Opossum urine: is it toxic? How to clean its odor?

Opossums are omnivorous animals that basically eats everything, be it plants or meat. They are scavengers by nature, which means they feed on dead organisms or dead animals. Being omnivorous, they usually collect their food from discarded material. Opossums are usually misapprehended as dirty, stupid, and unintelligent creatures, while the veracity is totally contrary. The fact is that they are actually sharp-witted, tidy, and favorable for human beings as they help to clean up the mess or trash from your garden or yard.

Opossums are smart and intelligent creatures as they have the capability to discover food and don’t forget where it was, for the next time. They are peripatetic and like to live alone until they have an easy and continuous supply of food and water. Their major food source is garbage cans and wasted food items. While being warned or threatened, they are smart enough to “play dead” in order to deceive their prey or hunter. They have a very strong immune system, which helps them to devour anything as their food.

The only drawback of opossum being in our property is that they discharge a foul-smelling liquid from their anal glands, which is unbearable for human beings. The other annoying yet constant habit of opossums is that they literally pee on everything they find.



Now, the question arises: is opossum urine toxic?

First of all, opossum urine is intolerable as it is foul-smelling and disgusting. Secondly, it is toxic, for sure!

The other thing is, opossums are bearer and transporter of many bacterial diseases like leptospirosis, and its initial symptoms include flu and cough. This disease spreads and transports through opossum urine and feces. If leptospirosis is not treated at the right time, it leads to liver damage, kidney failure, and respiratory issues.

To keep yourself safe from this infection and disease, you need to go after these following instructions:

Protect yourself
Ahead of everything else, make certain to secure and protect yourself by wearing gloves, masks, protective overall, and close shoes before you encounter them. But bear in mind to wash and sanitize these after you are done with your mission.

Cleaning
First of all, clean up that particular area by washing it with hot water and detergent. After cleaning, ventilate that area properly.

Home remedies
After that, you need to use these natural ingredients to deal with the unpleasant smell of urine:

-Coffee Grinds
-Raw Onion
-Rubbing alcohol
-Baking Soda
-Vinegar
-Charcoal

You need to put any of these ingredients, based on availability, in a bowl to that contaminated area. That’s all! But don’t forget to replace it with a new batch every 2-3 days as these natural ingredients tend to lose their effectiveness and smell with the passage of time.

Bleach
You can also use bleach liquid to pour over that specific polluted area. This is a powerful alternative to natural ingredients and works more efficiently and effectively.

Disinfectant sprays
Last but not least, try using disinfectant sprays. Now, if you are lazy enough to use any natural ingredients, you can easily get ready made disinfectant sprays from the market. They come in different scents, so you can easily choose from them according to your liking.


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