How To Kill Opossums / Possum

Need opossum removal in your hometown? We service over 500 USA locations! Click here to hire us in your town and check prices - updated for year 2020.

You don't need to kill opossums. If it's legal in your state, it's easier to trap them in live cage traps and relocate them. Even if you do intend to kill the animal, it's easier to catch in a live trap than by lethal means. Some folks like to shoot and kill opossums, but if you just want them off your property, you can have a professional trap and eliminate them. And don't forget, if you do try to kill a skunk, get ready for a big smell. Killing opossums is generally a bad idea.



This is a photo of an opossum that killed itself, by falling down a wall from inside the attic. I came and retrieved it with a long pole. Opossums seem to die all the time on their own (and cause a huge smell). No need to kill them, mother nature does that for them!

For more Opossum information, go back to the Opossum removal page.


Opossum removal tips - should you kill possums? When you have an opossum causing havoc in your home or on your land, it makes sense to want to get rid of it quickly and effectively. This means that one of the things that people often turn to in order to solve the problem is poison. Although effective in smaller animals, you may just find that killing an opossum with poison is not really as easy and simple as it says on the tin!

Most opossum poisons are pretty much rat poison, or people choose to use rat poison in order to exterminate the opossum. The only problem with this is that you can often cause damage to other animals and children in the process. Let?s imagine you put that opossum poison out to remove the actual opossum ? you could end up killing or injuring your dog or cat, other dogs and cats in the neighborhood, and even other wild animals such as birds, that you may actually relish having in your yard. That is before you even begin to think about the harm that could be caused, should your children get their hands on this dangerous poison.

Of course, as well as the practical reasons to not use poison, there are the humane reasons too. Rat poison, for example, can take weeks to kill an opossum, and it will usually die from other more painful causes such as blood loss, internal bleeding, and even anemia.

Of course, one problem that you are likely to face should you decide to poison your opossum is actually hunting down the carcass of the creature once it has died. Many wildlife experts will tell you of hundreds of stories of being called out to houses that owners have performed DIY poison missions, only for the animal to have died in the attic, basement or even in the walls of the house. AS you can imagine, this leads to an even bigger problem ? this smells to high heaven, and it attracts other rodents.

In conclusion, rat poison or any other poison really isn?t the way to go when you want to remove an opossum from your life. There are other ways that you can get rid of the creature, and it is most advisable to look at these other methods first!

Read about Are possums dangerous to people?

You may be wondering if you can keep opossums away, or even kill them, with natural predators. Read more on my do opossums have natural predators page.

AAAnimal Control is a professional nuisance wildlife control company. It is my goal to provide information so that you can solve your possum problem in an effective and responsible manner. Wildlife services include animal trapping, capture & removal, plus animal damage repairs and preventative measures. You can always browse this site for more details and info about opossum removal. If you live elsewhere in the US and have found this site and need a local possum trapper in your area, click here for a nationwide list of 100's of professional opossum removal experts.

Read more information about opossums: Do opossum carry rabies
Opossum diseases
Do opossums attack humans or pets?