Are Opossums Dangerous To Humans, Pets or your Property?

Unwanted pests on your private property are something we all want to avoid wherever possible. These pests can cause extensive damage to your house whilst also spreading countless diseases around both your home and your yard.

At first glance, it can be difficult to understand the extent of damage opossums can cause. Opossum attacks are exceedingly rare and they are known to be more timid animals, either playing dead or releasing a horrible stench from their glands when confronted. However, it is essential to the safety of yourself, your pets, and your home, that they are removed by a licensed animal removal service.

Opossums and Your Property:

The most common reason opossums enter residential properties is to build their nests during mating season. For these opportunistic creatures, the warmth and shelter of your home presents an ideal location to rear their young.

Opossums are excellent climbers. They have sharp claws and long, hairless prehensile tails which can be used as a fifth limb while climbing. This makes it easy for them to scale your property, or any surrounding trees and utility poles, and find an entrance. Opossums have been known to enter homes through everything from an exposed vent to a hole they have created in the roof.

Once they have entered a property, opossums will tear up any available materials to construct their nests, such as pads of insulation or cardboard if they can find it. They will also widen their original point of entry as well as create further access points so they can easily move in and out of the area. Not really ideal for a roof and if you hear them up there, it would be wise to call an opossum removal service.

Given that opossums are one of the larger pests, with adult opossums measuring between 15 and 20 inches long, they can cause extensive damage to your property. Furthermore, if an opossum has built a nest in your home, you can quickly go from having a single opossum to a whole litter inside your property. Without the proper removal methods, their presence could cause both structural damage to your home and serious damage to your health.

Opossums and Your Pets:

Opossums are not considered dangerous animals, typically deferring to defensive measures when confronted rather than displaying aggressive behavior. However, this does not mean that they do not pose a threat to your pets. Opossums can carry a wide range of diseases and pests that could harm your beloved pet. Opossums can carry a number of infectious diseases
including, leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, and Chagas disease

Fleas

Opossums can be carriers for multiple different forms of ectoparasites, with the most common being the common flea. If an opossum has been living in your home or has simply passed through your garden, it can deposit flea eggs and larvae. This can quickly lead to a flea infestation when your pet passes through the same area.

Fleas are the biggest spreader of disease among mammals. They can cause tapeworms and anemia in household pets as well as extensive skin irritation and distress.

Coccidiosis

This is an intestinal tract infection caused by a parasite called coccidia. If your pet has come into contact with infested feces, such as those deposited by an infected opossum, it may experience diarrhea and dehydration.

How to Avoid These Infections

The best way to protect your pet is to make your home undesirable to an opportunistic opossum, before it makes your place a home. Simple ways to do this are ensuring that there are no exposed points of entry into your home as well as removing any food sources.

If you feed your pets outside, dispose of any remaining pet food or move the bowl inside when they have finished eating. Furthermore, secure the lids on your garbage cans to prevent opossums from utilizing your rubbish as a food source. Opossums have been known to tip garbage cans to access the contents inside, spreading waste across the ground which, in turn, can attract other pests.

Protection for Humans

As previously stated, opossums are not violent animals and the diseases they carry can easily be treated in humans. The biggest threat opossums pose to humans is the impact they can have on your peace of mind. Whether you are concerned about structural damage to your home or the health of your pet, the presence of opossums on your property can be distressing as well as expensive. Roof repairs and vet bills are not minor expenses.

Therefore, the best cause of action is to ensure there are no easy points of entry into your home and to secure the lids on your garbage cans. Specialists in pest control can assess your home to find any areas you may have overlooked and subsequently provide expert advice on how to effectively board up and seal these areas.

How Dangerous are Opossums?

If you have discovered an opossum in your home, do not panic, they are not hostile creatures. Contact a wildlife control specialist, such as our team at Pro Trap, and the opossum can safely and humanely be removed from your property.

While opossums can cause property damage and spread disease, it is important to remember that they are not malicious creatures and that there are easily accessible solutions to any problems they have created. We can handle the removal of opossums and repair any minor home damage that they have cause, to ensure they do not return.

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