Possums, the Good, the Bad, & How to Get Rid of Them

Critter-Repellent.com Staff • April 14, 2020

In most instance it is best to get rid of possum from your yard

Opossum near a fence

There’s a good chance that you grew up having to deal with insects in your home, and your parents probably taught you various methods to handle pests of all kinds. You may have even set up mouse traps before, or encountered squirrels in your attic. However, there’s another animal that often doesn’t get mentioned when it comes to potential damage that it can cause to your home - and it’s the possum.

You might not find this marsupial in your backyard every day, but they aren’t as much of a threat as many people make it out to be. In fact, the phrase “play possum” refers to the fact that the animals actually pretend to be dead when they are scared of certain predators. Either way, here is some more information about possums that you might want to know.

How Possums Help

There are many people that might think of possums and immediately assume that they don’t have anything good to offer the world. However, they would be mistaken. Believe it or not, possums actually benefit ecosystems by eating other insects that you might find unpleasant - such as snails, ticks, cockroaches, and mice.

In fact, if you live around some snakes, you might be surprised to find that possums actually prey on snakes. Possums even hunt venomous snakes that could actually put your family at risk. If you happen to live in an area that has rattlesnakes or copperheads, you might find that a possum can actually help keep your family safe by keeping poisonous snakes away from your children.

Possum Problems

You might already know that a possum can ruin your backyard, and it can definitely ruin your garden. However, there is more that you should know. First and foremost, possums produce a significant amount of waste, when compared to other creatures. Their feces also invite all sorts of bacterial growth, which can lead to health issues in your family.

As if that wasn’t enough, possums can also chew through walls and insulation in your home. This can cost a tremendous amount of money to repair. In fact, if your home experiences a full-on possum infestation, it might even affect your overall property value.

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Dealing With Possum Issues

Let’s say that it’s clear that you have a possum problem on your hands, and want to do something immediately to help your situation. First and foremost, you will want to figure out where the possums are located, and block off access to any space under the house. It should be noted that possums are nocturnal, so you might actually have to wait until sunset to deal with the issue. Once it’s evening, you might consider blocking off access to these spaces using fence installation or other methods.

It was mentioned before that possums are scared of predators, and you can actually purchase fox urine to help get rid of them! Many people have drenched rags in fox urine and found that this was a solid method to drive off possums.

You don’t have to use fox urine either - you might also consider a powerful water jet to help ward off the rodents. If you are looking for another way to make sure that possums don’t stick around, consider getting rid of any and all food sources near your home. This isn’t just about fruits or insects - it might be an open trash can.


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