01
Virginia opossums groom obsessively, and a 2009 lab study (Keesing et al.) reported that captive opossums removed roughly 96% of the larval ticks placed on them, leading to the widely repeated estimate that one opossum may take thousands of larvae out of circulation per season.
02
The takeaway is to tolerate, not import, opossums:
03
Do not remove or harass opossums on your property.
04
Avoid setting out food that attracts wildlife generally; let them forage naturally.
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Maintain habitat (brush piles at the property edge, woodpiles) that opossums use.
06
Caveat: a 2021 reassessment examined wild opossum stomachs and field behaviour and found little direct evidence that opossums consume large numbers of ticks in the wild. The original "5,000 ticks per opossum" number is contested. Treat opossum tolerance as a no-cost, plausible plus, not a confirmed control method.