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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.