arghh.. how to get rid of possums??

[EzyStyles]

I can't stand them anymore.. they scare the daylights out of me at night making screaming noises. i had 2 right infront of my scope along the fence the other night also and always frequently see about 4 of them climbing my neighbours tree.

They use my fence to climb up that tree. now i was thinking, if i put up barb wires on each side of the fence, will this stop them? or they are smart enough to climb around it? Any other suggestions?

THanks

[Bobj]

Here you go, mate.
http://www.traps.com.au/wireworks.htm
Borrowed my next-door-neighbour's
I had the "darling" things ripping into my mango tree and 3 banana plants. Bait with apple, banana, or rockmelon. After animal is caught, transport a few kilometres and release the animal.

[OneOfOne]

Our neighbours had them inside their roof and use to be woken each night at the possums head off for the nightly partying! They have since had some removed (Peter the Possum Man I think) and the holes covered over. They say that if you remove a possum, another one will shortly move in. One way is to remove the house, the same neighbour is actually having a tree taken out and another is getting a severe crew cut (of course I don't have a problem with the sky it will reveal).

Must admit, they do scare the hell out of you late at night. If you were in Africa you would be fearing for your life if you heard the same noises!

[[1ponders]]

You think possums are bad at scaring the living daylights out of you. Try bending over setting up the camera in the scope, in summer, (this was last year as I haven't seen the sky at night this summer :( ) wearing nothing but the good ol' Aussie blue singlet and stubbies and having a large wet green tree frog land right in the middle of your sholders just below the neck. AAAhhhhhhh!!!! What a performance. :lol:


As for getting rid of possums, forget it. Ask the Kiwis, they have been trying to get rid of the damn things for years and haven't succeeded yet.

[Phil]

Hi Eric we have to deal with bats up hear. Big bats they crap all over my dome all the time.
Phil

[koputai]

I use a home made trap, but you can buy them at some hardware stores. I trap them and relocate them a couple of km's away.
Apparently you're not supposed to move them, just trap them, patch up their entry to your roof, then let them go. That doesn't stop all the faeces and noise though, that's why I relocate them. The next step would be Ratsak, which a few people I know use.
We have a next door neighbour who feeds them, so they sit on the fence a poo on our deck. Oh, and when you catch them, be prepared for the smell, as they have very poor personal hygeine.

Cheers,
Jason.

[tonycynic]

Mothballs can be good for keeping them out your roof, also always have some ratbait in your roof cavity as one rat is easier to get rid of than 100. I just use the throw sacks, seem to work.

[snowyskiesau]

Try calling WIRES. They will supply traps so you can relocate the possums.

In NSW, you're not supposed to remove them more than 100 metres from where you trap them. This is rubbish as the possums will most likely beat you home.

[erick]

We've been in the same house for coming on 19 years. First ten years - what possums? Last nine years - they are everywhere. Big males making that horrible noise on the fence outside our bedroom window followed by the rush along the fence and up into the trees as they have a go at each other.

We renovated and had to leave entries to the roof cavity for some days. One moved in so fast! Finally trapped and relocated him a long way away - contrary to all Victoria law I would expect. Got the cavity all sealed up again so none in the roof since. But I have certainly had them doing the fence and tree runs while I've been observing from the back yard - but they have kept quiet, thank goodness.

Out on site, I prefer to locate myself well away from trees etc.

Good luck!

[jjjnettie]

Possum Pie, possum stew, possum stirfry, possum soup, possum chittlings, baked possum, bbq possum, southern fried possum, broiled possum.:thumbsup:

Yep, I had them at our last house. They scare the pants off you when they sneak up behind you and screech.
I've a very delicate disposition ( as those who know me will know:whistle: ) and I'm sure I lost at least 10yrs off my life from the trauma caused by possums scaring the wits out of me.
LOL @ Paul, I had big green frogs living in and around my OTA as well. I love frogs, but not when they land all damp and moist on your back, face, arms, legs. It make me go all ughh inside. The frog poo on the mirror is not good either.

[Terry B]

Mine have returned after there numbers were severely depleted as by kill using 1080 bunny bait last year. The new ones don't seem to come into the house yard however.

[EzyStyles]

LOL paul, i use to play with frogs when i was young. my friend had a pool full of them.

Thanks for your replies. I have read about trapping them on another site then letting them go but new ones will reappear. Also, afraid they might bite as i recalled one of my friends tried catching it as it was inside the house. it bit his leg.

Another way i saw was to use a green bin, open the lid, then put apples inside. Next morning you'll find a few possums inside. They can't crawl their way up.

what i want is somehow scare them so then they can relocate. ive tried screaming at them, banging on the fence when they climb on it, they just look at me funny.

[edwardsdj]

I've only found them to be a problem when they get aggressive. In my last house there was one who used to corner me on the balcony when I was brining my scope in. He was trying to get into the house.

When people feed them their numbers increase and some become aggressive :(

Where I am now (about 200m from the previous house) there are still lots of possums but they aren't aggressive and keep their distance from me :)

They do bite, so be careful!

[erick]

Probably thinking you need some Anger Management counselling?

[Ric]

Apparently you have to put toothpaste behind their ears to make them go away. ;)

Or was that for Drop Bears. :confuse3:

Cheers :)

[Jazza]

Shotgun.... Seriously though, I hear giving them a good drenching with a hose usually scares them off that particular area for a while.

[Glenhuon]

We got 3 cats and a small dog, no possums. :lol:

Bill

[snowyskiesau]

A small piece of lead behind the ear will do the trick :thumbsup:

[ving]

nothing a 12 guage cant fix...

(gaming never hurt me ;) )

[astroron]

Iv'e got one, I even built a box for it.
I don't have a problem with noise as I have plenty of room to share the night with.:D
Ron

[RB]

Dress up as Dame Edna maybe ______"OK Possuims,,,,follow me !!!!"

[netwolf]

I have possums in two treas on the back fence, aside from the random jumping noises that scare me out of my wits the seem harmless. They stay in there treas and play around all night. Sometimes from the noise you think they might jump out and fly out at you, the imagination can be so wild at times. I do not setup near the fence, half our yard is tiled and i setup on the boundry on the tiles side so they are far enough away. As the pole is over the roof i do think i will need to start setting up more into the grass/possum territory. I hope they dont leap out at me one day... There is a cat that keeps them busy that roams the fence line.

[Night Owl]

I don't mind the humble possum, being natives and all. I used to live in an old farmhouse, and the family of possums were my pets sort of. But I drew the line at when one of them could work out how to get inside my home, and eat the fruit out of my bowl in the kitchen. Then it was use of lethal force time, as he was never gunna stop playing Santa and paying me a visit down the chimney. Also wasn't real good when one of them died in the roof over summer!

[dugnsuz]

They frighten the sh@t out of me in the dead of night, but my two cats sort them out - that scream is mortifying at the scope though!
Good Luck Eric
Doug

[Ric]

We have about 2.5 acres of old growth Eucalypt forrest on our property.

This is part of a wildlife corridor through the area and we have a few possum boxes in the trees for the Sugargliders which are starting to make a return.

Cheers

[OneOfOne]

We have a cat too, but she doesn't seem to be able to scare the possums or even the birds...but then again when you only have three legs it tends to slow you down a bit! Maybe we should get a disabled sticker for the car...it would make parking a lot easier.

[gary]

Hi Eric,

Please keep in mind that Brushtail Possums are Australian native animals
protected under the Wildlife Act and in many jurisdictions you are only
permitted to trap them if they are living in buildings and then you must release
them on the same property.

Some background information might be helpful.
In the Australian environment, tree hollows are often scarce, yet many animals,
including possums, depend on them to survive. Therefore, relocation of
possums almost always results in their death in one of the most cruelest of
ways.

Rather than trying to scare them, the enlightened approach is to learn
to live with them. After all, here you are looking up at the majesty of the
night sky and possibly in awe as to what might be out there, yet a few
feet away are some examples of life on our own planet and let's face it,
isn't life on Earth one of the most amazing things that we know about the
Universe?

Best Regards

Gary

[duncan]

I agree. Better off to befriend them. Put some dits and pieces of fruit out for them and in no time you will be able to hand feed them.
Keep you occupied on nights of poor or no seeing.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[ving]

:rofl:
ur a crack up sir!

[acropolite]

I'm with Ron & Gary, we have a few around and like the kangaroos, I'm happy to share my world with them, even if they do eat the roses. Give me native animals any time, its cats I dislike, they crap in my garden, then bury their faeces, often scratching out our plants and can transmit some very nasty deseases. We have a red flowering gum and a possum has just taken residence. I'm not so keen on the wombat that crashes around under my house from time to time; sounds like a mini truck ramming in to everything, he's welcome but I must get a door on the underneath sometime.

[Bassnut]

I put rat poison pallets out once, killed a possum (unfortunately, wasnt intended)

[astroron]

Good onya Gary, you took the words right of my mouth:lol::lol::lol:
I couldn't have said it any better:):thumbsup:

Ron

[ballaratdragons]

They aren't very noisy around here, but the Koalas are!!!!!!!! They sound like Grizzly Bears fighting!!!! Snorting and grunting and Growling.There are none on my property, but I can hear them at the other end of town. Country towns are so quiet at night that you hear everything for miles.

Most of our noise comes from horses farting, sheep lambing, and frogs at the dam :lol:

[jjjnettie]

:lol:
The wee little pony next door to me seems to be jet propelled too. It's so loud it echos.

[Ric]

Look, up in the sky.

It's a bird, It's a plane.

No, it's Super Pony :lol:

[ving]

farting horses... whats this place coming to? LOL