How to Remove Opossums from the Gardem

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Opossums are well known to make a messy nest wherever they decide to den. This is usually in locations with steady food supply, which is what serves as an attractant to the rat-tailed mammal. They wreak a lot of havoc on gardens with their digging habit, steadily destroying out-house structures and leaving large, stinky droppings everywhere!



Opossums are decidedly fond of fruits and new growth on deciduous vines. They also love to nibble on some new growth on pruned evergreens. Loss of new buds in turn leave your plants weak and vulnerable to diseases!

Want to keep them out? Practice exclusion - blocking all of the opossum’s possible access points into your property may be the best bet to keeping it out. It habitually seeks dark and enclosed shelter-like spaces in which to locate its den; places like small garden sheds, and spaces underneath decks or porches.

The Opossum is an opportunistic feeder and keeping it out of your garden will require that all potential foods be removed and targeted exclusion tactics. Observe the following measures to save your garden from opossums.

• Pick up all fallen fruits and seeds from your garden grounds. Fruit trees always attract these nocturnal foragers
• Pick fruits from the trees just before they get ripe and let them ripen inside; this will deny opossums, who are natural climbers of an easy meal
• Install rings on trees within your yard to discourage opossums from climbing them.
• Get rid of brush or trash piles within your garden or yard

Opossum Repellents: these should be used with caution. There are several different opossum repellents and deterrent sprays that are available commercially for the purpose of chasing the nuisance animal away from your yard, but none is proven or even registered for that purpose. Likewise, homemade repellants with preparation methods readily available for any do-it-yourself home owner. Opossum repellants basically aim to drive raccoons away from your yard by using its sharp sense of smell against it.

Perhaps you have missed out on the chance to prevent opossums from accessing your yard, or they managed to find a way through your laid barriers, like they often do. Your best bet in this regard is to trap and remove them from the property. If you have tried all and the opossum problem persists, you may want to call in a wildlife professional in your area for expert advice and implementation.

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