You can find an opossum in your garden since they are one of the common animals. Therefore, it has the notoriety of being a pest. Possums eat everything from birds’ eggs and insects to vegetables.
You don’t have to worry if their diet is your main concern. Possums do eat vegetables. But they are smart and can tell which plants and fruits are close to rotting.
In that case, possums act as your garden cleaners. You don’t have to sort the fruits again because they’re the ones doing it for you.
How to know that you have possums in your garden?
You can tell that some possums reside in your garden from the scents and leftovers. Overgrown shrubs and dirty underfloor are some of their favorite places. As you know, they like to build their nest in a burrow or a crevice.
The most obvious sign is the very pervasive smell that you will notice. The stench can be disturbing, and you may need a couple of days to get rid of it.
Another obvious sign is the marks around your property. You should look for any unusual scratch marks near the roof or nooks. It can be nothing, but it also can mean that you’re housing opossum lately.
If you have a bird feeder and have been refilling it more often than usual, you can be sure that a possum is feeding on it. If unsure, you can use flours around the feeder and look for a footprint in the morning.
How to deal with possum problems?
Possums can be tricky to deal with, as they are protected species. And removing their corpse can be more troublesome. However, you can do several things to keep them away from your garden.
The first is by having a spray ready. This is not an ordinary spray; you can put watered-down hot sauce in it and spray it around where you think the nest is.
Another way to deal with a possum is by making your property possum-proof. You can call pest control to inspect your garden.
But it’s much cheaper to make some opossum-repellant spray. You also can use mothballs, but since it has toxins, you may kill the possum by accident.
When to check for possums
Many ways for you to know if a possum is in your garden. But the main tell-tale is the scent and leftover. However, you don’t have to wait that long until you notice the signs, even more so if you live in an area with high critters activity.
Possums are active all year round because they don’t store food. However, the common misconception is they’re most active during wintertime.
Possums are most active in the spring and summer. Their nocturnal nature helps them to stay under the radar. But it’s best to be constantly on the lookout for possum infestation.
On average, it’s best to look for a possum once a month. But in the spring and summer, you must look at least once every two weeks.
What if the possums are on my roof or underfloor?
One of the many issues is when the possum chooses unreachable places to stay. The underfloor and roof are the most popular places they can go. You may not realize their existence until they start leaving obvious marks.
When the possums choose your underfloor, you can do the spray and other methods to steer them away. Then close up any openings to prevent them from returning.
You can use wire mesh or plank to cover your underfloor. Just make sure that there is no opening, no matter how small.
If you have a large tree close to the house, there’s a big chance you’re already housing a possum on your roof. You can prevent this by installing a pest-proof when clearing your gutter and shingles.
However, if it’s too late, you must draw the possum out before proofing your roof.
What people don’t know about possums
Even though they look like rodents, possums are marsupials animals. They hold their babies inside their pockets until they are big enough to climb on the mothers’ backs. Usually, this goes on for about 11 weeks.
A possum is an omnivore more afraid of human activity than the other. In times of danger, a possum will lie still as if they’re dead. Hence the term, playing possum.
The Opossum is a native animal in the North American continent. Their name comes from the Algonquian word that means “white animal.”
Since a possum has the size of an average house cat, they are often mistaken for cats or the other way around. Opossum eats everything they can find as omnivore animal, from fruits to frogs.