Understanding the Behavior of Opossums in the Wild

Posted on May 8, 2023 by modernwild

Opossums are one of the most misunderstood animals in North America. Despite their reputation for being aggressive and destructive, these curious creatures are actually quite harmless and can be a great asset to any backyard habitat. But if you’re looking to get up close and personal with an opossum, it’s important to understand their behavior so that you don’t accidentally startle them or put yourself at risk.

In this blog post, we will explore the behavior of opossums in the wild, including why they play dead when threatened and how they interact with other wildlife. We’ll also discuss some tips for humanely removing opossums from your property if necessary. By understanding more about these fascinating omnivores, we can all work together towards creating a safe environment for everyone!

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Top Opossum Facts You Want to Know!

Opossums are Active From Dusk to Dawn

Opossums are nocturnal animals, which means they’re most active at night. During the day, they spend their time in burrows or dens made of leaves and twigs. At night, they come out in search of food, including insects, fruits, and small rodents. Opossums can also be very territorial when it comes to foraging for food and will fiercely defend an area if needed.

Possums Play Dead

When threatened by a predator or feeling cornered, opossums will often play dead as a defense mechanism. This behavior is known as “playing ‘possum” and is actually quite effective in scaring away potential predators. It involves lying motionless on the ground with eyes closed while emitting a foul smell. This will usually make the predator think the opossum is dead and cause it to flee.

Opossums Reproduce Quickly

Opossums are also unique in that they have one of the shortest gestation periods of any mammal: as little as 12 days! Female opossums carry their young for about two months before giving birth to an average litter size of eight babies. These tiny bundles of fur will cling to their mother’s back until they’re big enough to explore on their own.

Opossums are Usually Solitary

When it comes to interacting with other wildlife, opossums generally keep to themselves. However, if food sources become scarce or competition is fierce, they may be more likely to fight with neighboring animals such as raccoons or even small dogs.

Opossums Do Not Carry Rabies

Contrary to popular belief, opossums are rarely carriers of the Rabies Virus. However, they can still spread other infectious diseases and parasites. These include Leptospirosis, fleas, Lyme disease, ticks, and cocido19 to both humans and animals. Furthermore, their saliva is known to contain a variety of pathogens which can cause skin infection in people with weakened immune systems. Though fortunately human illnesses from these creatures are comparatively rare. The opossum does help maintain healthy ecosystems by feeding on unhelpful insects as well ticks and snails that could otherwise spread illness.

Professional Opossum Removal and Control is Essential

If you find that an opossum has taken up residence on your property, it’s important to remember they are a protected species and must not be harmed in any way. The best option is usually to employ humane methods of removal by contacting a licensed wildlife control company. Once the animal is removed, make sure to close off any potential entry points around the house so that no other opossums can get in.

Conclusion

By understanding more about the behavior of opossums in the wild, we can work together towards creating a safe environment for these fascinating animals and their human neighbors. With a little bit of knowledge and patience, everyone can co-exist peacefully!

Are you dealing with frequent possum visitors to your property? Act now before they can cause any damage or pose any threat! Contact Modern Wildlife Control at 317-847-6409 for safe and effective opossum removal and control in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our wildlife removal services are humane, effective, and available for both residential and commercial clients.

Best Strategies to Get Rid of Opossums Around Your Property

Posted on September 22, 2022 by modernwild

Opossums are an interesting species of nuisance while here in the central Indiana regions. As omnivores, opossums eat everything that we eat and plus some. From insects and grubs to fruits, vegetables, plants, roots, pet food, garbage, and even rodents, your property likely has many desirable amenities favored by these nocturnal mammals.

If you are spotting opossums around your property at night, it is important that you take action soon. The quicker you put a stop to nuisance opossum activity, the easier it’ll be to clean up any mess they cause and repair any damage they do. And yes, opossums are very messy and destructive. There are sites like mites, fleas, and ticks.

Continue reading to learn the best strategies to get rid of opossums around your property.

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Opossum Control Strategies for Homeowners and Businesses

Whether you’re a homeowner or business, these opossum control strategies will be effective at debating any nuisance tampering or activity around your property. These strategies are safe and humane and can be accomplished all on your own. If these opossum abatement methods turn out to be unsuccessful for you, contact a licensed and insured Indianapolis wildlife removal company for professional opossum control services.

Protect Your Gardens

Opossums love anything you grow in your garden. Although there are a few exceptions to this rule, such as menthol and hot peppers, opossums will go after anything edible and accessible to them. Gardens are the perfect target. If you’ve noticed that your gardens have been pillaged every night, it is likely opossums. If you’ve seen them with your very own eyes, crossing your patio or walking along your backyard fence, it is definitely opossums. The best way to protect your gardens is to stay on top of routine harvesting. As soon as fruits and vegetables are just about right, harvest them so that there is nothing ripe and ready to eat for opossums and others nuisance. Many people tried to install chicken wire fencing around the gardens, but opossums can climb over these and dig underneath them.

Remove All Other Food Sources

What else do you have in your property that’s edible? Bowls of pet food or water? Birdseed? Squirrel feed? Livestock feed? Uncapped garbage cans? Compost piles? There are many things that opossums will eat. They will even eat dead and decaying animals. If you remove all of these edible amenities on your property, opossums will have no reason to come there. They’ll eventually move on to another area where food is more readily available.

Environmental Modifications

Possums are great climbers, and they will use trees and tree limbs to access other areas of your property. By staying on top of routine tree care service, like tree trimming and tree pruning, you can stop opossums from accessing your roof and upper deck areas by means of tree walking. This will also protect your roofing, gutters, downspouts, siding, decking, and more.

Chimney Caps and Vent Covers

As mentioned, opossums are great climbers, so they commonly accessed roofs, which leads to intrusions in attics and chimneys. It is also common to find opossums nesting in wall voids and crawlspaces. To avoid this possibility, install a quality animal proof chimney cap, plus a series of vent covers for the dryer vent, attic vent, roof vent, and more.

Professional opossum removal and control services are the best solution for possum problems. If you’re still having trouble with nuisance opossums, contact Modern Wildlife Control at 317-847-6409 for safe and effective animal trapping and removal services for opossums. We serve residential and commercial clients in Indianapolis and all throughout Central Indiana.

Are Opossums a Critter Control Problem in the Fall and Winter?

Posted on November 22, 2021 by modernwild

Winter is a mere four weeks away, so you may be relieved to know that many of the pests and local animal populations are taking shelter for the season, thus giving your property a break from animal intrusion and tampering. But what about opossums? Are they active during the fall and winter? Do you need to animal proof your property against nuisance opossums?

Continue reading to learn what you need to know about opossum control in the fall and winter, including who to call for emergency critter removal services for opossums in Indianapolis.

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Basic Facts About Opossums

Opossums are marsupial critters that prefer the dusk and evening hours rather than the brighter light of day. For this reason, you will usually spot them out just after the sun sets, or in the midst of the night when all others are asleep. Aside from being crepuscular in nature, opossums are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plants and meat. They are also nomadic, preferring to wander from habitat to habitat in search of better and more reliable food sources. If you see opossums on your property, they are likely searching for new shelter and an abundant source of food.

Opossums are Active All Year Long

Opossums do not hibernate, so you can expect them to still be active in the Fall and winter season. Although they are less active than warmer seasons of the year, they can still post nuisance animal threats to your property just the same. Opossums can do a lot of damage to lawns, gardens, and structures, plus pose infectious parasites like lice and mites. Although they are not predominant carriers of the Rabies virus, all other diseases and threats posed by opossums are reason enough to keep them away all year long.

How to Get Rid of Opossums

Opossums are opportunistic scavengers and will go to great lengths to access any food source on your property. This includes garbage, pet food, compost, and literally anything else edible. As for shelter, they tend to gravitate toward warn and secluded places, like underneath porches, in hollowed trees, amidst large bushes, or in garages and sheds.

To get rid of nuisance opossum, you must first eliminate all points of interest that attract them to your property. Secure your garbage lids, remove or secure pet and livestock feed, and seal up all accessible areas to places they might want to nest.

Also, opossums are incredible climbers, so trimming back large tree branches hanging over your roof and fence line is another effective approach to opossum abatement. This may seem like a big project, in which case you would want to hire a professional Indianapolis critter control company for opossum removal services.

Do you have a nuisance opossum problem on your property? Contact Modern Wildlife Control at 317-847-6409 for safe and effective animal trapping and removal services for opossums in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Why Opossums are a Threat to Your Property

Posted on January 12, 2021 by modernwild

They might look goofy and walk slow, but make no mistake. Opossums are a threat to your property, whether it be a residence or commercial building. Continue reading to learn why these nuisance animals we colloquially refer to as “possums” are too much of a risk to have around, and what you need to do to prevent opossum intrusions around your home or business.

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Opossum Diseases

Opossums are known to be among the filthiest nuisance critter because they scavenge for food, will eat practically anything, and pillage garbage on the regular. However, possums are not just dirty and unhygienic, they are also common carriers of several infectious diseases and illnesses that can be transmitted to both people and pets. The most dangerous disease that opossums can possibly carry and transmit is the Rabies Virus, which there is no cure for once contracted, whether person or animal. Other common opossum diseases include fleas, ticks, parasites, bacterial infections from bites, and more.

Opossums are Destructive

The threat of disease is serious, but it is not as likely to be harmed by an opossum (person or pet) than it is to have your property destroyed by them. Nuisance opossums are a nuisance because they are highly destructive. They have long claws that are sharp, which allow them to be agile climbers. Their climbing ability allows them to get high into the trees, and access power lines, roofs, gutters, attics, and more. Once there, they cause a massive amount of structural damage.

In addition to being great climbers, opossums are also avid diggers, and they will use their long, sharp claws to tear up lawns, gardens, flowerbeds, and mulch beds. But freshly laid sod is their favorite. As an omnivorous species, which means they eat both plant and animal matter, they often scavenge trashcans and pet food storage, causing an infuriating mess to clean up in the morning.

Where They Like to Hide

Most often, you can find opossums strolling around dumpsters and garbage cans, where they will take shelter somewhere nearby. They are often found in attics, or under porches and decks, usually in a litter of three or more. In nature, they use hollowed trees or old animal dens as shelter.

As nocturnal animals, they are active at night, making it more difficult to catch them in the act. That is why you need safe and humane Indianapolis opossum control. It will ensure your home is protected from nuisance opossum damage, as well as damages from other nuisance animals in Indiana.

Indianapolis Opossum Removal and Control Services in Indianapolis

Call Modern Wildlife Control at 317-847-6409 for professional opossum control in Indianapolis, Indiana and its surrounding counties. Not only do we get rid of opossums, but we offer cleanup and restoration work for animal damages. Our specialists have more than 10 years of hands-on experience and retain the latest technologies and innovative resources to safely and humanely manage any opossum removal job, regardless of size or scope. Start with a free estimate or advice, today!

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Tips for Controlling Nuisance Opossums Around Your Property

Posted on August 5, 2020 by modernwild

Although opossum can offer some benefits in terms of garbage and insect control, they can also be quite the pest. These unappealing nocturnal animals are known for causing loads of destruction to both residential and commercial properties. Not only can these critters be highly destructive to homes, buildings, and landscapes, they can also pose several different health risks.

Continue reading to learn more about nuisance opossum activity, and what you can do to put a stop to it on your property.

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Opossums Carry Disease and Mites

Opossum are not known carriers of common canine and feline diseases, but they can infect domestic pets and humans with many others. The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Department states, “Opossum carry diseases such as leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, trichomoniasis, and Chagas disease. They may also be infested with fleas, ticks, mites, and lice.”

As if disease and safety risks are not enough to want to keep opossum off of your property, these nocturnal animals also cause a long list of structural damages to lawns, gardens, patios, porches, decks, crawl spaces, and more. These damages can happen overnight, and cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to repair.

What You Need to Do to Get Rid of Opossums For Good

Preventative maintenance is the best way to protect your property from opossum damage. This includes making certain environmental modifications to reduce your home’s attractiveness to nuisance wildlife. To start, remove all outdoor food and water sources (i.e. bird baths, pet food, water bowls, garbage cans, compost piles, etc.). When it comes to garbage, always be sure to take yours out on the day of trash pickup.

You can also use predator urine, opossum repellents (non-toxic ones only please), motion lighting, or electronic sound machines to scare opossum away. If you have a garden with fruits and vegetables, be sure to pick when ripe to avoid attracting hungry opossum at night. Rotten fruit will attract nuisance wildlife, as well as a swarm of insects and other pests.

After making all of your needed environmental modifications, you can step it up by having your home inspected for holes, openings, and gaps that nuisance wildlife can use to get inside. This includes pet doors, trash shoots, dumbwaiters, and chimneys. A licensed Indianapolis wildlife removal and control company can provide this service for you.

It is important to seal up any openings under slabs, in siding, on roofs, in the foundation and more. You can remove hiding spots yourself too, such as brush piles, log piles, dilapidated sheds, abandoned vehicles, fallen trees, and more. A wildlife removal and control company can help you with all of this.

What to Do if You See One

NEVER attempt to touch, trap, harm, or kill an opossum. If you discover one on your property, you’re your pets indoors until it goes away. If opossum continue to come back night after night after you have implemented all of the necessary property changes, OR you discover one in your home, immediately contact a licensed wildlife control company for emergency service. They have the proper permits, training, and experience to provide safe, non-lethal opossum removal that adheres to the state and federal laws that govern wildlife.

Where to Get Humane Opossum Control in Indianapolis, Indiana

Call Modern Wildlife Control at 317-847-6409 when you need fast and affordable opossum removal and control services in Indianapolis, Indiana and its surrounding counties. Our DNR licensed and insured wildlife rescue and removal professionals offer non-lethal wildlife control services for residential and commercial properties. We work with all species of Indiana wildlife, but specialize in raccoons, bats, birds, and squirrels. We also offer cleanup services and restoration and repair for animal damages, and can even provide insurance claim work. Start with a free estimate or advice, today!