From time to time we often get people asking how to keep possums away, so we decided to offer a few tips and ideas on how to keep these noisy night time creatures away from your home.
Blood and Bone – place at the base of plants
Egg Powder – Mix 200g dried egg powder per litres of water with wetting agent,
then spray plants.
Quassia Chips - add 100g of chips to 400ml boiling water. Stand 5 minutes, add
one litre of cold water and allow to soak for 24 hours. Strain, add a wetting agent,
(Wettasoil) and spray onto plants.
Unpalatable Plants to Brushtails
Brushtails tend to dislike plant species that are prickly and spiny, such as Grevilleas and Hakeas. Also consider tough and woody plants such as Banksias and Melaleucas.
Brushtails also tend to avoid strong smelling foliage plants such as Chrysanthemums, Mint Bushes, Geraniums and Daisies.
If you don’t mind Mrs Possum and her baby visiting, you may consider installing a possum house in a back yard tree or pole. Generally, possums only invade the roof void of houses is that there is a scarcity of suitable, safe accomodation for them due to removal and clearing of their native habitat.
POSSUM HOUSE-nesting boxes now avialable from our Buy Pest Control Products www.ridpest.com.au/buy-pest-control-products.php
WOW … i have been looking for a solution to getting rid of all the possums we have at our place. I will have to give this a go.
Thanks so much
I am inclined to the belief that possums when hunted out of homes, suffer badly. Some years ago it was the common practice to capture and release them at least 2 km from human habitation. It was then later thought that because they are so territorial, the males would fight and become injured, even possibly die from starvation. Especially the newcomer to an area.
My thoughts are that when hunted out of the roof and repairs are carried out to block of the entrance, the possum has then got to look for another home. Circumstances may force this to be in an other’s territory. Far kinder to provide the possum with a possum house. They can be easily made (it doesn’t have to look all that pretty), or they can be purchased from our web site http://www.ridpest.com.au
I’ll try all of the cures at once and let you know how it goes. My beautiful old persimmon tree can’t get it’s new flush of leaves out as the possum comes and stripes all the new leaves nightly. Usually the tree would be covered in leaf by now. So far we have been hosing it but can’t stay up all night on guard.