree limb or power line. Their sharp claws can damage the roof and siding shingles.
- Disappearing Pet Food and Toppled Garbage Cans: Opossums will eagerly feast on trash and pet food that is easily accessible.
- Tracks: Opossum tracks look similar to human handprints because they have five toes on each foot.
Why Do Opossums Enter Homes & Businesses?
Photo Courtesy of Critter Control of Central Missouri
Opossums are looking for food, water, and shelter. Common reasons they invade properties include:
Unsecured trash & pet food
Easy food sources attract opossums.
Attic & chimney shelter
Opossums prefer warm, safe nesting sites.
Gaps & weak entry points
Opossums squeeze through vents, crawl spaces, softs, and roofing gaps.
Nearby water sources
Birdbaths, pet bowls, and leaky pipes invite opossums.
Why Are Opossums Dangerous?
Opossums are shy critters and won’t attack people, but they still can spread diseases and damage your property.
Health Issues
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Carry parasites like fleas and ticks.
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Spread diseases including leptospirosis, tuberculosis, and toxoplasmosis
Property Damage
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Gnawed wood and electrical wiring
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Damaged gardens from digging and foraging
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Scratch marks on siding or walls from climbing
Where Opossums Hide
They prefer quiet, warm, and enclosed locations such as:
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Attics and under roofs
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Basements or crawlspaces
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Under porches and decks
How Do We Get Rid of Opossums
Our licensed opossum removal professionals follow a proven process to eliminate opossums and prevent future invasions:
- Inspection & Identification
We find nests, entry points, and signs of activities. - Humane Trapping & Removal
Safe, effective, and compliant with wildlife laws. - Exclusions & Prevention
Sealing entry points to prevent re-entry.
Why Choose Critter Control?
40+ Years of Opossum Control Expertise
☑Licenses & Insured Wildlife Removal Professionals
☑Safe, Humane, & Environmentally Responsible Methods
☑100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee
Opossum Control Near You!
Opossums in the attic, garage, or under the house? Those scurrying sounds in the attic or the crawlspace might be an opossum.
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Opossums are about the size of a cat. They have a pointed face with a narrow snout, small eyes, and a long, hairless, prehensile tail that acts as a fifth limb, allowing them to climb well. Covered in grayish-white fur, the opossum has more teeth than any other mammal in the U.S.
Opossums are relatively small, measuring about 15 to 20 inches long and weighing between four and twelve pounds.
The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial native to North America. Their natural habitat is in woodland areas, along streams, marshes, or ponds. As these types of habitats are dwindling, opossums have become successful living wherever food, water, and shelter exist, including suburban environments.
Opossums have a relatively short life span in contrast to other mammals of their size. They usually live only one to two years in the wild. Mother opossums give birth to litters of tiny opossum babies the size of honeybees, known as joeys, which crawl inside the mother’s pouch and continue to grow. Once the joeys become too large for the pouch, they ride upon the mother’s back while she scavenges for food.
Although opossums prefer to build their nests in tree cavities or the abandoned dens of other animals, they often enter yards and homes, making their nests in attics, under porches and decks, and in sheds and crawl spaces. They construct nests of twigs, cloth scraps, grass, and other materials in dark, secluded places where opossums sleep during the day.
Opossums can be identified by some distinct signs that include:
- Tracks that look much like a human hand.
- Varied Vocalizations, such as hissing, growling, and clicking.
- Droppings that are cylindrical but curl up at the ends.
Opossums are not the most destructive critter and will generally avoid people instead of attack, they are a nuisance and can make a mess.
Even though opossums have an unappealing, rat-like appearance, they do not attack humans. To avoid confrontation, opossums play dead so predators leave them alone.
The danger they pose is that they carry diseases such as tuberculosis, spotted fever, and other neurological and respiratory illnesses. Opossums eat and carry ticks. Other parasites they carry include mites and lice.
Opossums harm property. If within a home or shed, they will gnaw wood and electrical wires, causing instability and the risk of fire. In the yard, they will help themselves to fruit and vegetables. They will also eat unsecured pet food left outside overnight and rummage through garbage cans or compost heaps to find bits and scraps to eat. Opossums have also been known to enter chicken coops and destroy birds, nests, and eggs.
Opossum control is the process of habitat modification that makes a yard and home less attractive to opossums.
These activities include sealing gaps to limit an opossum’s ability to get into walls, trimming branches that overhang the house so opossums can’t access the roof, and tightly sealing trash cans.
Though they are not prone to aggression, opossums are still wild animals. As such, any attempts at opossum trapping should be done by a trained professional. Critter Control specialists are educated in opossum behavior and can effectively and safely trap an opossum. Untrained individuals do not have the knowledge, resources, and certifications to safely and properly handle the marsupials as professionals do.
If you need an opossum removal service, call Critter Control at 1-800-Critter. Schedule a free inspection and let an opossum animal control expert at Critter Control create a plan for opossum removal, exclusion, and repair that will not only get rid of opossums but lessen the chance of future infestations.
- How to Identify Opossum Noises
- Are Opossums Dangerous?
- Opossum Diet
- Opossum Droppings
- Opossum Playing Dead
- Opossum Tracks
- Opossums and Rabies
- What Does an Opossum Look Like?
- Opossum Babies: Identification & Concerns
- Opossums in the Attic
- Opossums in the Day
- Opossums in the Walls – Prevention & Removal
- Opossums and Ticks: Do Opossums Eat Ticks?
- Do Opossums Hibernate in the Winter?
- Opossums on the Roof
- Opossum Under Your House, Deck, or Shed