In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how to get rid of possums in your yard by implementing the methods that ACTUALLY work. So if you’ve noticed lately that these rat-like creatures have been lurking around your yard, you’ll find the information shared here useful.
The first step to keep away possums from your yard is to know exactly how they look like. Possums are 24 to 40 inches in length with tails that span from 10 to 12 inches long. They weigh 4 pounds minimum and the bigger ones can be as heavy as 12 pounds.
Their poops are brown and often come out covered in whitish mold growth. In addition to being at most 2 inches long, the brown poops are also smooth on the sides.
We should make it clear that possums aren’t dangerous. In fact, they can be quite helpful, particularly because they feed on insects and help to clear garbage present in your yard. But they don’t just look too ugly to let them crawl around as they deem fit.
They are also noisy, especially when trampling on healthy plants. Like rats, possums don’t have any biological benefits, which is why there’s no reason to keep them. That’s why it’s important to get rid of them.
Contents
- How to Get Rid of Possums in Your Yard
- 1. Invest in Motion Activated Lights or Sprinklers
- 2. Repel Possums with Smell
- Mothballs
- Dog urine
- Blood meal
- 1. What attracts possums to your yard?
- 2. How do you keep possums out of your yard?
- 3. What do possums hate the most?
- 4. What is the fastest way to get rid of possums?
- Author
How to Get Rid of Possums in Your Yard
1. Invest in Motion Activated Lights or Sprinklers
Motion-activated lights aren’t just suitable for keeping outdoor furniture safe from burglars. You can also set them up to scare away possums from your yard. They will trigger as soon as the animal crosses the sensor, instill the fear of light in them, and eventually scare them away.
It’s up to you to decide where you would like to set up the motion sensor. But it’s best if you have it in the area where these animals usually frequent such as at the front of your property, close to fruit trees, or around the perimeter of your house.
You will love motion-activated lights because they trigger on the possum several times, making them go away and not want to come back. However, they’ll also trigger if anything else crosses the sensor and might not be effective in some cases.
Motion-activated sprinklers are the best alternatives to motion-activated lights. They tend to be more effective, and ideal for frightening the stubborn possums that are harder to startle with lights.
These motion sensors are readily available at a lower cost. They also come in different models, so you can choose an option that you believe is a good fit.
2. Repel Possums with Smell
There are smells that possums don’t love, so introducing such scents can keep these rat-like animals away from your yard for good.
You may have to try a few different scents to see which ones work best and then pick an option that you think works well for you.
Get rid of flying insects in lawn
Some scents worth introducing to keep possums out of the yard include:
Mothballs
Get a few containers and fill them with mothballs. Seal each container and then use a nail or a screwdriver to poke holes on the sides. Place the container in areas that the possums like to frequent in your yard.
Dog urine
Possums dread dog urine a lot, so introducing the smell can go a long way to scare them away fast. It’s recommended that you mix at least 2,000 parts of normal water with one part of dog urine and spray the mixture in your yard. Note that the smell will be strong enough to keep possums from coming to your yard.
Blood meal
Possums hate the smell of blood just as much as they hate dog urine. So sprinkling a stripe of blood meal around the yard can help a great deal to scare them away.
1. What attracts possums to your yard?
Possums love to hang out in and around areas with odorous garbage cans. You’ll also find them on uncovered compost heap and in pretty much any container disposed outdoors.
Possums also like to frequent moist areas, so it’s common to find them near water bodies.
2. How do you keep possums out of your yard?
You’ve learned how to get rid of possums out of yard already. The next thing you need to do is to make sure they don’t show up again.
For this, you should clear all the food sources in the yard, get rid of any shelters, and then seal all the entry points.
You should also invest in chemical repellents, which you can spray on the yard from time to time to keep these creatures away.
3. What do possums hate the most?
Possums hate the taste and smell of onions, hot peppers, hot sauce, black tea, dog urine, blood meals, mustards, garlic, and molasses.
Introducing any of these to your yard will therefore keep them away completely.
4. What is the fastest way to get rid of possums?
The fastest way to get rid of possums is to use possum repellents. The Shake Away Fox Urine Granule is a good example of the most effective product that you can use to scare possums away.
Rodent Sheriff Pest Control is also another option that you can use. It produces a toxic scent that possum hate and therefore spraying it in your yard will scare them away.
Manufactured for indoors and outdoors use, there’s no limit to where you can use this solution.
Effective Armadillo control in your lawn
As much as they are not aggressive, possums can still be bothersome.
Although they help clear garbage on your yard, it’s necessary to keep them out because they can steal pet food, destroy your plants, and become an overall nuisance in your yard.
Now you know how to get rid of possums out of your yard. If we can summarize all the tips we’ve shared, we can state that they create conditions for which possums can’t easily thrive. And with an environment so hostile, possums don’t have the choice than to keep far away from your yard.
