Get Rid of Opossums from your Home & Yard (Top Removal Tricks)

opossum

Possums have a characteristic appearance with a long snout and small beady eyes. They are medium size, close to the size of a cat, and have a long tail and claws for digging. They can breed up to three times a year, and the female can give birth after carrying the baby for about 28 days.

They are weaned between 70 to 125 days, allowing the babies to go on their own as adults. They don’t mind staying with each other and can utilize burrows that are already existing, but not used by other animals or they will build their own, but they tend to not work too hard to make them.

Possums feed off of greens, grass, plants, and flowers. As they are nocturnal they will come out only at night and in the early morning dusk. They can cause a mess around your home as they can get into your trash bins and destroy any plantation you have in your yard. Once they find food it can be difficult to get rid of the possums, but it’s not impossible.

Actionable tips for getting rid of possums

Blocking Opossum Burrows

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Locate all of the areas that the Possums might be hiding or burrowing. They can dig a hole under your house under the patio or deck or they can find a hole available under the house itself. Possums can also get into your attic by climbing trees near the house and entering through chimney holes and attic vents. 

They can also climb through a dryer vent when it’s not in use. In order to prevent this from happening you will need to block these openings by placing a mesh vent cover. Leave one burrow open for any possum left to escape out of the burrow before blocking them in around your the surface of your home.

You can block off the upper areas of your home once you know opossums are not inside your attic or chimney. Use slotted mesh vents to cover up the areas and when you are certain that they are working to prevent possums from coming inside then completely close up the areas under your home, patio, and front porch. 

You can also use metal flashing by digging a trench around the perimeter of the area they tend to go in and place the flashing in the trench and fill it back in with the dirt. A vent should not be closed up since air will need to escape for the proper ventilation process.

Remove Opossum Food Sources From Yard

Possums may turn to your barbecue pits or grease traps to find food so you want to ensure that you clean up any of this as well. If you have fruit trees or tasty berries that fall off bushes or plants then make sure you clean them up once they hit the ground. 

You may want to remove them from the tree once they are ripe enough to pull to prevent them from falling on the ground. If you happen to live in an area that are known for having possums then considers removing the fruit trees or not grow them. If you have a garden, then create a trench around the garden of about 12 inches deep and a foot high above the ground.

Use wiring that is hard for an animal to climb and cover up the trench with an ammonia smell, garlic, or mothballs to keep the Possum away.

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Using Opossum Deterrents

There are other basic ways to get rid of possums around your home. Make sure you cut the trees that hang over your home to about 10 feet back and scatter deterrents around your yard. If a possum smells that you have a pet then chances are they will not come around but if they find plenty of food for them to eat they will still take the risk.

By placing garlic and ammonia around your yard will help keep them away as they hate these particular odors. Apply a chemical repellent by spraying it around the areas you find destruction caused by the possum or near the burrows. If you have a flowerbed or garden, spray these opossum deterrents around your flowerbed or garden.

Repel opossum from your yard today.

Keep Garbage Cans Opossum-Proof

Keep your garbage can completely sealed with an air tight lid. Sometimes can will come with a clamped on lid but if it doesn’t then use a brick or something heavy to keep the lid on. If you have pets and still have a possum problem then make sure you don’t leave pet food out throughout the night.

Make sure to feed them in the afternoon or early morning. Close up any pet door you have to prevent possums from coming in and getting food from inside your home. This could happen during the night without you even knowing if the pet food is left on the floor for easy access. Change the eating habits of your pet to avoid any possum from eating their food.

Keep your house opossum-proof with professional help.

Once you remove any place for the possum to hide and remove their food source they will leave the area for another place where they can live.

By David Jackson

I enjoy learning about new pest control strategies and sharing what I learn at NeverPest.com. I aim to create a reliable resource for people dealing with all sorts of pest issues.

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