Opossum Removal in Citrus County, Florida
- Aug 17, 2020
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 2
Opossums may not win many beauty contests, but they're one of Florida's most misunderstood native animals.
The Virginia opossum is North America's only native marsupial north of Mexico, and these adaptable animals live throughout Florida in forests, wetlands, agricultural areas, and increasingly, our neighborhoods.
Most of the time, having an opossum wander through your yard at night isn't a problem at all.
But an opossum living under your home, inside a crawl space, beneath your porch, or occasionally inside an attic is another matter.
Nature-Tech Wildlife Solutions provides professional opossum removal, wildlife inspections, and exclusion services throughout Crystal River, Homosassa, Inverness, Lecanto, Beverly Hills, Hernando, Floral City, Citrus Springs, and surrounding communities throughout Citrus County and Florida's Nature Coast.
Our philosophy is simple:
If an animal isn't creating a conflict, it probably doesn't need removing. When it is creating a conflict, we'll help solve it responsibly.
Why Are Opossums Around My Property?
Opossums are opportunistic animals.
They're remarkably good at finding easy sources of food and shelter around human development.
Properties may attract opossums with:
Pet food left outdoors
Unsecured garbage
Fallen fruit
Compost
Birdseed
Accessible crawl spaces
Openings beneath sheds or decks
Brush and debris that provide shelter
Seeing an opossum crossing your yard at night doesn't necessarily mean you have a wildlife problem.
Florida wildlife officials specifically caution against considering the mere presence of a native animal a "nuisance." Wildlife becomes a nuisance when it causes or is about to cause property damage, threatens public safety, or creates an annoyance within or around a building.
That's a distinction we strongly agree with.
Where Do Opossums Live Around Homes?
Opossums don't typically construct elaborate dens of their own. Instead, they're excellent at taking advantage of existing shelter.
Around residential properties, that may include:
Crawl spaces
Under porches
Beneath decks
Under sheds
Garages
Attics
Hollow trees
Brush piles
Abandoned burrows
A damaged crawl-space vent or opening beneath a manufactured home can look like a perfectly good apartment to an opossum.
Unfortunately, its new landlord may disagree.
Signs You May Have an Opossum Under Your Home
Because opossums are primarily active at night, homeowners often hear them before seeing them.
Common signs can include:
Heavy movement beneath floors
Scratching or shuffling noises at night
Droppings
Disturbed insulation
Damaged vapor barriers
Unusual odors
Pet food disappearing overnight
An animal repeatedly entering the same opening
If the activity is inside or underneath a structure, an inspection can help determine exactly what you're dealing with.
Do Opossums Damage Homes?
They can.
Opossums generally aren't as destructive as some nuisance wildlife, but problems can occur when they establish shelter inside a structure.
They may:
Damage or disturb insulation
Tear vapor barriers
Damage flexible ductwork
Contaminate areas with urine or droppings
Enlarge existing openings
Create nesting areas beneath structures
This is where an otherwise beneficial native animal becomes a legitimate wildlife conflict.
The opossum isn't the villain. It simply chose the wrong address.
Do Opossums Carry Rabies?
This deserves a more accurate explanation than the one currently on your page.
Opossums have a relatively low body temperature, and rabies in opossums is considered uncommon. However, uncommon does not mean impossible.
Any wild mammal can potentially carry disease or parasites, and homeowners should never attempt to handle an opossum with their bare hands.
If an opossum is behaving abnormally, appears sick or injured, or has had direct physical contact with a person or pet, avoid handling it and seek appropriate professional guidance.
What About an Opossum "Playing Dead?"
Yep. That's real.
When severely threatened, an opossum may enter an involuntary defensive state commonly called playing possum.
The animal can become stiff, appear unconscious, bare its teeth, and produce an unpleasant odor.
It's not putting on an Oscar-worthy performance.
The response is largely involuntary.
If you find an apparently dead opossum without obvious injuries, particularly after an encounter with a dog, give it space before assuming it's actually dead.
What If an Opossum Has Babies?
Here's where things get particularly interesting.
Opossums are marsupials, meaning females carry their developing young in a pouch.
Later, as the babies grow, you'll sometimes see the tiny hitchhikers riding around on their mother's back.
If a female opossum has been killed or injured, however, surviving young may still be present in her pouch.
Don't attempt to raise orphaned wildlife yourself.
A licensed wildlife rehabilitator is much better equipped to evaluate and care for orphaned or injured native wildlife.
This is something Nature-Tech strongly supports as part of responsible wildlife management.
Should Every Opossum Be Removed?
Absolutely not.
If an opossum is simply wandering across your yard at night and isn't damaging anything, our recommendation may literally be:
Leave it alone.
That's not terrible business.
That's responsible wildlife management.
FWC similarly recommends coexistence and proactive measures whenever possible, with trapping and removal generally reserved for situations where other measures have failed and an individual animal is actually creating a nuisance conflict.
Living on Florida's Nature Coast means living around wildlife.
Our goal isn't to create sterile neighborhoods without native animals. It's to help prevent wildlife from living inside our homes and damaging our property.
How Can I Keep Opossums Away From My Home?
Prevention usually starts by removing opportunities.
You can make your property less attractive by:
Bringing pet food indoors at night
Securing garbage cans
Cleaning up fallen fruit
Removing unnecessary brush and debris
Repairing damaged crawl-space vents
Securing openings beneath porches
Closing access beneath sheds when appropriate
Addressing structural gaps that allow wildlife inside
If an animal is already living inside an area that needs to be sealed, however, don't simply close the opening.
You need to make sure you're not trapping the animal, or its young, inside.
Why Wildlife Exclusion Matters
Removing an opossum solves the immediate problem.
Fixing the opening solves the reason the problem happened.
If an opossum entered through a damaged crawl-space vent and we remove the animal but leave the vent exactly as we found it, we've essentially hung a VACANCY sign for the next animal.
That could be another opossum.
Or a raccoon.
Or a rat.
Or a snake following those rodents.
Professional wildlife exclusion focuses on identifying vulnerable areas and repairing them appropriately so wildlife has fewer opportunities to establish itself inside the structure.
What I See Most Often
Opossums are one of those animals that homeowners sometimes panic about unnecessarily.
An opossum walking across the backyard isn't automatically a problem.
An opossum living beneath the house is.
That distinction is important to how we approach wildlife management at Nature-Tech Wildlife Solutions.
Our job isn't to convince every homeowner that every wild animal needs to be removed. It's to identify when wildlife is actually creating a conflict and determine the most practical way to resolve it.
Sometimes that's removal.
Sometimes it's exclusion.
Sometimes it's eliminating an attractant.
And sometimes the professional recommendation really is:
Leave the animal alone and let it continue doing opossum things.
Our Opossum Removal Process
1. Inspect the Property
We identify where the animal is living, how it's accessing the structure, and whether there's evidence of additional wildlife.
2. Determine the Appropriate Solution
Not every situation requires trapping. We evaluate the specific conflict and recommend an appropriate approach.
3. Remove the Animal When Necessary
When removal is appropriate, nuisance wildlife must be handled according to Florida wildlife regulations. FWC requires live-captured nuisance wildlife to be legally released or humanely euthanized within the required timeframe.
4. Address Entry Points
Once we're confident no animals remain inside, vulnerable openings can be repaired or secured.
5. Reduce Future Wildlife Conflicts
We'll identify food sources, shelter opportunities, structural vulnerabilities, or other conditions that may continue attracting wildlife.
Frequently Asked Questions About Opossums
Are opossums aggressive?
Usually not.
Opossums generally prefer escape over confrontation. When threatened, however, they may hiss, open their mouths, show their teeth, or attempt to defend themselves.
Give them space.
Do opossums attack pets?
Opossums generally avoid confrontations with dogs and cats. However, any cornered wild animal may defend itself, so pets should be kept away.
Are opossums good to have around?
In the right place, yes.
They're native wildlife and part of Florida's ecosystem. An opossum simply passing through your property generally isn't something that needs to be removed.
Inside your crawl space is a different conversation.
Can opossums climb?
Yes.
They're capable climbers, and their hind feet have opposable inner toes adapted for grasping. Their tails are also prehensile.
Should I trap an opossum myself?
Florida property owners may take qualifying nuisance wildlife on their own property, but they remain responsible for complying with applicable wildlife laws, trapping requirements, and legal disposition of captured animals.
For an animal living inside a structure, there's another problem: removing the animal without addressing the entry point may simply create room for another one.
Do opossums really eat ticks?
Opossums are opportunistic omnivores and may consume many different invertebrates, but I wouldn't rely on the popular claim that opossums are roaming tick-destroying machines. Their ecological value is broader than a catchy internet statistic.
Need Opossum Removal in Citrus County?
If an opossum has moved beneath your home, into a crawl space, attic, garage, or another area where it's creating a problem, Nature-Tech Wildlife Solutions can help.
We provide professional opossum removal, wildlife inspections, exclusion, and prevention services throughout Crystal River, Homosassa, Inverness, Lecanto, Beverly Hills, Hernando, Floral City, Citrus Springs, and surrounding communities throughout Citrus County and Florida's Nature Coast.
We'll identify what's happening, determine whether removal is actually necessary, and help address the conditions that created the conflict in the first place.
Protecting Homes. Respecting Wildlife. Building Lasting Solutions.
Call today for your FREE inspection: 352.783.5594
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