Possums are typically helpful creatures. You may see them carrying their young pups around in their pouches. While their habits of eating ticks make them useful, if they burrow into your home or property, they may become pests.
If you are in need of ethical possum removal and relocation services, Done Right Pest Solutions is your go-to company. Give us a call anytime for a free quote: 651-342-9489.
And read on to learn all about these helpful creatures, and how to perform your own possum removal service. We also explain how we perform our possum removal services and answer the question, “how much does possum removal cost?”
Table of Contents
- Possums
- How to perform your own possum control – possum removal
- Possum removal services
- Conclusion & next steps
Possums
Possums are distinct looking large rodents, with white, gray or brown bodies, long rat-like tails, beady eyes, sharp teeth, and a pointed snout. They look like a cross between a muskrat and a rat. Two distinct features are their hairless ears and tail.
Though only the size of a large cat, possums are actually related to the kangaroo and other marsupials in Australia. Like the kangaroo, possums carry their young in a pouch on their bodies. It isn’t uncommon to see a mother possum with up to 10 babies hanging onto her.
They mate in January and May, and can have between 6 and 20 young per year, making each litter between 3 and 10 young.
Possums make excellent climbers, and they can also use their tail as an extra limb, grasping onto branches for stability.
The old adage is true, the possum is more afraid of you than you are of it. Being nocturnal, they often run from light and sound.
When threatened they will click their teeth, growl, and screech. When cornered, possums have been known to ‘play dead’ or ‘play possum’ where they fall over as if dead and secrete a foul odor.
As Helpful Creatures
Possums are scavengers, searching for food. They will eat anything like worms, snakes, and insects to fruit and grains. They clean up roadkill, enjoying the remains of dead animals.
Did you know that possums are immune or resistant to snake venom of poisonous snakes? It’s true! And it makes it a lot easier for them to kill and eat them than if they were not resistant to the venom.
Once they eat, possums appear similar to cats, bathing themselves.
An interesting and awesome fact about possums is that they aren’t susceptible to rabies. Because they can’t get rabies, we would like to keep them around.
Possums are excellent tick hunters, helping control tick populations.
As Pests
Because possums eat garbage, they may become a pest in residential neighborhoods as they seek out food. They have been known to attack chickens and other small fowl on acreages or hobby farms.
For these reasons, home and land owners often will seek to trap and remove possums from their land.
Even though they don’t have rabies, these pests can still inflict a painful bite, and most pest control companies don’t advise trapping possums on one’s own.
If you’re wondering “does animal control remove possums,” they should. But, if animal control doesn’t remove possums, we do.
Possums also typically carry ectoparisites, like ticks, fleas, and mites, which can get into your home if they burrow under a deck or in your home.
An interesting and awesome fact about possums is that they aren’t susceptible to rabies. Because they can’t get rabies, we would like to keep them around.
How to Perform Your Own Possum Control — Possum Removal
Live cage traps are the most common method of possum control and possum removal. Done Right Pest Solutions staff utilizes these live traps for that very reason: it keeps the possums alive, they are simply trapped until we can relocate them elsewhere.
While there are many types and sizes of live cage traps (for basically any rodent or larger animal), just because you can purchase these traps on your own, doesn’t mean you necessarily should. There is a lot to consider.
First, check regulations. Make sure it is legal in your state to trap and release possums. In many states, if you trap a possum, you must euthanize it and dispose of its carcass right away.
If it is legal, make sure you are willing to put in the work to ensure a successful trap and release.
Make sure you have the right size trap. Some people don’t know the size of possum they are trying to trap and end up purchasing too small of a trap, only to find that they need to return it or obtain a larger sized trap. Use a raccoon trap: at least 32 inches long, and about 12 inches wide.
The next size up from a live squirrel trap is a raccoon or possum trap. Both raccoons and possums can fit in these traps. Possum removal is like raccoon removal or squirrel removal.
Use the right bait. Bait the trap with fish or cat food, and mix in apples. Possums like sweet things, so even marshmallows will attract possums.
Not baiting for the correct pest may result in the capture of other pests or even stray cats. While this may not bother everyone, it bothers the untargeted pest(s) or cat(s). There is an amount of mental stress or trauma that goes into being trapped. This causes issues with the pests brain and rewires them differently, perhaps causing them to be more destructive and skittish than they were before.
Check the trap regularly. Pests, while bothersome at times, are still living creatures. Done Right Pest Solutions staff strives to remove and relocate larger rodents as much as possible. Scavengers are helpful to our ecosystem and we do not take our job as pest controllers lightly, we emphasize the controlling aspect by relocating the larger rodents, letting them live.
Relocate ASAP. You have to be willing to relocate the animal as soon as possible. If a possum is in the trap too long, it will dehydrate, have heat stroke, or die of other causes. We do not want this to happen.
How to Remove a Possum From Your Garage
If a possum is in your garage, chances are it is just looking for food. Leave the door open and it should go out eventually.
If a possum is nesting in your garage, whether an exterior wall or in a corner, there are ways you can remove the possum from your garage.
Once you’ve checked regulations near you, obtain a live trap and bait it accordingly. Place the trap near where it is harboring. Check the trap regularly. Once a possum is caught in a live trap, it will most likely make a lot of noise, be prepared for that.
As soon as you hear that one has been caught, relocate it as soon as possible. As soon as you remove a possum from your garage, repair the entry point or keep the main garage doors closed more often.
Now you know how to remove a possum from your garage. Read on to learn how to remove a possum from under a house.
How to Remove a Possum From Under a House
If a possum is under a house, it got there somehow. Most likely it burrowed down under the house.
If a possum is nesting under your house, there are ways you can remove the possum from your garage.
Once you’ve checked regulations near you, obtain a live trap and bait it accordingly. Put it near the hole where the possum enters. Check the trap regularly. Once a possum is caught in a live trap, it will most likely make a lot of noise, be prepared for that.
As soon as you hear that one has been caught, relocate it as soon as possible. As soon as you remove a possum from your under your house, repair the entry point or fill the burrow immediately.
Now you know how to remove a possum from under a house. Read on to learn how to remove a possum from a crawl space.
How to Remove Possums From Crawl Space
If a possum is nesting in your crawl space, there are ways you can remove the possum from your garage.
Once you’ve checked regulations near you, obtain a live trap and bait it accordingly. Place the trap near where it is harboring. Sometimes you can have access to the crawl space from the exterior of the house; sometimes you can have access to the crawl space from the interior of the house. If a possum is nesting in your attic, it is important to have that possum in attic removal service completed.
There are even special traps you can buy for possum in attic removal services or special insulation..
If needed, place a live trap on the inside and the outside. Check the traps regularly. Once a possum is caught in a live trap, it will most likely make a lot of noise, be prepared for that.
As soon as you hear that one has been caught, relocate it as soon as possible. As soon as you remove a possum from a crawl space, repair the entry points immediately.
Now you know how to remove a possum from your garage. Read on to learn how to remove a possum from your house.
How to Remove Possums From Your House
If a possum is nesting in your house, there are ways you can remove the possum from your house. Most likely they are nesting in an attic space or in a garage, not the actual living space of your house. If a possum is nesting in your attic, it is important to have that possum in attic removal service completed.
If you have any concerns of possum removal, give us a call for a free quote today: 651-342-9489.
Once you’ve checked regulations near you, obtain a live trap and bait it accordingly. Place the trap near where it is harboring.
If needed, place a live trap on the inside and the outside. Check the traps regularly. Once a possum is caught in a live trap, it will most likely make a lot of noise, be prepared for that.
As soon as you hear that one has been caught, relocate it as soon as possible. As soon as you remove a possum from your house, repair the entry points immediately.
Now you know how to remove a possum from your house. Read on to learn about our possum removal services, including answers on the questions: “Who do you call to remove a possum?” and “How much does possum removal cost?”
Possum Removal Services
We begin your possum removal service just like any other service: inspection. We talk with our client to learn all we can and then we inspect the property to see if there is any other information we can gather. Some signs a property manager or owner will certainly know of, but some only trained professionals can notice.
Once we’ve assessed the situation, we will place live traps in the secured area to trap the possum. We won’t set the trap until we bait the trap. But once baited with the desired bait, the trap is set and follow-up visits are scheduled.
We always ask that you monitor the possum trap and let us know immediately if the trap catches a possum so we can remove and relocate it as soon as possible.
Who Do You Call to Remove a Possum?
While it is very rare for a possum to carry rabies, it is a wild animal and can attack humans. If you encounter a possum that is nesting in an area of your home or property and would like it removed, it is important that you call an animal control specialist!
Done Right Pest Solutions has expert technicians that specialize in animal control services too. As you read in the section above, we can quickly and delicately set live traps and remove the live animal from your property.
Possums have many beneficial qualities, like they eat ticks and other insects, so we want to keep these guys alive. We always relocate them to another area, 10 to 15 miles from your property.
How Much Does Possum Removal Cost?
Animal removal costs can vary based on the company you hire or the number of possums of which you may need removal. Done Right Pest Solutions has a base charge of $380 plus tax for possum removal services, so you no longer need to wonder how much does possum removal cost.
Possums are typically simple to caught, but if there are more than 2 possums, we often will charge a $75 retrieval fee, for the technician to drive out, remove the possum 10 to 15 miles away from your home, and back to your home to replace and reset the live trap.
While we explained how much our possum removal services cost, other companies can charge higher service fees and higher trip fees, so, if you have any questions or concerns, give us a call at 651-342-9489.
Conclusion & Next Steps
You’ve learned a lot about possums, how they are helpful creatures but how they can become pests, too. You learned how to remove possums from your home or property, and you learned how we perform possum removal services.
If you’re looking for possum removal services, give the professionals at Done Right Pest Solutions a call. 651-342-9489.
We give a 1 month warranty, subject to any repairs that need to be made.
Free estimates given over the phone. Call, text, or email if you have any questions.
Here for all your wildlife control needs, too.
Done Right Team
Have you ever had a possum burrow under your deck or patio? We would like to learn of your experience in the comments.
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