Blog [Health Risks of Having Opossums Close by]

Never allow a Lakewood Ranch FL opossum or any other wild animal to remain on your business or residential property for long. Contact a licensed and insured opossum trapping company right away to prevent property damage and the spread of disease. Opossums are prodigious carriers of disease causing lice, fleas, ticks and parasites. These tiny varmints are always searching for convenient hosts, especially dogs, cats and even humans. Opossums often take up residence in attics, crawl spaces, sheds and under porches. They can even infect the soil in your yard or the soil beneath a home or business.

It isn’t hard to imagine how quickly an army of bugs can take over a home or business. The longer you wait to speak with a wildlife trapper Lakewood Ranch, the more it will cost to eliminate those pests. Most people believe that opossums are relatively harmless creatures, but a closer look reveals that opossums can actually spread a large number of dangerous diseases.

• Cutaneous Larva Migrans are commonly found in wild animal droppings. These nasty wormlike bugs like to burrow under the skin of pets and humans. They produce an infection that causes intense redness and eruptions of severe pain and itching.

• Tuberculosis is a potentially lethal respiratory disease caused by mycobacteria. Symptoms include fever, chronic cough, profuse sweating and weight loss.

• Rabies should always be a concern when it comes to nuisance wildlife. Rabies is a potentially fatal disease that requires immediate treatment.

• Tularemia produces severe symptoms such as fever, skin ulcers, swollen lymph glands, headaches, chills, vomiting, sore throat, diarrhea, respiratory ailments and exhaustion.

• Spotted Fever is a bacterial infection caused by tick bites. Symptoms include fever, chills, confusion, headaches, muscle pain, rash, diarrhea, hallucinations, vomiting and more.

• Toxoplasmosis is an infection introduced by parasites commonly found in animal droppings. Among the symptoms are headaches, enlarged lymph nodes, muscle pain, fever, seizures and blurred vision.

• Coccidiosis is a parasite found in animal droppings. The parasite can be transferred to humans through food or water. Common symptoms include fever, weight loss, diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting.

Contact a local opossum trapping professional the moment you notice a Lakewood Ranch opossum on your property. The health risks associated with wild animals are very real. Wildlife trapper Lakewood Ranch companies provide humane wild animal management services at an affordable price.