How To Keep Opossums Out Of Your Yard, According To Experts

With its rat-like tail and hairless ears, the humble opossum doesn’t get a lot of respect. But North America’s only native marsupial, or pouched animal, plays a valuable role in nature. “Opossums are opportunistic omnivores,” says Sheldon Owen, PhD, wildlife extension specialist at West Virginia University. “They eat everything from plants to garbage to carrion, providing essential ecological cleanup services.”

Worms, frogs, crayfish, insects such as grubs, cockroaches and beetles, snakes, birds, mice, fruit, nuts, pet food, and compost are all on the menu for opossums. They even may raid a chicken coop when the opportunity presents itself, says Owen.

Generally, this curious-looking creature that’s about the size of a cat rarely causes problems for the homeowner. “It may dig in your yard looking for bugs, but they’re not strong diggers like armadillos,” says Michael Mengak, PhD, Certified Wildlife Biologist and professor, Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. “Or it may move in under your crawl space, porch or shed.”

Are Opossums Dangerous?

Not particularly. When cornered, an opossum may screech, hiss like a cat and bare its teeth–it has 50, which is much more than most mammals! But it’s generally docile and would rather run away, says Owen.

If faced with a threat it can’t escape, it will play dead, says Owen. The opossum will fall over, its tongue will hang out, it will drool, slow its breathing and emit a noxious odor that other animals think smells like decay. Because most predators prefer live prey, they leave the opossum alone. If you come into contact with an opossum playing dead, just leave the area to give the animal time to move on.

Opossums also aren’t as “dirty” as many people think. They can carry fleas, but they have resistance to many viruses, including rabies. Interestingly, research on Lyme disease has found that more than 90 percent of the ticks that an opossum picks up get swallowed during its fastidious grooming process, resulting in an estimated 5,000 ticks consumed per season per individual opossum.

How To Tell If You Have An Opossum

Opossums don’t dig their own dens but live in existing burrows or in spaces underneath your home, porch, or shed, says Mengak. You may see the animal leaving its den, or you may smell a foul odor from the feces and urine. Opossums are nocturnal, though you’ll occasionally see one foraging during the day.

You also can look for its tracks. Opossums have opposable big toes on the hind foot, so the tracks will look like little hands with widely-spread fingers. The hind foot print is about two inches long and looks like a distorted hand because of its big toe.

How To Keep Opossums Away

There are no effective repellants for opossums. Removing the food source that’s attracting them and exclusion from an area are the most effective means of keeping them away from your home. But you also can try to make your yard less appealing to them, with these tips from Owen and Mengak:

• With lawn damage, make sure it’s an opossum; they are not known for extensive turf damage. More likely culprits are armadillos, skunks, or birds. Set up a game cam if you’re unsure about the culprit.
• Keep garbage can lids secured.
• Use sealed compost bins with lids.
• Don’t leave pet food bowls outside.
• Pick fallen fruit off the ground, though opossums can climb, too.
• Remove brush and firewood piles or stacks of rocks that provide shelter from elements and predators.
• Store birdfeed in metal bins with lids.  
• Exclude opossums from spaces such as under decks or crawl spaces with hardware cloth. Bury it several inches below ground.
• Be patient. Opossums typically use multiple dens, and their home range is anywhere from 50 to 300 acres, so they may not hang around for long.
• For pesky opossums, you may need to hire a nuisance wildlife specialist for removal.