What to Do If a Possum Gets Into Your House
A few years ago, a possum got stuck in my bathroom wall. At the time, I was living in downtown Houston, in an old bungalow built on a foundation of poles and beams. Somehow, the opossum managed to get under the house, then crawl into the space between the walls, where it got stuck and subsequently spent a whole day trying to get out again.
Unfortunately, my husband was out of town for work, which meant that waking up to these sounds was a very confusing and frightening experience – at first I thought someone had broken into the house.
If a possum is stuck in your house…
First, don’t panic. As scary as it is to wake up to the sound of possums crawling up your walls, they are actually very gentle creatures that do a good job of eating pests like insects and cockroaches (which is definitely a problem in a city like Houston). public service).
While opossums look intimidating, especially when they drool or open their mouths to show needle teeth, these are defense mechanisms that are mostly used for show. Saliva makes predators think they are sick and therefore not very palatable to eat, while showing teeth is usually enough to scare everyone else away.
Contrary to popular belief, it is extremely rare for opossums to contract rabies , which is thought to be due to their body temperature being lower than that of most other warm-blooded creatures. You still don’t want to handle them because they can carry other diseases, ticks, or fleas, but the chances of a opossum hurting you or giving you rabies is pretty low.
Create a good exit route
Of course, you want to get the opossum out of your house in a timely manner. If they are inside your house, you can either chase them away like a cat , or create a good escape route by closing all but the exit doors. It’s best to wear thick gloves and not get too close, but the chances of them attacking you are very low.
Just remember that they are slow creatures and are likely to be scared and confused, so it’s best to show some patience. It’s also important to remember that the opossum’s main defense mechanism is ” playing dead”, which is actually an involuntary response to the threat of danger when they go into a comatose state. Even if you think you have a dead opossum on your hands, they may surprise you by “waking up”.
Call an exterminator if necessary
If you are not comfortable removing the opossum yourself, or if it is stuck in a place that is difficult for you to handle, you can call a wildlife removal service. They will most likely set up a trap for the possum to catch and release – just make sure it’s a humane removal service.
After that, protect your home from possums.
If one opossum gets into your house, another opossum can get into your house, whether through your house’s foundation, roof, or whatever. Once you’ve dealt with a local opossum, it’s a good idea to try and prevent it from happening again by sealing all possible entrances.
In my case, I ended up calling the pest control service, who came and set the trap under the house. The next morning when I went and looked under the house, the offending opossum (pictured above) was trapped, staring at me looking decidedly harmless. Then the pest control came and released him outside the city, where he hopefully lives a good life, eating all the insects he can handle.