This surprises people, but an opossum earns its keep. One patrolling your yard works through a menu of pests you'd rather not have, doing it on the night shift for free.
- Ticks and other insects
- Roaches, beetles, and garden pests
- Snails and slugs
- Rats and mice, and even the occasional venomous snake
- Fallen fruit and carrion, which cleans up the yard
The animal usually isn't the problem
For most homeowners the honest answer is that the opossum itself isn't the problem; it's where it decided to den. An opossum passing through the yard is quietly doing you a favor. An opossum living in your crawlspace is a different matter — not because it's dangerous, but because of the mess and the fact that a structure isn't the place for it.
That's why we lead with getting an opossum out of the wrong spot rather than treating it like something to exterminate. Removing a beneficial animal that's just doing pest control doesn't make sense; relocating a denning one out of your porch does.
A note on the balance
We're exclusion-first partly for this reason. There's little upside to killing an animal that eats ticks and rodents, and Florida's nuisance-wildlife rules limit relocation anyway. Seal it out of the structure and let it keep working the yard, and everyone comes out ahead.
Common questions
Should I get rid of an opossum that's just passing through?
Not necessarily. If it isn't denning in a structure, it's mostly eating pests you'd rather not have. The problem is a den in the wrong place, not the animal wandering the yard.
Do opossums really eat ticks?
They eat a range of pests including ticks, roaches, and snails, plus rodents. That pest control is a big part of why we're exclusion-first rather than extermination-first with this species.
If opossums are helpful, why would I ever call about one?
Because a helpful animal in the wrong spot — under the porch, in the crawlspace — still leaves droppings, odor, and a den you don't want. The call is about the location, and the fix is excluding it from the structure while it keeps patrolling the yard.
