What To Do If You See An Opossum (And Why You Should Support Them)
- Give A Shit About Nature
- April 18, 2026
- Wildlife
- 0 Comments
Opossums have the unfortunate combination of looking like something nightmares invented and behaving, when cornered, in the most alarming way possible — hissing, drooling, baring fifty teeth, and then collapsing as though they just died. It’s a lot. If you’ve never encountered one before, the experience can feel genuinely unsettling.
And yet, the opossum is almost certainly not going to hurt you, is extremely unlikely to have rabies, and is quietly doing pest control work in your yard that you’re not paying for and probably don’t notice. The gap between how threatening they seem and how threatening they actually are is remarkable, even by wildlife standards.
If you’ve just seen one and are wondering what to do, the answer in most cases is: leave it alone and go back inside. But it’s worth understanding why — because once you do, you’ll probably find yourself glad it showed up.
Why Opossums Look So Alarming (And Why That’s the Point)
When an opossum feels threatened, it runs through a defensive sequence that seems designed to be as upsetting as possible. First it hisses. Then it drools and sways. If that doesn’t work, it collapses completely — mouth open, tongue lolling out, sometimes emitting a smell like rotting flesh — and stays that way anywhere from 40 minutes to four hours.
This isn’t a trick the opossum chooses to perform. It’s an involuntary physiological response called thanatosis, essentially a stress-triggered catatonic state. The opossum isn’t deciding to play dead; its nervous system is doing it automatically. The animal is genuinely unaware of what’s happening until it comes out of it.
The behavior works because most predators aren’t interested in carrion. A fox or coyote that encounters what looks and smells like a decomposing animal will usually move on. It’s a strange strategy, but it’s been working for opossums for a very long time — they’re one of the oldest mammal lineages in North America, and they’ve outlasted a lot of animals with more obvious survival advantages.
The hissing and drooling that people often interpret as signs of rabies are just the early stages of this same defensive response. Opossums are remarkably resistant to rabies — their body temperature runs too low for the virus to replicate efficiently. Seeing a drooling, swaying opossum almost certainly means you’ve startled it, not that it’s sick.
What an Opossum Is Actually Doing in Your Yard
Probably eating something you’d rather not have around. Opossums are opportunistic omnivores — they eat insects, snails, slugs, overripe fruit, carrion, and occasionally rats and mice. They’re scavengers by nature, which means they’re actively cleaning up organic material that would otherwise rot, attract flies, or spread bacteria. They don’t dig up gardens. They don’t chew through walls. They’re not territorial and they don’t stick around once the food source is gone.
They also eat venomous snakes, which seems worth mentioning. Opossums have significant resistance to pit viper venom — proteins in their blood neutralize toxins from copperheads, rattlesnakes, and water moccasins — and they actively hunt and consume these snakes as part of their regular diet.
Scientists have identified the specific peptide responsible and are studying whether it could form the basis of a universal antivenom. The opossum is, quietly, a subject of serious medical research.
The tick question is worth addressing carefully, because it’s been widely overclaimed. A 2009 study found that opossums were highly effective at grooming ticks off themselves, leading to estimates of 5,000 ticks killed per season. That figure spread widely.
A 2021 study looked more carefully at stomach contents and diet records across two dozen other research papers and found no ticks in any of them, suggesting opossums may not actually eat ticks in meaningful numbers in natural conditions. The tick benefit is real but contested, and probably shouldn’t be the headline reason to appreciate opossums. The other reasons are strong enough on their own.
What to Do If You Find One in Your Yard
If it’s moving around and looks healthy: Nothing. Watch it if you want — they’re genuinely interesting to observe — and let it continue on its way. Opossums are transient animals and won’t set up permanent residence unless there’s a reliable food source keeping them there. They’ll move on.
If it’s lying still: Wait before assuming the worst. A motionless opossum may simply be in its involuntary catatonic state. Give it an hour or two with no disturbance, including keeping pets and children inside. In most cases it will recover and leave on its own. If it’s still completely unresponsive after several hours, or if it’s visibly injured, contact a local wildlife rehabilitator — not animal control, which in many areas will euthanize an opossum rather than treat it.
If it’s in your garage, basement, or shed: Open a door or window and give it a clear exit path. Don’t chase or corner it — that’s when you’ll get the full defensive display, and cornered animals can bite if pressed. Turn off lights and leave quietly. Check back in a few hours; it’s almost certainly gone.
If it’s a small, apparently orphaned opossum: Size matters here. Opossums less than seven inches long from nose to rump genuinely need help — contact a wildlife rehabilitator. Larger juvenile opossums may simply be young adults on their first independent nights out. They look small and helpless but are usually fine.
One Thing Worth Actually Doing
If you want opossums around — and after reading this, you might — the most useful thing you can do is stop using chemical pesticides and rodenticides in your yard. Rat poison travels through the food chain and affects scavengers and predators like opossums, owls, and foxes. An opossum that eats a poisoned rodent absorbs that poison. The same goes for broad-spectrum pesticides — opossums eat the insects you’re trying to kill, and if those insects are carrying toxic doses, the opossum pays for it.
Beyond that, leaving leaf litter and some natural debris in your yard gives opossums cover and foraging material. They’re ground-level animals that need sheltered spots to rest during the day. A brush pile is ideal habitat. You’re likely building it for rabbits and birds anyway, and opossums will use it too.
Securing garbage and not leaving pet food outside is the main way to avoid actually attracting opossums into spaces you’d rather they stay out of. If they’re getting into your trash, that’s the fix — not removal.
Opossums are good to have around
The opossum’s reputation is a good example of how much appearance shapes our feelings about wildlife. Raccoons are equally capable of getting into garbage and spreading disease, but they’re rounder and have a more appealing face and have been largely forgiven for their habits. The opossum looks like something assembled from spare parts, and people have never quite warmed to it.
Which is their loss, honestly. Opossums are good to have around in the same way that spiders are worth tolerating indoors — they’re doing useful work that mostly goes unnoticed, and the threat they pose is far smaller than the discomfort they cause. North America’s only marsupial has been here longer than most animals on this continent. It has survived ice ages, predator extinctions, and suburbanization. The least we can do is not call animal control because it’s eating slugs in our garden at midnight.
If it’s playing dead in your driveway: wait. If it’s in your yard: leave it. If it’s in your house: open a door. That really is most of what you need to know.
Opossum Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to be near an opossum? Yes, for adults, with ordinary common sense. Don’t try to touch, corner, or feed it. An opossum that feels trapped may bite in self-defense, but unprovoked attacks on humans are essentially unheard of. Give it space and it will almost always disengage or leave.
Do opossums carry rabies? Rarely, if ever, in practice. Their low body temperature makes it very difficult for the rabies virus to survive in their system. The drooling and hissing behavior that people associate with rabies is a defensive display, not a symptom. Opossums are significantly less likely to carry rabies than raccoons, bats, or even feral dogs.
Should I call animal control if I see an opossum? Only if the animal appears genuinely injured — visibly bleeding, unable to move at all for several hours, or missing a limb. A healthy opossum that’s simply exploring your yard doesn’t need intervention. In many areas, animal control will euthanize rather than relocate opossums, so for injured animals a wildlife rehabilitator is the better call.
What attracts opossums to a yard? Primarily food: unsecured garbage, outdoor pet food, fallen fruit, and garden pests. Removing those attractants is the most effective way to reduce opossum visits if you’d rather not have them close to the house.
How long do opossums live? Not long — typically one to two years in the wild. They face significant pressure from predators, cars, and harsh winters. Their short lifespan is one reason they reproduce quickly; a female can have two litters per year.
