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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsIn most cases, the best way to get rid of a possum—more precisely, a Virginia opossum—is to remove what attracted it and close the route into your yard or buildings. A healthy opossum passing through at night is usually not an infestation and does not need to be trapped or relocated. Start by bringing food indoors, securing waste, removing shelter, and inspecting gaps beneath decks, porches, sheds, and crawl spaces.
Use the five methods below in order. If an animal is injured, acting abnormally, trapped indoors, or potentially separated from young, stop before handling it and contact animal control, a licensed wildlife-control operator, or a permitted wildlife rehabilitator.
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Possum or opossum? What you may be seeing
In North America, the animal commonly called a “possum” in everyday speech is usually the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). It is a nocturnal, omnivorous marsupial that may visit suburban yards for food, water, or shelter.
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One nighttime sighting does not prove that the animal has taken up residence. Opossums may eat fallen fruit, spilled birdseed, garbage, compost, pet food, or insects. They generally avoid people, but a wild animal should never be cornered, touched, hand-fed, or treated as a pet.
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A daytime sighting is not automatically a sign of disease. Opossums can be active outside their usual hours, especially when food or shelter is readily available. However, unusual tameness, aggression, disorientation, obvious injury, difficulty moving, or inability to leave are reasons to keep your distance and call for help.
Opossums are sometimes promoted as dependable tick-control animals. That claim is not supported by the available field evidence, according to a Penn State Extension review. Do not keep or attract one for supposed Lyme-disease or tick protection.
1. Remove food and water attractants
Make the yard unrewarding at night. This is usually more effective and safer than trying to frighten an opossum away.
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- Use a tight-fitting or locking lid on garbage cans.
- Put food scraps and compost in a closed, animal-resistant container.
- Pick up fallen apples, berries, and other ripe fruit promptly.
- Sweep up spilled birdseed beneath feeders.
- Suspend bird feeders securely, move them away from decks and buildings, or pause feeding temporarily.
- Do not intentionally feed the opossum.
If garbage is the main attraction, a locking outdoor garbage can or properly fitted animal-resistant trash-can lid may help, but it is not a substitute for closing the lid correctly and cleaning up spills. Feeding wildlife can make animals less wary of people and pets and can lead to repeated visits.
2. Remove shelter and reduce access to hiding places
Opossums may den beneath a deck, porch, shed, crawl space, pile of lumber, or dense vegetation. You do not need to make the entire yard bare; focus on protected areas close to the house and other structures.
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- Clear brush piles, dense debris, unused building materials, and accumulated clutter near foundations.
- Keep garage, shed, basement, coop, and crawl-space doors closed when they are not in use.
- Repair damaged vents and screens.
- Trim overhanging branches that give animals access to roofs, attics, or upper-level openings.
- Store firewood, lumber, and construction materials off the ground and away from walls where practical.
Look for droppings, disturbed soil, nesting material, tracks, or a recurring entry point. Avoid disturbing an animal that may be using a den until you know whether dependent young are present.
3. Exclude the opossum with hardware cloth—but check for occupants first
For a gap beneath a deck, porch, shed, or other structure, a properly installed barrier is the durable solution. Do not seal the opening while the opossum is inside. A mother may have young hidden in the den, and sealing the entrance can trap or separate them.
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- Inspect the entrance from a safe distance and look for more than one possible opening.
- Smooth a thin patch of flour or loose soil outside the suspected entrance after the animal has had an opportunity to leave.
- Check the patch after dark or the following morning for fresh tracks. New tracks indicate continued use.
- Listen for scratching, vocalizing, or movement. Do not reach into the opening.
- If you suspect young are present, contact a wildlife professional before closing anything.
For a gap that is confirmed empty, use 1/4-inch hardware cloth or another sturdy, corrosion-resistant screen. Fasten it securely to sound framing rather than simply laying it over the hole. Where digging is possible, UC Integrated Pest Management recommends burying the mesh to about 6 inches; a wider buried or outward-facing skirt can make digging beneath the edge more difficult.
Hardware cloth is a screening material, not a repellent. It works only when the animal is out, every other opening has been found, and the barrier is attached strongly enough to resist pushing and digging. Check local construction, wildlife, and animal-control requirements before installation. Call the utility-marking service required in your area before digging.
When a one-way door may be appropriate
A one-way exclusion door can allow an animal living beneath a structure to leave while preventing re-entry. It should be used only after the operator has assessed the site, accounted for dependent young, and closed alternative openings. If the door separates a mother from young, it creates a welfare problem rather than solving one. When in doubt, have a licensed wildlife-control operator handle the inspection and exclusion.
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4. Make the yard less inviting instead of relying on scare devices
Motion-activated lights, a talk radio, or other disturbances may occasionally change where an animal spends time, but frightening devices are not dependable long-term opossum control. Wildlife-damage-management guidance identifies such devices as impractical or ineffective for lasting control.
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Use lighting or noise only as a temporary supplement while you remove food, reduce shelter, and prepare a proper exclusion barrier. Do not use:
- Mothballs
- Bleach or ammonia
- Hot-pepper mixtures
- Poison or toxic bait
- Glue traps
- Improvised chemical repellents
These substances can injure children, pets, wildlife, and the person applying them. The available wildlife-management guidance does not identify a reliable registered toxicant or repellent for routine opossum control. Never put chemicals into a den or beneath a deck.
5. Get professional or agency help when necessary
Call local animal control, a licensed wildlife-control operator, or a permitted wildlife rehabilitator when:
- The opossum is injured, sick, unusually tame, aggressive, disoriented, or unable to move normally.
- You find a young opossum alone and are unsure whether it is actually orphaned.
- The animal is trapped inside a house, garage, attic, chimney, or other enclosed space.
- You cannot determine whether young are inside a den.
- The animal repeatedly enters a building despite attractant removal and exclusion work.
- You cannot safely inspect or repair the entry point.
State and local rules may control trapping, transport, release, nuisance wildlife work, and euthanasia. Do not transport or release a trapped opossum across town, into a park, or onto another property until your state wildlife agency, local animal control, or a qualified professional confirms that the action is legal and appropriate. Relocation is not automatically humane or legal. For example, California rules prohibit relocating opossums without written permission, while other jurisdictions impose their own property, release, or reporting requirements.
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If you need structural exclusion, ask the contractor or wildlife operator exactly what will happen before work begins: how they will check for young, which openings they will close, whether a one-way door is needed, and how they will comply with local wildlife rules. A professional exclusion service is generally a better fit than buying a trap when the problem involves a building or recurring entry.
Safe handling, bites, and scratches
Never pick up, pet, corner, hand-feed, or attempt to restrain a wild opossum. Keep children and pets away and give the animal a clear route to leave. Do not touch a dead opossum; contact animal control for guidance.
Opossums rarely carry rabies compared with several major wildlife reservoir species, but they are not rabies-proof. If you are bitten or scratched:
- Move away from the animal safely.
- Wash the wound immediately with soap and running water for 15 minutes.
- Contact a healthcare provider or local public-health department promptly for an exposure assessment.
- Report the incident to animal control as directed by local officials.
Do not try to capture the animal yourself to provide it for testing unless public-health or animal-control officials specifically instruct you to do so.
A practical opossum-exclusion checklist
Work through this list at dusk or during daylight, without approaching the animal:
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- Pet food and water are indoors overnight.
- Garbage and compost containers are closed and secured.
- Fallen fruit and spilled birdseed have been removed.
- Brush, debris, and unused materials near structures have been cleared.
- Garage, shed, coop, basement, and crawl-space doors are closed.
- Potential roof and attic access from overhanging branches has been reduced.
- All openings beneath decks, porches, sheds, and foundations have been inspected.
- A flour or soil tracking patch has been placed outside a suspected den.
- No opening has been sealed until the animal and dependent young are accounted for.
- Local digging, wildlife, and utility-marking requirements have been checked.
- Animal control or a licensed wildlife professional has been contacted if the animal is injured, trapped, abnormal, or still entering a structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will an opossum leave on its own?
Often, yes. A healthy opossum may be passing through while searching for food or shelter. Remove attractants and leave it an unobstructed route out. If it is living beneath a structure, use tracking and professional guidance before sealing the opening.
Should I remove an opossum that I see during the day?
Not solely because it is daytime. Opossums can occasionally be active during daylight. Call for help if the animal is disoriented, unusually tame, aggressive, injured, unable to move normally, or trapped.
Can I relocate an opossum to a park?
Do not assume relocation is legal or humane. Rules differ by state and locality, and moving an animal can separate a mother from young. Ask animal control or the state wildlife agency what is permitted before trapping, transporting, or releasing it.
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UC Integrated Pest Management guidance identifies 1/4-inch hardware cloth for opossum exclusion and describes burying it up to about 6 inches to discourage digging. This is wildlife-management guidance, not a universal building-code requirement; install it only after confirming the structure is empty and checking local requirements.
The Bottom Line
The humane fix is exclusion, not extermination: remove overnight food and water, secure garbage and compost, reduce hiding places, verify that no opossum or young remain, and then close entry points with a sturdy barrier. Skip poisons and improvised chemicals, and involve animal control or a licensed wildlife professional when the animal is injured, abnormal, indoors, or subject to local trapping and relocation rules.
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