Opossums look for shelter for a number of reasons. They want a comfortable place the weather the winters when 3-6 adult Opossums will come together in groups to stay warm. The need to live somewhere near accessible food and water. But most often, Female opossums need a secure, dry place to make their nests and have their young that is also accessible to food and water. If an opossum is in your attic, it is most likely a female looking to make a home for its young. The good news is trapping should be easy since the young will cling to their mother at all times. Once opossums are living in your attic, they will leave a gigantic mess complete with large messy droppings, food residue, and urine stains. If an opossum happens to die while living in the attic, the stench is nightmares are made of!

Here are a few ways to be rid of your opossum problem. You can trap it in a live trap. To do this you will purchase or make some type of live trap and find good bait. A medium sized live trap is the right size for opossums. Possums are "opportunistic feeders", so almost anything with a strong smell will work as bait. An exclusion or “one-way” funnel is another effective trap (of sorts). It is fitted over the opossums own entryway. This device allows critters to exit through their own entryway through a wide mouthed funnel. Once out, the smaller end collapses preventing re-entry.

You could try to just kill the opossum. These animals are slow, and lethargic by nature. If startled their first response is often to “play possum”. There slow nature makes it easy to shoot, bludgeon, or stab it. You can also try to capture the opossum with a loop, net, or sack. They can become aggressive if cornered, so please be careful.

Opossums are immune to rabies and Lyme disease even though they love to eat ticks. In fact, they do not get most diseases, so even if you could get a nasty bite or scratch you will probably not become ill from it.



Once you are opossum free, take steps to be sure, they cannot not come back. Make your home and yard unattractive to these critters. The opossum is at your home because of things we discussed earlier; Food, water, or shelter. Seal all entryways an opossum can use to access your house, and remove or secure all trash or debris. Make sure pet food and animal feed are stowed away. Get rid of any sources of standing water. Remain diligent and your opossum problem should be solved.

Read the How to get rid of opossums page for helpful information and to learn more about How to get rid of opossums in the attic

How to get rid of opossums in the attic