How To Keep Opossums Out Of Your Garbage Cans

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There are few traits that can frustrate a homeowner about the opossum as much as the enthusiasm with which the opossum will root through the garbage, spreading litter over a large area and causing a lot of mess. This is all a part of the opossum's foraging behavior, and if you are unfortunate to have an opossum in the area on garbage collection day, you can find tens of bags ripped open in your area. There are steps that you can take to try and prevent this from happening, and these will help to keep your garbage secure, and will also help to reduce the number of opossums being attracted to your area.



Storing The Garbage Cans Indoors

While the smell that comes from garbage is not pleasant, it is also something that attracts opossums, so if you can store the garbage indoors it will help to reduce the chances that the opossum will get to the garbage. A garage or shed will be good for this purpose, and while it is easy to put down the garbage bags, if you can keep the bags in the cans, and have a few for storage purposes, this will add an extra layer between the opossum and the tasty garbage located within your garbage cans!

Find out more about: Do Opossum Climb or Live in Trees?

Minimize The Food Waste In Your Home

Changing the behavior that you show inside your home can make a big difference to what will happen outside your home, and if you can reduce the amount of food waste produced, then this can lead to a significant drop in the scent produced by your garbage. Trying to make sure that you are cooking appropriately and only preparing what you need, and making sure to use your waste disposal unit can both help to reduce the smell produced by your garbage, which then reduces the chances your garbage will attract opossums.

Learn about: All About The Opossum Tail And What It Is Used For

Using Bungee Cords To Secure Cans And The Benefits Of Metal Garbage Cans

Making the garbage cans more difficult to open will also help to keep the opossums out, and using bungee cords that are attached to the handles and cross over the lid of the can will help to stop the opossum from being able to remove the lid easily. If your garbage is still being rooted through by the opossums, dipping your bungee cords in a hot chilli solution can help to prevent them from trying to gnaw through the cords. 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.