Furry critters the size of a large housecat, opossums are known to be calm creatures that are wary of humans. However, docile as they might be, most people find the idea of a household infestation of opossum quite unpleasant — especially when they can carry diseases and parasites with them. Here are a few ways you can deter and remove infesting opossums from your property.
What Attracts Opossums to Homes?
Opossums are master scavengers. They love trash and pet food, and if you have any fruits and vegetables in the garden, they might be inclined to help themselves to a harvest. By eliminating or securing these attractants, you greatly reduce the risk of an opossum dropping by for a visit. Also, ensure that you leave no points of entry into your house exposed such as an accessible doggy-door.
The Dangers of Opossums
While opossums are generally harmless marsupials that rarely get rabies, they do pose serious health risks and can inflict heavy property damage. Some of the more common infectious diseases opossums are known to carry include tuberculosis, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, and Chagas disease.
Infesting Opossum Removal
Once inside your home, opossums will build a nest in hard to reach places to raise their young. The most humane method of removing opossums and their offspring is by catching them with live-trap cages and relocating them far away from residential and commercial properties. When caught, opossums will often show their displeasure by a display of teeth, growling, hissing, biting, and releasing a yellow-green fluid from their anal glands—unpleasant behavior (to say the least) that you don’t want occurring in your home.
Should You Remove an Opossum on Your Own?
To avoid the threat of injury or unsanitary mess, it is very important that you never attempt to trap an opossum without the right safety tools and professional training. Interacting with an opossum can put you at serious risk of catching a wide range of diseases and sustaining injuries, so it’s best to put the matter into qualified hands.
The expert technicians at Critter Control® of Tampa will thoroughly inspect your property to carry out the best course of action that will humanely remove infesting opossums. We clean the mess left behind and fix damages they cause to ensure your property remains opossum-free.
