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How to get rid of opossums in the attic



Every now and then we come into contact with wild animals in our homes; they cause damage and pose a health risk for our family and pets. One of these animals is the opossum, a nocturnal arboreal marsupial. Opossums get into our home and make a mess, especially when they get into the attic, where they can find lots of materials for nesting and living. This is actually the primary reason why they will get into the attic: a pregnant female will come to your attic to create a nest in order to deliver and raise babies there until they are ready to care for themselves. Meanwhile, they will create havoc on your attic, so it is very logical that you want to get rid of an opossum as soon as you notice one there. How to know that you have an opossum in the attic? You will very likely hear them in the evening when they become active and start moving in a search for food. They scratch and communicate with each other –basically, they are quite noisy. There will be opossum feces everywhere around the attic, and eventually you will probably start seeing them around.

Once you make sure that you have an opossum in your attic, you need to get rid of it, and the best way to do that is to trap it. Opossum traps are usually very affordable, so it should not be a problem to get one or a few. Once you have the trap, you need to bait it with food opossums like. They are fond of fruits, such as melons, bananas, grapes or apples, so put a few pieces of this fruit inside. Make sure to bait the trap in the evening when opossums are active and to place it in the area where opossums move frequently. Make sure to check the trap in the morning in order to see if there is an opossum inside. You don't want the animal to stay in the trap for too long because this could stress it out completely and unnecessarily. Take the caught opossum outside and safely relocate it. Make sure that you take it far enough away so that it doesn't find its way to your home, or better yet deliver it to an animal protection service which will know how to handle it in the safest way possible.

Once you have removed an opossum from your home, it is important to clean your attic thoroughly to prevent any possible infection due to its feces and urine stains that are left in the attic. Additionally, it is always a good idea to act in prevention to discourage a further opossum invasion of your home and property. Clean your entire property because this discourages opossums from getting near – they much more prefer clutter and debris where they can hide and search for food.

Go back to the How to Get Rid of Opossums page or email us if you have any other questions about How to get rid of opossums in the attic