Opossums and Opossum Removal by Suburban Wildlife Control:
Opossums are common and found throughout Illinois. They are abundant in cities and suburbs, often making their homes in our homes. Opossums are especially fond of making their homes under porches, decks, concrete stoops, garages, sheds, barns, and outbuildings, and will often take over dens dug by previous inhabitants like raccoons and skunks. An adult opossum is about the same size as a house cat, but with shorter legs. Total length ranges from 24 to 33 inches. Adults weigh from 6 to 15 pounds. Males are usually larger than females. The opossum has a narrow, tapered head with a pointed muzzle, pink nose, black eyes and bluish-black ears that lack hair and look leathery. The long, scaly tail is black near the base and fades to a yellowish white or pale pink about one fourth of the way to the tip. Both the front and hind feet have five white or pink toes. The inner toe of each hind foot is clawless and thumb-like. The dense, woolly underfur of most opossums is creamy white with grayish tips. The long outer hairs are dark gray or black. This combination gives most opossums a grizzled gray appearance. A few are almost black while others are very pale gray or nearly white. One common complaint of intrusive opossoms is the awful scent of rotting carcasses, and there are two reasons for this. Both are because the opossum is an opportunistic predator and scavenger. One reason is because the opossum will take over the dens of other animals that may have died within the dwelling (they don't seem to mind the smell) but they also may drag the dead bodies of other animals (we've pulled out birds and rabbits to name a couple) back to its den within your home. The opossum is also the most likely animal to be found dead itself under stoops, decks, etc. because of it's habit of eating diseased dead animals. Opossums that are left living under stoops, etc, can make biohazardous conditions with their urine, feces, habits of eating other dead animals, and their capabilities of carrying a host of parasites and diseases including mites, lice, fleas, worms, mange, rabies, and distemper. We offer services to trap and remove nuisance opossums. Please contact us if you suspect you have a problem. If you are unsure what type of animal is causing your wildlife problem, we will be able to tell you upon our thorough and expert inspection. |
 Brad and his catch of the day, a whole litter of opossums that were stinking up a customers deck :) |
A opossom on a porch, getting into some garbage (on left), and a mother opossum and her babies (including a rare cinnamon color one) that we trapped.
Brad holding a opossum he caught by it prehensile tail (left), and a mother with babies removed from under a deck
(see up close of a photo of a baby in her pouch in our photo gallery)
Setting a trap for a opossum that was living under someone's deck (left), a pure white opossum Brad trapped (middle), and an average grey one (right).
