Opossums Eat Ticks! Misunderstood Marsupial Good For Your Yard

When you think of adorable, friendly critters, you will invite to your backyard, bunnies, fawns, and chipmunks may come to mind. But beady-eyed, pointy-nosed, rat-tailed opossums probably don’t rank high on the list.

Misunderstood Marsupial

The only marsupial native to North America is not necessarily a beloved neighbor, thanks to its odd appearance and its frightening habit of hissing when threatened. But it turns out there is a good reason to welcome them into your garden to stay a while.

Opossums are often seen as a threat, but the fact is they are rarely aggressive. Part of the reason opossums has a bad reputation is because of their well-known trick of playing dead when startled by a predator. They freeze up and froth at the mouth, which causes many people to associate opossums with rabies. However, they are resistant to rabies.

Opossums Eat Ticks

In addition to being relatively harmless, the opossum is also one of our greatest allies in fending off ticks that carry Lyme disease. This is because they are very thorough groomers and they eliminate most of the ticks that may be hitching a ride.

Rick Ostfeld, a scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, explains that opossums kill a vast majority of the ticks that try to feed on them. “These opossums are walking around the forest floor, hoovering up ticks right and left, killing over 90 percent of these things, and so they are protecting our health,” Ostfeld says.

How many ticks do opossums eat in a year?

Not all animals are as effective at getting rid of ticks. Of six species exposed to ticks for a study—white-footed mice, chipmunks, opossums, veerys, and catbirds—opossums were much better than all the others at grooming and eating ticks. The study concluded that an opossum could kill about 5,000 ticks in one season.

So, it may be a major benefit to you and your family to keep opossums around. The Dallas Fort Worth Wildlife Coalition explains that this critter is a great groundskeeper.

Facts to Know About Opossums

• If they are not provoked, they will not attack pets or other wildlife.
• They won’t chew on the telephone or electrical wires.
• They don’t spread disease.
• They don’t dig up flower bulbs.
• They don’t go through trash cans.
• They help control insects, venomous snakes, and unwanted rodents.

How to attract opossums to your yard

If you have opossums living in your neighborhood, think twice before calling animal control. You could even go as far as building opossum nesting boxes so they will want to move into your yard. To create an inviting environment for opossums, consider transforming your property into a Certified Wildlife Garden with the National Wildlife Federation. Letting opossums call your garden home may help protect you and your family from ticks and Lyme disease.

If you need professional help controlling ticks or other pests, contact DC Mosquito Squad today.