Removal & Trapping in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts & Vermont

Opossums Are not terribly bothersome, Opossums are nocturnal and North America only marsupial. Opossums will sometimes den up with skunks and large denning sites can have an offensive odor. They will eat anything they can fit into their mouth, anything at all. They can have up to 12 young at a time with an average of around 6. The female gives birth to her young, at this time they can fit into a teaspoon. The female then deposits them into her pouch where she will keep and nurse them until they are ready to come out and ride on her back. They are weaned at about 2 1/2 months.

The Opossum is not a very smart animal, the Opossums’ brain is about the size of the end of a human thumb. The term “playing possum” is actually false, the Opossum will actually go into shock when it is attacked. The Opossum has no real defense, when approached they will open their mouth and show their teeth which have given them the nickname “grinner”.

The biggest problem that Opossums cause is getting into trash cans that have no lid or exposed trash bags. larger denning sites of opossums can cause a foul odor and they will sometimes den up with skunks.

We offer opossum removal at affordable prices. We have opossum traps to take care of your opossum problem.

How to Keep Possums Away

Opossums are common nocturnal marsupials that are common in many places across the United States. They are often characterized by their pointed snouts, dark hair, and long tails. Opossums generally prefer forested areas that are nearby sources of water, however, as land continues to be developed they are increasingly common within urban and suburban areas. Opossums are known to rummage through trash cans and can destroy vegetation on a property which is why many seek to find methods to keep them out. Here are some ways to keep them away in a safe and effective manner. Visit getridofpossums.com to learn more about opossum removal methods.

Eliminate entry points

Opossums are not able to create their own nests. Because of this, they seek out sheltered spaces that they can use to rest and protect themselves from predators. Areas of the home such as crawl spaces and attics are common spots where the animals will set up their homes. In order to prevent this, entryways or open spots into the home should be fully covered up. Places such as the roof and foundation should be checked for holes or cracks. If any are found, they should be barricaded with expandable foam or concrete mix. Barriers such as vent covers can also be installed to further the effectiveness of these solutions. 

Startle tactics

Similar to keeping out animals like skunks or raccoons, opossums can be kept away by creating a space around your home that is uncomfortable for them. Scare tactics can be utilized to fend off opossums and turn them away from attempting to scavenge for food in your yard. Smaller investments such as motion-activated sprinklers and lights can be placed in different spots around the home that come on when wildlife is in the vicinity. When they quickly turn on, the opossums are startled and will leave. Sonic repellents can also be used in a similar fashion. These devices let off a high-frequency sound that repels the opossums and keeps them away from your home or property. 

Fencing

Installing quality fencing around your property is a great way to deter possums from entering your yard or home. Because opossums are not very skilled when it comes to digging, they will be unable to get around the barrier which safeguards your yard and prevents any of the adverse effects of having opossums on the property. In addition to this, it can also aid in protection from other wildlife animals such as raccoons. 

Hiring a Wildlife Removal Company

Although the previously listed options will surely add protection to your home and yard when it comes to preventing opossums, the best way to solve this issue is by hiring professionals who are experienced when it comes to this topic. Trained wildlife specialists at our company New Hampshire Animal Damage Control can install preventative infrastructure and utilize efficient methods to ensure that your yard is protected in the long term. A focus will be put on solving the issue effectively while making sure that you do not have to worry about spending an excess of time or money on low-quality fixes.

How to Get Rid Of Opossums from The Attic

Opossums are a special breed. For one, they are the only marsupial found in North America. Not to mention their ability to play dead and surprisingly sharp memory. Although opossums are mostly docile, they are still classified as pest species because of the problems they cause for humans- from scavenging garbage to living under houses or in the attic. In the attic, their presence comes along with rustling sounds made while moving on the ceiling. What’s more, they leave a whole lot of droppings, which damages the insulation and pollutes the space. They also chew through wood and drywall. Opossums are also carriers of diseases such as tuberculosis, leptospirosis, spotted fever, and trichomoniasis, among many others. Hence, it is undesirable to have an opossum in the attic. In this post, we explore how you can get rid of this nuisance wildlife. 

Inspection

The purpose of an inspection is to assess the severity of the opossum infestation problem you’re dealing with. Not only do you want to locate areas with the highest activity, but you also want to look for potential entry holes. Look through your attic, paying attention to the corners and crevices. Also, inspect the insulation for signs of activity – like torn-off insulation or accumulated droppings. Opossum droppings are large with slightly pointed ends. They resemble a dog’s droppings. 

Removal

Opossums in the attic can be removed through two main strategies:

• Exclusion

This involves identifying all potential entry holes into your attic and sealing them up except one. A one-way door is then installed in this last hole that’s left open. With the exclusion device installed, any opossum that leaves is unable to get back in. Once you’ve gotten rid of the opossum, you can then remove the exclusion device and seal up the hole. Note that exclusion is not ideal for female opossums with babies (called joeys). Why? Because you risk separating the mother from her joys. The abandoned joeys will eventually die, and you automatically have a new problem to deal with. 

• Live Trapping

Like other wildlife, live traps can also be used to capture opossums. As scavengers and omnivores, opossums can eat almost anything. Hence, a wide variety of food can serve as bait, but the best options are fish, apples, or canned pet food. Trapping opossums requires an adept understanding of their behavior. This helps to determine the right positioning and appropriate bait, among other factors. That’s why working with professionals like those at New Hampshire Animal Damage Control is prudent. When dealing with a female opossum with her babies, trapping is the best option. Since opossums are nocturnal, you can capture the babies at night and use them as bait to lure their mother into the cage. After capturing the opossum(s), it should be relocated at least 10 miles away from the current location. Note that the trapping and relocation of opossums are subject to local wildlife laws. Make sure you check with your local wildlife authority before trapping or relocating an opossum.

Decontamination and Repairs

After you’ve gotten rid of the opossum, you should then clean up the entire attic. Pick up all waste materials – with your gloves on – and dispose of them. Use an enzyme-based cleaner to kill all bacteria. Opossums are destructive in the attic. They can tear up air ducts and insulation. That’s why all damages need to be fixed. 

Wrap Up

Getting rid of the nuisance opossum from the attic is only the first step. It’s also important to put measures in place to prevent them from returning. Here are some tips to bear in mind:

1. Eliminate food sources from your yard. 
2. Properly seal off trash cans. 
3. Do not leave pet food outside, especially at night. 
4. Remove seed crumbs from underneath the bird feeders
5. Seal up potential entry holes into your attic
6. Cut off tree branches overhanging your roof. 
7. Keep your yard and garden clean. 
8. If possible, install a fence. 

If you need a wildlife expert to help you handle your opossum infestation and put preventive measures in place, promptly contact us at New Hampshire Animal Damage Control.

How to Keep Opossums Out Of Your Garbage Can?

Opossums are some of the animals notorious for going through garbage and eating whatever they find. These animals are omnivores and will eat anything. The problem with possums in your trash is the amount of mess they leave behind, they will tip over the trash can and spill its content everywhere on your driveway. Here is a great resource at opossumpestcontrol.com to learn more about opossum removal.

To keep possums out of your garbage can, you have to think of how to make the can completely impregnable for the animal. If it cannot get into the can, then it won’t get to the trash. The trash will be out of reach if the animal cannot open the garbage. Here are some tips for keeping possums out of your garbage cans. 

Secure garbage cans with bungee cords 

A garbage can with a loose lid is an open invitation to possums and animals in general. Making sure that your garbage can is secure with trash out of reach for possums will certainly frustrate their efforts to get food. Possums will only stick around your property if they always have enough to it, and a warm shelter to hide away from predators. Remove these things, and they will leave your home in a heartbeat. Bungee cords tied over the lid of your garbage is an effective way of ensuring that the lid doesn’t come off even when animals succeed in tipping it over. 

Take garbage cans indoors at night

Opossums and other nuisance wildlife are attracted by the smell of garbage, the animals feed on rotting food, and the smell coming from your garbage tells them there is something in there that they want. You can make sure that they don’t get to your garbage by taking it indoors at night, because possums are nocturnal animals and only search for food at night. 

You can store your garbage in the garage every night and take it out every morning, this may sound very tedious, but it’s a little price to pay to keep possums away from your trash. The obvious downside to this option is that you may forget to take your garbage can in one night and wake up to see trash littered around your driveway. To make sure that never happens, we suggest that you get an animal-proof garbage can.  

Repel them with ammonia

Unlike the above two options, the possum will still have access to the trash but will be repelled by the foul smell of ammonia coming from there. Ammonia has a repulsive smell that gets to some animals. Many animals don’t mind bad smells, but ammonia has been found to drive some animals away. You can use ammonia to drive possums away from your garbage. Try spraying ammonia into and around your garbage, or soak a piece of rag in ammonia and place it in your garbage can, possums hate the smell of ammonia, and it repels them. 

Invest in an animal-proof garbage can

If you want something that completely secures your garbage and works better than tiring up your trash can with a bungee cord, then invest in a good animal-proof garbage can with a turn-and-lock lid. This is also a better option than taking your garbage can in every night. A garbage can with a strong seal is your best bet against possums, raccoons, skunks, and animals that go through trash in search of food. A metal garbage can with a very secure automatic lock is the best choice because some animals can chew through plastic. 

Can’t keep opossums out? We’re here to help!

New Hampshire Animal Damage Control prides itself on years of opossum removal experience, servicing in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts & Vermont to get rid of these unwanted critters. Our experts know exactly how to remove the opossums, both adults, and younglings, and will make sure to do the job right the first time. In addition to removing the animals, New Hampshire Animal Damage Control also offers repairs to the damage done by the animal, home sanitization, and attic insulation clean-up and installation.

How to Remove Possums Under Porch

A common question that a lot of property owners ask is why is there an opossum living under my porch? And not just opossums! Skunks, raccoons, and a host of other animals also prefer the den underneath your porch to living in the wild.

And odd as it may seem for you, they’ve actually got excellent reasons for that. First off, the area under your porch is fairly difficult to access both for you, as well as for other predators. That means that possums living under your porch are generally safer than out in the wild. Not only that, but living under your deck also affords them easy access to the many sources of food and water on your property, and that’s nothing to sneeze at! A living area with access to food and water is practically the dream for most nuisance wildlife.

So what can you do if you’ve discovered possums living under the porch?

First off, we strongly recommend calling a professional wildlife removal team, as they will be better prepared to deal with any potentially dangerous situations. Not only that, but each state has its own laws and regulations as to what you can and can’t do in terms of animal removal, so that’s another area in which professionals might be useful.

But assuming you don’t, or that for some reason, are unable to contact a professional wildlife removal team, here are some ways to remove possums from under the deck on your own.

• Fill up the space when they’re not there.

Opossums tend to be rather nocturnal creatures, meaning they leave the den at night, to look for food. Now’s your time to act. With the help of a flashlight, you can go in there, and fill up the hole under your deck with old newspaper, concrete, or expandable foam, as per your wishes.

Tip: you should also seek to remove as much filth, food leftovers, and other offending materials from under the deck before you fill it up. 

If you’re  unable to fill it permanently right now, at least stuff the hole with old newspaper, or cardboard, or something of the like, to make it more difficult for the possums to re-enter.

• A loud radio may help.

Possums, like many other wild animals, dislike loud sounds intensely. So if you want to try this, you may play a loud radio, or alternatively bang pots and pans together around your deck. This will make the area inhospitable to your furry visitors, and make them want to leave. 

• Scare them away

Alternatively, you might use items like helium balloons or pinwheels, both of which work to frighten possums, as well as other nuisance wildlife, because they look menacing. What’s great about these options is that they don’t just scare off possums, but also birds, and other nuisance intruders that may be bothering your yard or garden. So really, it’s two birds with one stone. 

• Eliminate the food source.

It’s important that you understand what’s attracting the possums to your property. Open trash cans, pet food bowls left out overnight, and fallen fruit in your yard may all be contributing to a persistent possum problem. 

Eliminating these can go a long way in determining the possums to leave.

• Use predator urine.

An interesting way to scare off possums is to use predator urine to ward them away. Fox urine is sold in specialty stores all over the country, and scattering that near the deck (while it may smell foul) is a good way of convincing possums there are foxes nearby, and that they best leave.

How to Get Opossums Out Of Your Garden

Opossums are pest animals and can do a lot of damage, especially when they find their way into a garden. These creatures are also nocturnal, which means that they are usually only awake at night and rest throughout the day. 

Due to this, it could be challenging to tell exactly the intruder destroying your garden. They will, however, leave droppings, tracks, overturned garbage cans, and damages to your plants and fruits as evidence of their presence. 

Once you are certain that you are dealing with an opossum, there are a number of ways to get it to come out, including setting a trap or calling a pest control expert. Opossum removal can be difficult, so the best method to manage the population is to take preventive steps.

Tips for Getting Rid of Possums

• Pruning trees and bushes, eliminating brush heaps and other waste, and cleaning up dropped fruit from trees will make the garden look less inviting to pest animals like possums.
• Pet food should be stored at night, and trash can lids should fit snugly.
• Seal off or cover any openings or entrances near the house, including those on decks, porches, and other structures.
• Many people erect fences to help deter opossums from a garden. A minimum of 4 feet should be used for fencing.
• Despite the fact that there are various chemical repellents on the market, they typically have little effect on their own. Other opossum control techniques, such as motion-activated sprinklers or trapping cages, are more effective.

Trap possums using a cage and bait

The best way to remove a destructive possum from your garden is by using a live trap to catch and remove the animal. Since possums are nocturnal animals, setting up the trap and baiting it at night is the most effective way to deal with them. Possums eat a variety of things, including fruits, insects, grains, and anything they can find in a garbage can. They will be attracted to foods like jam, peanut butter on toast, and overripe fruit. To make it unlikely that the critter will miss the bait, the trap should be placed along common paths or areas you have noticed that the animal frequents a lot. 

You should be very careful when trapping a possum because these animals can carry and transmit various diseases.

• Opossums can carry many diseases, including but not limited to toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, leptospirosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, tuberculosis, spotted fever, trichomoniasis, etc.
• They are resistant to rabies, but can also carry ticks, mites, lice, and fleas.

Prevent possums from accessing your garden

It’s often better to take proactive steps in preventing animals like possums from invading your garden. To keep possums from destroying your garden, here are tips on how you can make your garden off-limit to them. 

Install electric/wire fencing

Opossums are adept climbers, but a wire or electric fence can deter them from a garden. Fencing should be at least 4 feet high, with the top foot pointing outward to form an overhang, to keep these animals away. Additionally, you can build an electric fence that is 3 to 4 inches over the top and angled outward. Block off any additional places, such as those under porches, stairways, and crawl spaces. You can use sheet metal or steel wire mesh to close these gaps.

Protect fruit plants with netting

Ensure to cover the plants in your garden with netting before they start producing fruit or sending out new growth shoots. Possums may not be fully deterred by the netting, but they should find it challenging enough to avoid eating much of the fruit. You should remove any fruit that has fallen below fruit trees or bushes. Finally, endeavor to keep fallen fruit to a minimum if you can because they will often attract possums and other fruit-loving animals to your garden.

How to Keep Opossums Away from your Yard?

Opossums are fascinating little creatures. considered cute by some, and appalling by others, one thing’s for certain for all involved, when it comes to your property, opossums are a nuisance species that you need to look out for.

If struggling with an opossum infestation in or around your home, there are a number of things you can do to safely remove the animal, and ensure they don’t bother you again.

At Creature Removal, we specialize in the humane removal of opossums from your property. In over 23 years of experience, we’ve learned everything there is to know about opossums. So let us give you a closer look at this small, dark-haired animal.

Are opossums dangerous?

Not very. The good news for concerned property owners is that the opossum is not actually a dangerous animal. As such, it will not attempt to attack you, especially if you leave it well enough alone.

However, that doesn’t mean you should just attempt to live alongside the opossum in peace, since that’s unlikely to work, either. See, while opossums may not threaten you directly, they do pose an active threat to your health, since they carry a wide range of diseases. Not only that, but they can also be quite damaging to your garden, and your crops. So the best thing to do, if you suspect an opossum infestation, is to act quickly.

What can you do?

There are a bunch of steps that you, as the homeowner, can take to inhibit wildlife infestations on your property. However, it’s worth noting that these work best as a preventive measure, and not so much as an active way to remove opossums.

• Fencing.

A great way to keep undesirable wildlife off your property is to install a fence around your yard. The good thing about a fence is that it doesn’t just target one type of animal, but can be effective in keeping a bunch of them out of your hair.

• Deterrence.

Another popular technique is deterrence. Many homeowners have success in keeping opossums at bay by making loud noises. The nocturnal opossum is used to the quiet, and doesn’t typically enjoy loud noises or bright lights. So installing a deterring device that emits either may also be effective.

• Removing food/water sources.

You also want to consider why the opossum is on your property, in the first place. For most wild animals, the answer is pretty simple — your property offers food, water, or both. This can mean an exposed trash can, pet food bowls, compost, and even improperly stored leftovers. Addressing that issue may also be effective in deterring opossums.

How to get rid of opossums?

Those are strong deterrence methods. However, if the opossum is already on your property, it won’t prove very effective. In that case, what you need to do is reach out to a professional wildlife removal company like Creature Removal as soon as possible.

We will inspect the property to determine how the opossum got in, and what attracted it. Based on that, we will either engage in exclusion (allowing the opossum to get out, but not back in), or live trapping (most effective in yard removal). This allows us to remove the opossum to a safe location without harming it. Once that’s over, we’ll move on to clean-up and restoration, to make sure your yard is once more inhabitable and as good as new.

Worried about opossums in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island or New Hampshire?Reach out today, and we’ll make a detailed, personalized plan of attack to rid your yard of opossums for good.