We frequently find animals creating homes for themselves under our porches, sheds, and homes as homeowners. Possums are among the most common squatters as they will make a new home where they feel safe and where there is a reliable food source, such as your garbage cans.
If you have a possum living under your house, you could find trash all over the floor. However, even if this mess comes from a possum under my house, they benefit your home and garden. One of the best benefits is they eat ticks, which could otherwise end up on your dog.
The question is, should you leave possums under house or get rid of them? In our guide, you can find all the good things you’ll find with an opossum under house and all the bad things. By the end, you’ll better understand how to get rid of a possum, or if you need help with trapping, and contact pest control. (Read Does It Hurt Deer To Cut Antlers)
Signs You Have A Possum under your house
The following are warning signals to watch out for if you’re unsure whether a possum is living under your house:
- Exterior building damage, including eave, siding, shingles, and soffit damage.
- Pet food is vanishing, with cat food being the favorite.
- Scratching noises
- Unappealing smell
Do Possums Play Dead
It’s simple to think a possum is dead or comatose if you find it under your shed or house. You are relieved not to have to deal with a live possum, you think. Or would you?
The bad news is that as a defense mechanism, possums are known to play dead. This is to protect them from predators in the wild. They are awake and playing possum; these opossums are conscious even when playing dead!
Are Possums Dangerous?
Possums aren’t like other threats you can find around the home. For example, Snakes are harmful, whereas opossums are just nuisances that can annoy your cats and dog.
However, they carry diseases that can be dangerous to us and pets.
- Tuberculosis
- Rabies
- Coccidiosis
- Toxoplasmosis
- Leptospirosis
- Fleas
- Ticks
- Lice
How To Trap Possums With Cat Food
As homeowners, we occasionally discover animals living under our buildings, sheds, porches, or decks. Animals like possums sometimes build camps where they can find food and safety. One day you might find your trash strewn about and small paw tracks in the dirt near the trash cans.
Possums can tear up your trash can and ruin your lawn, but they rarely attack humans. It’s easy to get rid of a possum without harming it. Poisons and similar products are cruel and unneeded to get rid of this animal from your yard.
What you need:
- Cat food
- Live animal trap
Instructions:
- Wait because possums typically move on when there is nothing to eat. Possums rarely stay in one area for more than a few days.
- The opossum will swiftly depart your property if you keep all trash in a trash can with a lid.
- Open a can of cat food and set it inside a live animal trap.
- When the possum enters the trap to consume the cat food, it will step on a trigger switch that will cause the trap to close, encasing the possum inside without harm.
- If you can see the possum enters your home through the underbelly, set the trap close to the home’s border there.
- You should check the trap twice daily until the possum is caught.
- In a distant area a few miles down the road, drive the critter there.
- Carefully open the trap door so the possum can escape.
FAQs
Will Possums Pose Threats To Kids?
Despite diseases, possums may seem harmful to children.
Possums are wild animals like foxes, mice, squirrels, rats, and other rodents, and they could attack children, but they usually avoid them. (Learn How To Control Watermelon Vines)
Can I Handle A Possum?
You might be tempted to pick up these creatures if you find one playing dead to get rid of the body. However, it is not advised to do this. A possum will feel threatened when being picked up and try to bite in an attempt to escape.
Likewise, if you try to bait and trap a possum living under your house, you’ll still need to deal with the scared animal inside the trap.
Are possums harmful to people?
According to specialists, possums carry infectious diseases that can infect humans and even cats. They might, however, cause more nuisance than injury. They might destroy your garden, plow tunnels beneath your home, or even fight with your dogs.
It’s best to find a way to safely remove or rehome them if they start to become a burden.
How To Safely Remove Possums?
It is better to eliminate possums humanely if you are sick of them rummaging through your trash or need to stop them from doing so. Possums are friendly animals that scour wildlife for food. Possums might venture under more areas of your house than just the foundation. They could bury their infants just beneath the flooring or in other cracks.
Possums living in your home could be an inconvenience. Some individuals actually kill the possum personally. These approaches, however, won’t help you with your possum issue.
Possums will continue to find and stay in your home if you kill one and do not remove their food source. Your possum problem can be solved in more compassionate ways.
Stop the food source until the possum chooses to leave.
It is simplest to wait for the possums to leave. You can either move your trash to your garage or find out a way to lock it, keeping critters out of your trash.
You can wait for the possums to leave after stopping the food source. They are scavengers by nature. Thus, they won’t stay in areas around humans without food. They will eventually go if there is no reason for the possums to stay in your yard.
It is preferable to board up where they were hiding as soon as they find a new home. No more critters will be able to live under your house or shed once you board up the hiding place.
Help Convince Them To Leave your Yard
If waiting takes too long, use possum-averse odors and sounds. Smells and devices to get rid of these critters are sold at hardware and garden stores. Stop the food source and board up their home if you use this strategy. They may leave of their own accord if they have nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep.
What Precautions To Take Before Boarding up A Possum Hiding Place?
Make sure there are no living animals under your house or shed before boarding up the possum hiding place. Young possums may travel through a hiding place, and detecting them may be harder.
Before boarding up the hiding place, remove all possums, or they may starve and die under your home. To ensure all possums have moved, inspect every crevice. (Read Can Chickens Eat Potatoes)
Conclusion
Allowing a possum to live under your house is not recommended. Even while one possum might not be a concern, it could soon become a family of possums that damage your property and provide a risk of contagious diseases.
Try to get rid of these creatures, set deterrents to prevent their return, and stop access to the underside of your home.
