How to get rid of opossums in the attic

Female opossums need a secure, dry place to have their young that is accessible to food and water. Therefore, if an opossum is in your attic, it is most likely a female with its young. This makes it easy to catch them all at once since the young will cling to their mother 24-7. An exception to this rule is during harsh winters when 3-6 adult Opossums will come together in groups to stay warm. Once opossums invade your attic, they leave a gigantic mess with large messy droppings and destructive nature. If an opossum dies in your attic, which happens often, the stench is something from a horror story. You want to be rid of this pest A.S.A.P



There are several ways of being rid of your opossum. You can trap it. To do this you will need a live trap and any type of bait. A medium sized live trap will work well. As far as bait is concerned, Possums are "opportunistic feeders". They will eat anything available to them. You could also use an exclusion trap, which allows animals to exit their entryway through a wide mouthed funnel. Once out, the smaller end collapses preventing re-entry.

Another method would be to just kill the opossum. These animals are very slow, and sometimes “play possum”. You could bludgeon or stab it. Because they are slow, you can also try to capture the opossum with a net or sack. They will become aggressive if they feel threatened, so if you chose this method please were wary. Opossums are immune to rabies, and do not get most diseases, so you could get a nasty bite or scratch but probably will not get sick from it.

Once you have gotten the animal out of your house, you want to take steps to be sure it does not come back. There are ways to make your home unattractive to these critters. The opossum is at your house for only a small variety of things; Food, water, or shelter. Remove all routes of entry to your house, and extraneous trash or debris. Make sure pet food and garbage are stowed away. Empty any sources of standing water. Check your exterior often for possible entryways. Remain diligent and your opossum problem should be outdated.

If you need help, we service the entire USA! Click here for a wildlife removal specialist in your town!

Go back to the main Opossum Removal page for more information about How to get rid of opossums in the attic.

Read more educational guides I wrote based off of my years of professional experience. Learn some ways to kill a opossum in the yard and what wildlife rehabilitators do with opossums. Read how ot get opossums out from inside a wall and where you should relocate a trapped opossum. Learn all about the opossum tail and if a high pitch sound deterrent machine will work against opossums. Read about how big they can get and the symptoms of a sick opossum. Learn how to find out if you have an opossum under your shed or porch, and if it will have a nest of babies.