Opossum Repellent & Deterrent

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There is no such thing as an effective opossum repellent, unfortunately. However, many are sold online! People will always try to sell you products, and magic cure-alls. Sometimes, people sell products that don't work. In the field of wildlife control, you'll often find more bogus products than effective ones. Opossums are mammals. They are similar to you and I. There is no magic scent or smell or chemical or poison that will deter them. The internet is full of opossum deterrent products, but none of them work. Some of these products include fox or coyote urine, which is a nice idea in theory, but it isn't effective. Other products are simply made of napthalene - moth balls - which some companies sell as an end-all be-all in wildlife or possum repellent. Sorry, it simply doesn't work. I've seen people dump a whole 5 lb. box of mothballs under a deck where possums are living, and they don't care in the slightest. They keep using the area. Devices such as ultrasonic sound emitters that make a high-pitched noise are worthless.



There is no magic spray or powder or anything else to keep away opossums. If you have an Opossum problem and you wish to get rid of them, they should be physically trapped and removed from the habitat. Either that, or physical barriers, such as fences (that go at least a foot underground) should be put in place as a means of opossum prevention.

For more Opossum information, go back to the Opossum removal page.

Customer Question About Possum Repellent: Hello, I was cleaning out my gutters in the fall when the ladder slipped and my arms reached out to grab on to something which happened to be the gutter, pulling away some of the fascia board. I had not got around to fixing this and it has not deemed a problem until last week when I heard some kind of critter climb up the side of my house and into the attic via the opening in the fascia board. Now, whatever it has been living in my attic for over a week and I fear that it?s trying to chew through the light fixtures to gain access into the rest of the house. I haven?t had any time to try to deal with this problem on my own but fear that if action isn?t taken then it?s going to get much worse through either damage, or if it?s a opossum it could be spraying its scent to attract a mate and even worse to have a litter inside my house. The only action I have taken this far is to put some liquid ammonia in a Tupperware bowl and leave it just inside the attic access in my hallway but I don?t think that it has done anything to deter the critter. I intend to fix the hole in the next week if at possible but need this problem taken care of. Can you please provide an estimate what it would cost to remove this creature? Kindest Regards.

My Answer: The ammonia certainly won't do anything to cause the animal(s) to leave. You need to either exclude it with a one-way door, or trap and remove it, and then you can seal the hole. If you seal the hole when the animal(s) are inside, you'll have a big mess on your hands. Also, possums don't spray a scent to attract a mate, at least not that I know of.

To read more about general critter repellents of all kinds, click Critter Repellent.


Possum repellant ideas that make sense Before you head on over to your local wildlife store, or spend hundreds of dollars on random repellants that you see on the internet, there are a few things that you will need to bear in mind. Number one ? these things rarely work as they say they will. Number two ? these repellants, particularly in the forms of sprays, can be very dangerous and toxic, especially if you have small children and/or other pets. Thirdly ? even if they did work, and let?s face it; very few of them do, there is a good chance that they will only work for a short period of time, and then the creature, and (possum) will get used to it, and end up carrying about its normal business. All of these things equal a waste of time and your hard earned cash!

There are plenty of ways that you can prevent the problems that possums bring with them, and for the most part, you just have to use your common sense. They are looking for food, so try to prevent all food sources being readily available to them. They do love to eat leftovers as well as cat/dog food, slugs, beetles, etc. so try to eliminate the possum threat by not leaving these foods around so that they can get to them.

If you have bird feeders outside, try removing them for a little while, or making sure that they are covered so that only the birds can get to them. You may always want to keep an eye out for any spillages that may occur when the birds rock the feeder, or you miss the gap while pouring the food in. Possums love nuts, seeds and grains just as much as they love your leftovers!

There are plenty of ways that you can try to repel a possum ? you just have to know how, and for the most part, you won?t need expensive or ghastly gadgets in order to do so!

Read about Are possums dangerous?

AAAnimal Control is a professional nuisance wildlife control company. It is my goal to provide information so that you can solve your possum problem in an effective and responsible manner. Wildlife services include animal trapping, capture & removal, plus animal damage repairs and preventative measures. You can always browse this site for more details and info about opossum removal. If you live elsewhere in the US and have found this site and need a local possum trapper in your area, click here for a nationwide list of 100's of professional opossum removal experts.

Read more information about opossums: Do opossum carry rabies
Opossum diseases
Do opossums attack humans or pets?