Yes. Possums are nocturnal. In North America they are called opossums, and they are the only marsupial on the continent. They come out after dark and stay busy through the night, looking for food, water, and a place to sleep.
You will sometimes spot one in the daytime, usually in cold weather or when food is thin. That daytime sighting does not automatically mean the animal is sick, which I will get into below. For more, see Are Possums Aggressive? Understanding Possum Behavior.
What “Nocturnal” Actually Means for a Possum
A nocturnal animal does most of its living after sunset. For a possum, the night usually starts shortly after dark and runs until near dawn, with the heaviest activity in the first few hours.
Possums have a strong sense of smell and eyes that handle low light well, which makes nighttime foraging work for them. They are not picky eaters. They eat insects, small rodents, fruit, vegetables, carrion, and whatever they find in an open trash can.
Where Possums Spend Their Days
During the day a possum sleeps in a den. It does not dig its own burrow. It takes over a hollow tree, a brush pile, a spot under a deck or porch, or an abandoned burrow another animal left behind.
This is the answer to the question I hear most: yes, possums sleep during the day. They are not missing, and they are usually not sick. They are just resting.
What Possums Do at Night
- Foraging. They spend a big chunk of the night searching for food.
- Traveling. They move along fences, walls, and tree lines on routes they know.
- Grooming. They clean themselves after foraging, which is one reason they do not usually carry fleas or ticks in big numbers.
- Mating. Breeding can run much of the year, with the most activity in late winter and early summer.
Why You Might See a Possum in the Daytime
A daytime possum is not automatically sick, the way a daytime raccoon often is. Common reasons you will spot one in daylight:
- Cold weather. In winter they may forage during the warmest part of the day.
- Not enough food. If food is scarce, they stretch their foraging into daylight.
- A disturbed den. If their shelter gets wrecked, they have to find a new one in the daytime.
- A mother with babies. She may move her young during the day if the den stops feeling safe.
- Illness or injury. Less common, but a sick or hurt possum may wander in daylight.
What I do: Before I worry, I watch the animal. If it is staggering, drooling, or clearly hurt, I call a wildlife rehabber. If it is walking fine and minding its own business, I leave it alone and it usually finds shelter by nightfall.
One thing that works in the possum’s favor: they run a low body temperature, which makes them poor hosts for rabies. The risk is not zero, but it is low.
Living With Possums
Possums get a bad rap, but they are mostly useful to have around. They eat ticks, insects, small rodents, and carrion. If one starts to be a nuisance, here is what I would do instead of panicking:
- Lock your trash cans. Possums are opportunists. A locking lid fixes most visits.
- Bring pet food and birdseed in at night.
- Seal gaps under decks, porches, and sheds with hardware cloth buried a few inches down.
- Add a motion light to make nighttime visits less comfortable.
- Trap only if you have to. Check your local rules first. Relocating wildlife is restricted in a lot of places.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mostly nocturnal, with peak activity after dark. They can also be active at dawn and dusk in some seasons. Food, temperature, and predator pressure drive the schedule.
Sometimes, but it is not the norm. It happens more in winter, when food is scarce, or when a possum got pushed out of its den. A healthy possum in daylight is not automatically a problem.
They do not hibernate. They slow down and may stay in the den for days during a hard cold snap. Their hairless ears and tail put them at risk of frostbite.
Usually not long after sunset, and the first few hours of the night are the busiest. They may bed down again and come back out before dawn.
Yes. The Virginia opossum is North America’s only marsupial. Australian possums are a different family, more closely related to kangaroos. Here in North America, “possum” and “opossum” mean the same animal.
