How To Keep Opossums From Entering Your Yard

Opossums are generally solitary creatures, and are known to stay in one area as long as food and water are readily available. Primarily nocturnal, opossums prefer quiet, secure areas to sleep during the day, and will sometimes seek out ready-made burrows for a form of temporary shelter. Successful opossum removal depends on removing materials that attract these pests to your property and to limit their access to shelter.

Opossums have remarkably well-developed immune systems, and many species exhibit partial or total immunity to the venom of rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and other vipers. Interestingly, opossums are about eight times less likely than wild dogs to carry rabies.

Perhaps the most notable behavior of the opossums, however, is its unique ability to play dead, or possum, as the old idiom goes. When an opossum is threatened or harmed, it will involuntarily mimic the appearance and smell of a corpse. When this hard-wired defense mechanism takes effect, its lips will be drawn back, saliva will foam from the mouth, the eyes close or rollback, and a foul-smelling liquid is secreted from the anal glands.

Though this behavior is apparently effective against would-be predators, the animal is, for all intents and purposes, completely defenseless during this period, and can be poked, rolled over, and even carried away without eliciting a response. The opossum will typically regain consciousness within forty minutes, although the process can sometimes take up to four hours. In conjunction with their ability to play dead, adult opossums will growl deeply or hiss at a perceived threat.

Opossums can be found in most regions throughout North America, though are considered invasive species in Southern Ontario and British Columbia; opossum removal and trapping is subsequently big business in these areas. They are considered pests because of their tendency to dig up gardens in search of berries and nuts, and, like raccoons, will almost inevitably root through outdoor garbage cans in the hopes of coming across discarded food.

Tenacious as they are, opossums are not generally wary of traps and can easily be caught using a box, cage, or latch-style trap. In many places, relocating a captured opossum without a permit is illegal, which means that the wisest course of action is to enlist the help of an opossum removal profession to trap and get rid of the pest in a humane (and legal) way.

Cantu Pest & Termite cares about the safe and humane trapping of the wildlife that has invaded your home or business. We believe that wildlife invaders do not have to be killed in order to solve the invasion. After our opossum removal professionals have properly and thoroughly employed measures that will eliminate future wildlife infestation then the property owner may choose to have any wildlife in and around the property caught in humane traps.

If opossums or other pests have made unwanted appearances around your Houston home, call Cantu Pest & Termite and schedule an appointment today with one of our friendly, experienced opossum removal experts.