Opossums

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Opossum Control in South Florida

Opossums
Opossums
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Opossum Quick Facts

Size

Adults are commonly 24 to 40 inches long from nose to tail and roughly the size of a house cat

Color

Grayish-white fur with a pale face, dark eyes, small hairless ears, and a mostly hairless tail

How to Identify

A pointed snout, white or gray face, coarse fur, small dark ears, and a long prehensile tail

Active Season

Active year-round in South Florida; sightings may increase when food, water, or sheltered den sites are readily available

Indoor or Outdoor

Primarily outdoors, but may shelter beneath buildings, inside attics, garages, sheds, crawl spaces, or other protected areas

Day or Night

Mostly active at night, although a hungry, displaced, injured, or disturbed opossum may occasionally appear during daylight.

Diet

Omnivorous; eats insects, snails, small animals, carrion, fruit, vegetables, pet food, birdseed, and accessible garbage.

About Opossums

The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is Florida’s only native marsupial. About the size of a house cat, it is recognized by coarse grayish fur, a pale pointed face, small hairless ears, and a long, mostly naked tail. Opossums are adaptable wildlife and may visit South Florida neighborhoods when yards and buildings provide food, water, or protected shelter.

A passing opossum is often only foraging and does not automatically indicate an infestation. Concerns become more practical when an animal repeatedly raids trash, eats pet food, shelters beneath a structure, enters an attic or garage, leaves droppings, or has close contact with people or pets. Resolution begins with confirming the animal, locating shelter and entry points, and reducing the attractants that encourage it to return.

Where Do Opossums Shelter?

Outdoor Den and Resting Areas

Opossums do not dig elaborate dens of their own. They usually rest in existing protected spaces or reuse shelter created by other animals. Around South Florida properties, common locations include:

  • Hollow trees and fallen logs
  • Dense shrubs, brush piles, and overgrown vegetation
  • Abandoned burrows and drainage areas
  • Spaces beneath decks, porches, and stairs
  • Wood piles and stored materials
  • Sheds, pool-equipment areas, and detached garages
  • Crawl spaces and openings beneath manufactured or raised buildings
  • Areas near accessible garbage, pet food, fallen fruit, compost, or birdseed

A den site may contain leaves, grass, paper, or other loose material carried in for bedding. Because opossums are generally solitary and may change resting places, one sheltering animal does not necessarily mean a large group is present.

Building Entry and Indoor Shelter

Opossums are primarily outdoor animals, but they may enter structures through an open or damaged access point. Places to inspect include:

  • Attics reached through broken soffits, roof gaps, or open vents
  • Garages with doors left open overnight
  • Crawl spaces and openings beneath foundations
  • Spaces around plumbing, utility, and HVAC penetrations
  • Damaged skirting, lattice, or foundation screening
  • Sheds, storage rooms, and outdoor kitchens
  • Chimneys or unused structures with an accessible opening
  • Quiet corners containing boxes, insulation, fabric, or other nesting material

Scratching, movement after dark, displaced insulation, droppings, odor, or disturbed stored items may indicate that an animal is sheltering inside. Similar signs can be caused by raccoons, rodents, or other wildlife, so identification is important before exclusion begins.

South Florida Conditions That Encourage Visits

South Florida’s mild climate, mature landscaping, and year-round food availability allow opossums to remain active in urban and suburban areas. Visits become more likely when a property has:

  • Garbage cans without secure lids
  • Pet food or water left outside overnight
  • Fallen fruit, accessible compost, or spilled birdseed
  • Dense vegetation and clutter that provide cover
  • Open crawl spaces, damaged soffits, or unscreened vents
  • Wood piles and stored materials kept against the structure
  • Standing water or dependable irrigation runoff
  • Outdoor feeding areas used by pets or community cats
  • Quiet, rarely disturbed areas beneath decks, sheds, or pool structures

Opossum Behavior and Attractants

Feeding and Foraging

Opossums are opportunistic omnivores. During nighttime foraging, they may consume:

  • Insects, snails, slugs, worms, and other invertebrates
  • Fruit, berries, vegetables, and fallen produce
  • Small animals, eggs, or carrion when available
  • Pet food and livestock feed
  • Garbage, compost, birdseed, and food scraps

Their varied diet helps them adapt to neighborhoods and commercial properties. Removing one food source may not end activity when other dependable options remain nearby.

Sheltering and Reproduction

Opossums are usually solitary except during mating and when a female is raising young. Florida females may produce two litters in a year. Newborns complete early development inside the mother’s pouch, and older young may ride on her back before becoming independent.

An animal may use one sheltered area temporarily and then move on, or it may return when the site remains quiet and food is nearby. Entry into an attic or enclosed space is more likely where damaged vents, soffits, doors, or foundation barriers provide an easy route.

Movement and Defensive Behavior

Opossums walk, climb, and use fences, branches, and low roofs while foraging. Their long tail helps with balance and grasping, but it is not typically used to hang for long periods. When threatened, an opossum may hiss, show its teeth, drool, retreat, or become temporarily immobile in the behavior commonly called “playing possum.”

  • They generally avoid confrontation when an escape route is available
  • Mothers may defend themselves if cornered with young
  • Pets may provoke a defensive response by chasing or trapping the animal
  • Daytime activity alone does not prove that an opossum is sick
  • Injury, heat, hunger, disturbance, or displacement can change normal activity
  • A motionless opossum should not be handled or assumed to be dead
  • Children and pets should be kept away from a cornered animal
  • Wildlife professionals should evaluate animals trapped inside structures

Giving the animal space and removing access to food and shelter often reduces conflict without direct handling.

Daily Activity

Opossums are mainly nocturnal. They commonly emerge around dusk and travel through yards, alleys, fence lines, and landscaped areas while searching for food. Cameras, tracks, droppings, overturned containers, or repeated nighttime sightings can help reveal a regular route.

Storms, construction, vegetation removal, food shortages, or the loss of a den site may temporarily change where an animal travels or rests.

Opossum Concerns Around Properties

Nuisance and Property Issues

Opossums do not normally damage sound structural materials simply by passing through a yard. Problems are more likely when an animal gains access beneath or inside a building, repeatedly tips over containers, disturbs insulation, soils a den area, or enters gardens and feeding stations.

Repeated activity may point to an attractant or access condition such as:

  • Unsecured garbage or compost
  • Pet food left outdoors
  • Open vents, soffits, crawl spaces, or garage doors
  • Dense cover or stored materials beside the building
  • Fallen fruit or birdseed
  • A quiet den site beneath a deck, shed, or structure

Because raccoons, rats, cats, armadillos, and other animals can leave similar signs, proper identification helps prevent sealing an occupied space or using an ineffective control method.

Droppings, Parasites, and Sanitation

Like other wildlife, opossums can carry parasites and germs, and their droppings or urine can contaminate a sheltering area. The realistic concern is greatest with direct contact, accumulated waste, or an animal inside a building—not with every outdoor sighting. Avoid handling the animal or its waste barehanded, keep pets away, and clean contaminated areas using appropriate protective measures.

People and Pets

Opossums usually try to escape rather than attack, but any wild mammal may bite or scratch when cornered, injured, trapped, or handled. Dogs may be injured during a close encounter, and wildlife can also carry fleas, ticks, or other parasites.

Keep people and pets at a safe distance. Anyone bitten or scratched should wash the area promptly and contact a medical professional or local public-health authority for guidance. A veterinarian should evaluate a pet injured during contact with wildlife.

When Are Opossums Active in South Florida?

South Florida’s mild climate allows opossums to remain active throughout the year. Activity is usually most noticeable after dark and may shift as food, water, shelter, and breeding needs change.

Activity may increase during:

  • Nighttime hours throughout the year
  • Periods when fruit, insects, or other food is abundant
  • Breeding and juvenile-dispersal periods
  • Storms or flooding that disturb resting sites
  • Hot or dry weather that concentrates animals near water and irrigated landscapes
  • Neighborhood trash nights or regular outdoor feeding schedules
  • Construction, trimming, or cleanup that removes cover and redirects movement

Heavy rain, tropical weather, or flooding may displace an opossum from low shelter and lead it toward garages, sheds, porches, attics, or elevated structures. Openings created by storm damage can make entry easier.

During cooler weather, an opossum may spend more time in a protected resting place, but it does not truly hibernate. A sudden increase in sightings often reflects a new food source, an accessible shelter, a female with young, or displacement from nearby habitat.

Why DIY Opossum Control May Fall Short

A single nighttime sighting may require nothing more than securing attractants and allowing the animal to move along. Professional help becomes more practical when activity keeps returning, an opossum is inside or beneath a building, young may be present, the entry point is difficult to reach, or safe identification and removal are uncertain.

  • Focusing Only on the Animal | Removing or chasing away one opossum may provide temporary relief while open access, food, water, or shelter continues attracting wildlife.
  • Misidentifying the Wildlife | Nighttime noises, droppings, tracks, and overturned trash can also come from raccoons, rodents, cats, or other animals. The wrong identification can lead to the wrong response.
  • Sealing an Occupied Space | Closing an opening before confirming that the animal and any dependent young are out can trap wildlife inside, create odor and sanitation problems, or force damage at another exit point.
  • Unsafe Handling or Trapping | A frightened or injured wild animal may bite or scratch. Trapping and disposition are also subject to wildlife rules and should be handled in a lawful, humane manner.
  • Leaving Attractants in Place | Unsecured trash, outdoor pet food, fallen fruit, birdseed, and accessible shelter can support recurring visits even after one animal leaves.
  • Overlooking Hidden Young | A female may have pouch young or older young nearby. Inspection helps determine whether timing and removal methods need to account for dependent animals.
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opossum inspection and wildlife exclusion in South Florida

Lower-Impact Options

When appropriate, Pest Busterzz may prioritize inspection, one-way exclusion, trapping, monitoring, sanitation guidance, and habitat modification instead of unnecessary broad product applications.

The Pest Busterzz Opossum Treatment Approach

Pest Busterzz evaluates where opossums are traveling or sheltering, determines how they are accessing the property, and develops a plan based on the inspection findings.

01

Inspection

We confirm the wildlife involved, look for droppings, tracks, nesting material, and damage, and inspect attics, soffits, vents, crawl spaces, decks, sheds, rooflines, and other likely shelter or entry areas.

02

Targeted Treatment

Based on the inspection, the plan may include humane trapping where appropriate, one-way exclusion, removal from an accessible interior space, sanitation recommendations, and repairs or barriers that address confirmed entry points. Methods depend on the animal’s location, property conditions, and applicable wildlife requirements.

03

Monitoring & Follow-Up

We evaluate whether activity has stopped, confirm that exclusion points remain secure, and adjust the plan if cameras, tracks, sounds, or other evidence reveal another route or sheltering area.

04

Prevention

Recommendations may include securing trash, bringing pet food indoors at night, removing fallen fruit, cleaning spilled birdseed, trimming dense cover, screening vents, repairing soffits, closing crawl-space access, and sealing confirmed openings after animals have exited.

Yes. The Virginia opossum is native to Florida and occurs in wooded, suburban, and urban environments. South Florida properties may attract opossums when they provide easy access to garbage, pet food, fruit, water, dense cover, or protected spaces beneath and inside buildings.

Look for a house-cat-sized animal with coarse grayish fur, a pale pointed face, small hairless ears, dark eyes, and a long mostly naked tail. Raccoons are stockier, have a ringed furry tail, and usually show a dark facial mask.

A passing opossum usually causes little or no structural damage. Problems may occur when one enters an attic, crawl space, garage, or area beneath a building, where it may disturb insulation, soil a resting area, or enlarge an already weak access point.

The yard may offer food, water, or cover. Common attractants include unsecured garbage, pet food, fallen fruit, compost, birdseed, insects, standing water, dense shrubs, and quiet spaces beneath decks or sheds.

An opossum may have entered through a broken soffit, unscreened vent, roof gap, open garage, or nearby branch route. Scratching or movement after dark can also be caused by raccoons or rodents, so the animal should be identified before openings are sealed.

Opossums generally avoid conflict and try to escape. However, any wild animal may bite or scratch if cornered, injured, trapped, or handled. Keep children and pets away, provide the animal an escape route, and do not attempt to pick it up.

No. Although opossums are mainly nocturnal, daytime activity can occur because of hunger, disturbance, injury, caring for young, or displacement from shelter. Abnormal behavior should still be evaluated from a safe distance by animal control or a wildlife professional.

Like other wildlife, opossums can carry germs, fleas, ticks, and other parasites, but not every animal is infected. Avoid direct contact and barehanded cleanup of droppings or nesting material. Keep pets away and seek medical or veterinary advice after a bite, scratch, or concerning exposure.

Recurring visits usually mean food, water, cover, or an entry point is still available. It may also be a different animal following the same route. Effective prevention combines identification, attractant reduction, exclusion, and follow-up monitoring.

Do not separate a mother from dependent young or seal them inside a structure. Keep people and pets away and contact a qualified wildlife professional for an inspection. The safest timing and method depend on whether the young are in the pouch, riding with the mother, or sheltering nearby.

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