Hearing critters scurrying in your attic or crawlspace can be alarming. Most might expect to find mice or a rat. But the critter in your attic could be an opossum. Opossums are native to North America. These marsupials are nocturnal animals that can reproduce with a litter of babies in your home and cause an infestation before you know it.
Opossums are wild animals that come into your home through entry holes. They are omnivores that can eat pet food, leave feces (poop) in your home, and bring in parasites, including fleas.
Finding an opossum in the attic is more common than most might think. To learn how to get rid of possums in your attic, keep reading.
How To Find Opossoms In Your Attic
Follow these steps to figure out if an opossum has invaded your attic.
1. Locate the Source
To get rid of opossums living in your attic, locate both the entry point and attractant before you can focus on getting rid of the opossum.
Opossums are typically classified as a pest species because they scavenge and live in attics and crawl spaces. In an attic, opossums can make noise while crawling around, leave large droppings, spread pathogens and parasites, and damage ducts and insulation. You might find females in your attic because they are safe spaces for them to raise their young.
Additionally, these animals can pass away in your attic or walls, causing a huge odor issue. Baby opossums can fall from attics and become stuck inside your walls as well. It’s important to remove opossums from your attic as soon as you suspect they’re there.
2. Check and Seal Loose Boards and Holes
One of the easiest ways for opossums to gain access to an attic or a crawl space is through loose fascia boards. Possums are great climbers, and by sealing up all the possible entryways in your home, you’re removing the methods an opossum can use to skirt its way inside.
Check out the video below to see how this simple process can be accomplished yourself.
Be sure to check the structure of your home (inside and out) on a regular basis to make sure that everything is still in good order. This should be done as a routine animal control strategy. If you haven’t already implemented this every few weeks, now is a good time to start.
3. Fill Access Entries and Holes With Caulk
If there are any holes or small openings in your home’s structure or around windows, seal them with caulk immediately.
Each unsealed hole can be a point of entry for a small pest, or manipulated into a large entry point for an opossum, raccoon, mouse, or even a skunk. By sealing up your home, you’re closing all the doors to the outside — as they should be.
4. Search for Deceased Animals
Sometimes, animals sneak upstairs and pass away without homeowners knowing. An opossum itself could be that animal, or it could be a mouse or rat that an opossum (a scavenger) seeks out in your attic.
Because opossums regularly feast on dead animals when given the chance, it’s not unusual for this to be a leading factor in their arrival. If an opossum smells a decaying carcass in an attic, it will make its way up there to pick the bones clean.
Removing an Opossum From Your Attic
Once you’ve found and resolved the issues that led to the opossum inside your home, you can begin the process of wildlife removal.
Take a look below at some of the best methods to ward off these critters and get your attic back.
1. Purchase a Trap
There are several types of traps for pest animals on the market. You can use them to confine opossums that have taken residency in your attic.
Live traps, or cage traps, work using a system of springs attached to the door and the bait platform. Once an opossum crawls inside the trap to take the bait, the door will snap shut behind it, locking it inside. After identifying areas of high activity, set traps to capture the animal and return it to a safe place.
For our recommendations on top traps, be sure to check out our guide to opossum traps and cages. Be sure to check the trap twice a day to see if you’ve caught anything. You will want to release them quickly so they don’t become ill from malnourishment.
2. Clean Up
More often than not, opossums are simply looking for a place to crash for a few weeks. They like to make dens out of unorganized spaces.
If your attic is disorganized, opossums see this as prime real estate to settle down in. By cleaning, you’re removing the opportunity for the opossum to be left alone in its solitude. It’ll likely scurry away, as these animals are very shy and passive in nature.
Watch how this opossum reacts when freed from a trap where it spent the night. The animal is so afraid of the human letting it go that it seems to be paralyzed.
3. Call a Professional
When all else fails, a trained animal trapping professional to handle these animals. It may cost you a few extra bucks, but in the end, you’ll be paying to have your opossum removed safely and securely.
In addition to that, you’ll get peace of mind of knowing that your wildlife control or pest control professional can offer you expert advice on how to prevent opossums from coming back in the future.
Repellents and Deterrents for Opossum Removal
While there are a ton of deterrents targeted toward opossums and other pesky animals that you can purchase and use to sway these animals out, I don’t recommend that you use them in your home.
Unfortunately, these products typically employ an undesirable quality (aroma, sound, or light) to drive off the opossums. For example: many repellents are made from the urine of predators, which is pungent. In the garden, these may work well. In the attic, the smell wafts through the vents and throughout the entire home.
Deterrents and repellents like ultrasonic repellers can be effective, but I don’t recommend using them inside your home.
Check and seal up loose boards
One of the easiest ways for opossums to gain access to an attic or a crawl space is through loose fascia boards. By sealing up all the possible entryways in your home, you’re eliminating the methods an opossum can use to sneak inside.
Final Thoughts on Opossum Removal
Removing opossums from your attic is difficult, but it’s possible to do so. The most important thing to remember is that the presence of these animals in the attic is often the first indication of a larger problem — an unsealed entry point somewhere, an unchecked food source out in the open (including insides of trash cans), or both.
Make sure to locate these key aspects in your attic before driving the opossum out, or they’ll come back in. Clean up the attic, set traps, keep garbage cans clean (inside and out), and when all else fails, know you can recruit an exterminator or animal control expert to help.
FAQs About Getting Rid of Opossums in Your Attic
Do opossums have opposable thumbs?
Yes, opossums are North American marsupials with opposable thumbs on their hind feet. They’re helpful for climbing and manipulating objects they hold.
Will a possum eventually leave?
Opossums are nomads, and often they’ll likely leave your outside property on their own. They’re more likely to seek shelter inside human structures during cold weather and when raising young. Removing attractants, such as pet food and garbage, can encourage them to leave on their own without your intervention.
What will make an opossum go away?
Opossums can leave on their own, but there are several humane methods to encourage their migration away from your home more quickly. You can remove attractants like food sources and shelter to discourage their stay. Keeping garbage cans and pet food areas clean and sealing entry places are good places to start.