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Do Possums Dig Under Houses? (And How to Keep Them Away)

Do Possums Dig Under Houses? (And How to Keep Them Away)

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Some areas have more possums than others, but most people will have spotted a possum at some point in their life when living in a rural area of North America. Opossums are known for taking up residence in spots such as sheds or under porches, and they can be a bit of a nuisance.

You might discover that you have possums getting into your trash and making a mess of things. Sometimes possums will even carry diseases such as tuberculosis, leptospirosis, and many others.

Basically, you don’t want possums to take up residence anywhere on your property. If you’ve seen signs of possums, then you might be wondering where they are if they aren’t in any of the usual spots.

Do possums dig under houses? Could they be living under your house right now without you knowing about it?

Possums Can Live Under Houses

Yes, possums can live under houses in some circumstances. It might depend on certain things such as how deep your foundation is and whether the possums can realistically dig underneath the house to make a place that they can live in.

However, it’s important to note that many people have found possums living underneath their houses. Possums can dig enough to carve out safe spots where they can live under many homes.

Also, you could wind up having possums in the crawl space underneath your home. You already know that possums will live in sheds or other areas like that, and this means that finding a possum in your crawl space should come as no surprise.

Now that you know that possums can be found underneath your house, it’s likely that you want to figure out how to get them out. There are several options to consider when you’re trying to remove possums from underneath your home.

Poison the Possum

You could eliminate the possums in your area by giving them poison that will kill them. In fact, this is one of the most common ways to get rid of possums since it’s so easy to do.

All you need to do is buy poison that is meant to kill possums. Poison could be mixed in with food that possums will gravitate toward, and it’ll kill the possums fairly quickly.

Some types of poison will even mimic earthworms that possums utilize as a food source. Poisons like this might be good because they’ll play into the possum’s natural instincts to look for food.

Once you’ve poisoned the possum, it’ll just be necessary to dispose of the remains once the possum has died. This is a good way to eliminate the possum without making a mess or having to get up close and personal.

Kill the Possum Yourself

Killing the possum yourself is another thing that could work, but it might be kind of gruesome to do this. Make sure that you’re within your rights to kill the animal in the area that you’re living in.

Most places in the United States will say that killing nuisance animals such as possums is acceptable. However, it might make sense to ensure that you follow the laws of the land to avoid any potential issues.

You generally aren’t allowed to kill animals in cruel ways, and you should want to make it fast and as painless as possible. It might be legal to kill a possum with a shovel since this can be done fast.

Some people kill possums by shooting them with firearms as well. If you don’t want to kill the possums that are living under your home, then you could try less violent ways of getting rid of them.

Trapping the Possum

It should be legal to trap and relocate a possum in your area, but you can always check to make sure first. You can go out to purchase opossum traps that will do a good job of capturing them.

Place the possum traps and bait them with food so that the possums will be interested in them. Eventually, you should be able to trap the possum so that it can be relocated.

Take the possum trap and put it in a vehicle of some sort so that you can drive it far away from your home. Once you’ve reached what you feel is a safe distance, you’ll be able to release the possum into the wild.

The possum should scurry off and get away from you as fast as it can. You’ll be able to solve your possum problem without having to worry too much if you go this route.

Give it Some Time

Giving the issue some time might actually solve the problem for you. You see, possums are only going to remain in areas when they have enough food to eat.

If your property doesn’t have food that the possum can eat, then it’ll move on and find a better location where it can survive. This means that exercising a bit of patience could cause the possum to just leave on its own.

Of course, this might not work if there are all sorts of natural things that the possum can eat on your property. You could have plants, bushes, and trees that produce things that possums will eat.

Doing a good job of cleaning up your yard can make it less appealing to possums. You could also do a good job of making your trash inaccessible so that possums can’t get into it to scrounge for food.

Due to the danger that possums pose as disease carriers, many people aren’t comfortable with being passive like this. You might want to take action, but it’s still true that possums might leave on their own over time.

Hire an Exterminator

One of the simplest ways to deal with having possums under your house is to just get expert help. You can call a local pest extermination company that will handle everything for you.

These professionals deal with issues like this all the time, and they can come out to your home to remove the possums. Different extermination companies will have different methods, and you might want to choose who to hire based on whether the company is going to kill the possums or not.

If you prefer to keep the possums alive, then you should be able to find a company that will only catch the possums and release them away from your home. It’ll also be possible to find a company that will truly exterminate the possum if you feel that this is the best route to take.

Hiring a pest control company might seem like an extreme thing to do to some people. It’s possible to get rid of possums by yourself, but not everyone is good at doing things like this.

You also might not have a lot of time to handle situations such as pests living under your home. In this circumstance, it makes more sense to hire a company than it does to try to do things yourself.

It will cost more money to hire professionals, but you’ll get guaranteed results. That might be worth the cost when you just want this issue to be done with.

You now know what your options are so that you can decide on the right course of action. Whatever you choose, it’s not going to be overly difficult to remove the possums from under your home.

If this ever happens again in the future, it’ll be easier to know what to do right away. This isn’t a severe problem, but it’ll feel good to have the possums gone so that you won’t have to feel concerned at all.

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