The case for friend
Opossums have a better reputation than they used to, and some of it is earned. They're North America's only marsupial, they're not aggressive, and they'd much rather play dead than fight. They eat ticks, cockroaches, snails, and other pests — a single opossum can hoover up thousands of ticks in a season. And here's the remarkable part: their body temperature is too low for the rabies virus to thrive, making rabies in opossums extraordinarily rare.
The case for foe
Now the other side. An opossum living under your shed, porch, or in your crawl space is still a wild animal in your structure. They leave droppings and urine, they tear up insulation for nesting, they get into trash and pet food, and they carry parasites like fleas. They also die sometimes — under a porch, in a wall void — and a dead opossum is a smell you will not forget. "Beneficial" and "welcome in my house" are different things.
The honest middle
Here's our take: opossums are good neighbors at a distance and bad roommates up close. There's no reason to harm one that's just passing through your yard at night — it's probably eating ticks and will move on. But one that's denning under your shed, in your crawl space, or in your attic needs humane removal and the entry sealed, same as any other wildlife. Appreciating an animal and wanting it out of your house aren't contradictions.
If one's taken up residence
Don't try to grab it — "playing possum" is involuntary, and a frightened opossum will bite if cornered. Don't seal the entry while it's inside. The humane sequence is the same as always: confirm what's there, trap it humanely, seal the den site, clean up. Read about our opossum removal service.