How To Get Rid of Possums

How To Get Rid of Possums

Opossums are found in different parts of the USA. They live alone and are most active during nights. Opossums can survive in a wide range of conditions and locations by virtue of their flexible diets and reproductive habits. Opossums can grow near the size of cats. Their bodies are covered in white or grayish hair. There are long, pointed face with round, hairless ears and a rat-like tail of the opossums. While females opossums have a pouch on their stomach for holding newborns.

Disease and threats

Opossums can be a nuisance when nesting in and nearby structures flea, tick and mite infestations are found near the nesting of opossums. Opossums are not dangerous, but if they feel threatened, they may attack, they can also harm your pets. Any mammal can get infected because rabies; the disease is deficient in opossums. Since their body temperature is too low for the virus to thrive, they seem to have a natural immunity to rabies. Opossums can, however, carry other diseases like tularemia, tuberculosis, spotted fever and toxoplasmosis.



How to get rid of opossums?

Set up a trap:

There are many traps available in the market. Just buy an opossum trap and place it near the infestation area. Once an opossum gets trapped, release it some other place. For making your trap more effective, you can put peanut butter, pet food, fruits and marshmallows.

Blocking the entry points:

To get rid of opossums prevents them from entering into your house, this is the best way to deal with opossums. Block all the access by installing hard materials like chicken wires or wire mesh. Opossums are nocturnal creatures, so you may have to wait till the evening before you can do any of the fence installation work.

Predator’s urine:

You can spray fox urine near the infested areas to scare them off. Drench an old rag with fox urine (other types of predator urine would work too) then place it underneath the house. Repeat this step until the opossums have left your home.

Removing food sources:

Remove all the possible things that can be used as a food source by opossums, like fallen fruits, pet food, leftovers in open trash cans, bird seeds and insects. Opossums will leave the place if they don’t find any food sources available there.

Mothballs:

You can also place mothballs in the infested area; the pungent smell of mothballs will force them to leave that place. But you must keep changing mothballs every week, mothballs placed for longtime lose the smell and becomes ineffective therefore you must consider this thing.

Hot stuff

The spicy mixture works as opossum repellent and also works against the other pests in the garden. Hot stuff includes mix garlic with the water and spraying it around the infested area or using red chili powder.

Poisoning

Some people use rat poison to kill the opossums, killing opossums with rat poison is not a recommended way to get rid of opossums. Poison takes a long time to start working, and this is a very painful death.


Visit our Wildlife Trapper Temple home page to learn more about us.