Under sheds and decks
The dry, sheltered gap under a shed on blocks or a low deck is ideal. Opossums do not dig much themselves, so they often take over spaces a woodchuck or skunk already opened.
Opossum removal · Licensed NWCO referrals
Opossum Removal and Wildlife Control in Orange County, NY
Opossums are drifters. Most pass through a yard and keep going. The ones that settle into a garage, a crawlspace or the dry gap under a shed, especially a mother with a pouch full of young, need a licensed wildlife operator to move them out and close the door behind them.
- Garages, sheds & crawlspaces
- Humane trapping & exclusion
- Licensed wildlife operators
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November in Orange County
Rodent calls peak in November. Mice and rats are pushing into heated spaces as overnight temperatures drop into the 20s. Sealing gaps now saves a long winter of traps.
Meet the Virginia opossum
The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial north of Mexico. Adults are about the size of a house cat, with coarse gray-white fur, a pointed pink nose, black papery ears and a long, scaly, nearly hairless tail. Up close they show a mouthful of teeth, 50 of them, which is more than any other North American land mammal.
Opossums were once uncommon this far north. They have pushed steadily into New York and New England over the last century, and in a cold Hudson Valley winter you can often spot the result: frostbitten ear tips and tail ends on adults that made it through January.
People sometimes confuse a young opossum with a large rat, especially in a garage or a trash can. The face gives it away. A rat has a blunt nose and fur on its body that matches its tail. An opossum has that white face, the black ears and a tail that grips. If you are not sure, our rat control page has a few pointers.
Evidence an opossum is staying, not just passing through
- Garbage bags torn open or cans tipped night after night
- Pet food disappearing from the porch or garage
- A shallow, matted nest of leaves and grass under a shed or deck
- Five-toed tracks with a thumb-like hind toe set at an angle
- Loose, varied droppings near the entry point
- Hissing, clicking or a strong musky odor from a crawlspace
- An animal "playing dead" when cornered, which is a dead giveaway in more ways than one
Where opossums settle in and around houses
Garages
A garage door left up overnight, a pet door or a gap under a side door lets them in. Pet food bins, bird seed and recycling keep them there.
Crawlspaces
Broken vent screens and loose access panels give opossums a warm place out of the wind. Crawlspace insulation tends to get torn down and soiled.
Attics and wall voids
Opossums climb well, and an overhanging limb or a gap at the roofline can lead them in. Attic calls are more often raccoons or squirrels, so confirm before assuming.
Woodpiles, brush and compost
Temporary daytime shelter, especially near woods and streams. These are the opossums most likely to move on by themselves.
Why opossum calls come from every corner of the county
Opossums are generalists, and Orange County offers them a little of everything. Wooded hillsides in the Monroe, Woodbury and Tuxedo area run right up to backyards, so animals moving out of Harriman State Park and Sterling Forest at night find trash cans and sheds within a few hundred feet. Neighborhoods in Highland Mills and Central Valley see this constantly.
Stream corridors are their highways. The Wallkill, the Moodna, the Neversink and the countless smaller creeks give opossums cover to travel through farm country and into villages like Maybrook and Pine Bush. River towns along the Delaware, including Huguenot and Port Jervis, have the same pattern with older garages and outbuildings to match.
Winter makes it worse. Opossums do not hibernate and they handle cold poorly, so as January deepens they look hard for sheltered, insulated spots. That is when crawlspace and garage calls rise in this part of the state.
Health notes: lower rabies risk, but still a wild animal
Opossums are rarely found with rabies, which is often credited to their relatively low body temperature. They are not on New York's list of primary rabies vector species the way raccoons, skunks and bats are. Still, any mammal can carry it, and any bite or scratch from a wild animal should be reported to a doctor and the Orange County Department of Health.
The more practical concerns are fleas, mites and droppings. Soiled crawlspace insulation or a garage corner used as a latrine should be cleaned with gloves and a disinfectant, and heavily contaminated insulation is usually best replaced.
What licensed opossum removal involves
Inspect and confirm
The operator confirms it is an opossum, finds every opening it is using, and checks for a mother with young. Opossums can carry a large litter in the pouch and later on their back, so timing and method matter.
Remove humanely
Depending on the setup, that means a one-way door over the entry, a live trap baited and checked on a schedule, or hands-on capture when the animal is already cornered in a garage or window well.
Seal and protect
Openings get closed with hardware cloth, vent screens or a buried L-footer around sheds and decks. Damaged insulation and nesting debris can be removed so the smell does not draw the next one.
Pricing considerations
- Where it is
- Garage and open-yard captures are simpler than crawlspaces, attics and wall voids.
- Trap visits
- Live trapping includes several check visits, which affects the total.
- Young present
- A mother with young takes more planning and sometimes more trips.
- Exclusion size
- Skirting a long deck or sealing multiple crawlspace vents takes more material.
- Cleanup
- Insulation removal, sanitizing and deodorizing are usually priced separately.
- Urgency
- After-hours and weekend calls can cost more with some operators.
Can you handle an opossum yourself?
Sometimes. If an opossum is simply wandering through, removing the food (pet bowls, trash, fallen fruit, bird seed) is often enough to make it move on within a few nights. An animal stuck in a garage can usually be encouraged out by leaving the door open after dark. Opossums are slow and would much rather leave than fight.
The line is crossed when trapping comes into it. In New York, anyone handling nuisance wildlife for pay needs a DEC Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator license, and the state limits where trapped animals can be released. A homeowner who traps an opossum and drives it to a park across the county may be breaking the rules, and is usually just handing the problem to someone else. A licensed operator also knows how to deal with a female carrying young without leaving babies behind under the shed.
Steps that keep opossums from moving back in
- Bring pet food and water bowls in at night
- Use trash cans with locking lids and store them in the garage or a shed
- Pick up fallen apples, pears and other fruit
- Close the garage door at dusk and fix gaps under side doors
- Install sturdy screens on crawlspace vents and secure access hatches
- Skirt decks and sheds with hardware cloth buried at least eight inches
- Trim tree limbs that reach the roofline
Opossum removal questions
Is it true opossums eat ticks?
They do groom off and eat ticks, and they eat insects, snails, slugs, mice and carrion. Some of the big numbers you see online have been questioned by later research, so it is fair to call them helpful cleanup crews, but not a tick control plan.
Why is the opossum lying still with its mouth open?
That is "playing possum," an involuntary response to extreme fear. The animal can stay limp for minutes to hours and may release a foul smell. Leave it alone and give it room. It will usually get up and leave when the threat is gone.
Will an opossum attack my dog or cat?
Opossums usually hiss, drool and show their teeth to bluff, then freeze or retreat. Fights happen mainly when a dog corners one. Keep pets in at night if an opossum is living nearby, and call your vet if there is any bite.
How long do opossums stay in one place?
Often only a few days, since they roam for food. Mothers with young and animals sheltering in cold weather can stay much longer, and that is when removal and exclusion make sense.
Need opossum removal near me in Orange County?
A search for "opossum removal near me" usually happens right after something hissed at you from behind the recycling bin. Our free line connects you with an independent, licensed wildlife operator who covers your part of the county and handles opossums along with the raccoons, skunks and woodchucks that use the same spaces.
Providers on our list work everywhere from Vails Gate and the river towns to the ridge roads of the Upper Delaware. Tell them where the animal is and how long it has been there, and they can usually advise you on the spot.
Wildlife help people search for
Opossum removal across Orange County
Wildlife operators cover all seven regions. Find your town for local pest and wildlife notes.
Newburgh & the Hudson Riverfront
- Newburgh
- Town of Newburgh
- Balmville
- Gardnertown
- Orange Lake
- New Windsor
- Vails Gate
- Rock Tavern
- Cornwall
- Cornwall-on-Hudson
- Mountainville
- Highland Falls
- Fort Montgomery
Middletown & the Town of Wallkill
- Middletown
- Town of Wallkill
- Scotchtown
- Circleville
- Mechanicstown
- Howells
- Wawayanda
- Slate Hill
- New Hampton
- Mount Hope
- Otisville
Montgomery, Walden & Pine Bush
- Montgomery
- Town of Montgomery
- Walden
- Maybrook
- Pine Bush
- Crawford
- Bullville
- Thompson Ridge
- Campbell Hall
- Hamptonburgh
Goshen, Chester & Blooming Grove
- Goshen
- Chester
- Sugar Loaf
- Washingtonville
- Blooming Grove
- Salisbury Mills
- South Blooming Grove
Monroe, Woodbury & Tuxedo
- Monroe
- Harriman
- Central Valley
- Highland Mills
- Woodbury
- Kiryas Joel
- Tuxedo
- Tuxedo Park
- Southfields
Warwick Valley & the Black Dirt Region
- Warwick
- Greenwood Lake
- Florida
- Pine Island
- Bellvale
- New Milford
- Minisink
- Westtown
- Unionville
- Johnson
Port Jervis & the Upper Delaware
- Port Jervis
- Deerpark
- Huguenot
- Cuddebackville
- Sparrowbush
- Westbrookville
- Greenville
Ready to evict the opossum under the shed?
One free call connects you with a licensed Orange County wildlife operator for humane removal and solid exclusion.