Nature Info Gate

The Virginia opossum has a public relations problem. With its ratlike tail, pointed face, and tendency to hiss when startled, it lands squarely in the “get it away from me” category for most homeowners. Opossums are the animals people call about when they want something gone — fast.

But the opossum is doing you a favor you did not ask for, and it is doing it for free. Before you decide to trap and relocate the one living under your porch, consider what you are actually losing.

The Tick Vacuum You Never Knew You Had

Opossums are meticulous groomers. They spend a substantial portion of their waking hours licking and cleaning their fur, and in the process they encounter — and eat — enormous numbers of ticks. Research from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies estimated that a single opossum can consume roughly 5,000 ticks in a single season.

In a state where Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and ehrlichiosis are genuine public health concerns, having a resident tick predator in your yard is not a nuisance — it is a benefit. The opossum patrols your property at night, vacuuming up the ticks that would otherwise end up on your dog, your children, or you.

Opossums and Rabies: Clearing Up the Myth

One of the most persistent misconceptions about opossums is that they carry rabies. While any mammal can technically contract rabies, opossums are remarkably resistant to the virus. Their body temperature is unusually low for a mammal — typically between 94 and 97 degrees Fahrenheit — which creates an inhospitable environment for the rabies virus to replicate. Cases of rabies in opossums are extremely rare, far rarer than in raccoons, skunks, or bats.

The hissing, drooling, and swaying behavior that people mistake for rabies is actually a stress response. When an opossum feels cornered, it may bare its 50 teeth, drool, and sway — or it may “play dead,” going limp and secreting a foul-smelling fluid from its anal glands. Neither behavior indicates disease. Both are defense mechanisms that an animal with very poor eyesight and slow running speed has evolved as alternatives to fighting.

What Else Opossums Eat (and Why It Helps)

Beyond ticks, opossums are opportunistic omnivores with a diet that reads like a pest control wish list. They eat cockroaches, beetles, slugs, snails, mice, rats, carrion, and overripe fruit that would otherwise attract less welcome visitors. They also eat venomous snakes — opossums have a partial immunity to pit viper venom, making them one of the few mammals that can tangle with a copperhead and walk away.

This dietary flexibility means an opossum under your porch is essentially running a nightly cleanup crew. It reduces the insect population around your home, limits the rodents that attract snakes to your property, and removes carrion that would otherwise decompose and attract flies.

When an Opossum Does Need to Go

Not every opossum encounter requires removal. An opossum passing through your yard at night is not a problem — it is a neighbor. But an opossum that has taken up permanent residence inside your home, under your foundation, or in your attic does need to be relocated, both for the animal’s wellbeing and your own.

The humane approach mirrors the general principles behind all humane wildlife removal: identify the entry point, install a one-way exclusion door, wait for the animal to leave on its own schedule, and then seal the opening permanently. For opossums denning under porches or decks, hardware cloth buried in an L-shape around the perimeter prevents re-entry once the animal has been excluded.

A Note on Relocation

If trapping and relocating an opossum becomes necessary, keep in mind that relocated opossums have a poor survival rate. They are being dropped into unfamiliar territory without knowledge of food sources, water, or shelter — and without the scent markers that tell other opossums the area is occupied. Whenever possible, exclusion (letting the animal leave and preventing re-entry) produces better outcomes than capture and relocation.