Keeping possums out fo my garden

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As expert scavengers, opossums can eat almost any plant that they will find in a normal garden, but they are particularly fond of fruit and vegetables when they can get hold of them. They are also a great hassle when they get into the garden as they can often cause a lot of damage to plants and also the features around the garden, so trying to keep the opossums away is a good way to deal with the problem.



Removing The Features Attracting Opossums

The first step is to look at the different things that are attracting the opossums to your garden, and to see if you can remove these features or at least make them more difficult to get to for the opossum. Opossums will usually look for sources of food, so putting mesh over your vegetable beds, and installing climb protectors on your fruit trees can help, while trying to reduce the number of shrubs and plants providing low level cover can also make the garden less attractive to the opossums.

Learn how to scare a possum away

Fencing

Keeping the opossums out altogether can often be difficult as they are animals that actually climb quite well, while also being able to dig under fences, but by installing a fence that is embedded a few inches into the ground, and one that tilts outwards at the top can help to repel opossums. Weak points around gates and gaps in the fence should be kept to a minimum, while trying to install gates flush to the fence can also keep the animals out.

Trapping And Removal

If you cannot keep the opossums from getting in to the garden, then maybe the better solution is to try and catch and remove the animals once they have made their way into your garden. Cage traps with a tasty bait such as canned pet food or apples can be successful in this method, whether you have drawn the apples from the garden or they are shop bought.

Learn more about: Do Opossum Climb or Live in Trees?.

Removing Fallen Fruit

Fallen fruit is a great source of food for opossums, and while some people will leave this on the floor, if you pick it up regularly it is one less attraction for opossums who are searching for an easy source of food. Rotting fruit also puts out a stronger smell, so try and pick these up and dispose of them before the opossum gets its claws on the fruit. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does opossum removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of opossums - my main opossum removal info guide.
Example opossum trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Opossum job blog - learn from great examples of opossum jobs I've done.