Possum Repellent



In this article, I plan to cover both free and some more expensive ways that you can get some possum repellent that works. I also will talk about where to place this for the best results, and some other things you can do to get rid of possums.

A couple months ago, I had a call in a nearby town that had a possum in their garden. I went there, and realized that it was the same place I have been several times. Every time, their dog finds a possum in their garden, and they call me to remove it. Only this time, they asked me what they can do to keep these critters away. So, I told them, and now I will let you know some of the things that I have used in the past and that work the best.

First of all, you may hear that you can use ammonia and mothballs as a possum repellent. I have heard of this, and have even recommended it on this blog at times, for people who are really desperate, but in my experience, it does not work nearly as well as other methods.

So, besides that, the only natural possum repellent that actually works is predator urine. In fact, fox urine works the best. Now, obviously that is not something people have lying around their house. But, this is the only possum repellent that I know of that works, and it certainly is the best one out there.

That being said, I bet that most of the commercial repellents you can buy are also based on fox urine. There are all kinds of them out there, and some are at your local store or farm and home store. There are many brands, and you will just have to pick one and try it out. If it does not work, try a different one. Here is a list of my favorite possum repellents:


Now, once you have it, you need to know where to place it. Well, first, you need to locate where the animal is getting into your house, or onto your property. Be sure to spread it there. This can be a doorway, stretch of road, a spot in your home, or around your garden. Put the repellent there as well. If you find other weak spots in your "defense" be sure to put it there.

One more very good thing you can to to keep possums away is to bathe the area in light. Possums are nocturnal animals and will not go through an area that is very light.

Well, thanks for reading, and be sure to go out there and get some possum repellent, or those possums will keep coming back.

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

It all sounds good except the "will not go through an area that is very light." My problem possum eats out of the dumpster under a bright street light.... it also entered my hen house with lights blazing! It may be a true statement dependent upon how hungry the little guy is? Any way... a few whacks in the head with a stick, haven't seen him back for almost a week! Time will tell!

Anonymous said...

Our problem possum doesn't mind the light either. He's on the deck eating the cat food. I hear the ONLY successful way to rid your homestead of these pesky critters is to trap and remove. Don't know how to put a trap out with 5 deck cats.

Unknown said...

Not trying to sound like a freak, but why do you have to get rid of the possums? They "can't" carry rabies, they don't like confrontation, they don't go after domestic animals..... With 5 dogs and 2 cats in our household, I puposefully leave out pet food for the possums, especially when it is cold. What is the big deal to exticate them?

Anonymous said...

Possums carry a variety of ectoparasites such as fleas, ticks, mites and lice that may also bite humans. Fleas are common on opossums, flea eggs and larva, are shed in areas frequented by opossums. Murine Typhus has been transmitted to humans by the fleas of opossums in Southern California. Other diseases opossums may carry include; tularemia, salmonella, toxoplasmosis, and coccidiosis. Infected animals may transmit Leptospirosis to humans and other animals through their urine and feces. Rabies is rare in opossums since they have some immunity to the virus. Pets, horses and other wildlife are also at risk for disease infection associated with opossums.

They need to go.

Pixie Chick said...

Lauren, darl, maybe you have never had anything to do with the beef meat industry, but here's a newsflash for you...POSSUMS CARRY TB!!!
They can travel up to 12 kilometres a night (so much for the 'experts' who tell those who believe anything) and are NOT territorial. I come from New Zealand and have lived on farms all my life, worked in the dry-stock industry for most of those years, and those dang possums are the bain of every farmer's existence. Possums drop pooh on the pasture, the stock eats the grass and ingests the TB. The farmer HAS to by law, have his herds TB tested annually and if he has even 1 reactor, it shuts down his entire farm for stock movement and trade. Don't you ever be so bloody naive to allow thought patterns of 'cute little creatures' like possums, as being a 'safe' creature. If you get bitten by one....and believe me, they have a nasty and very painful bite.... then get to the doctor and at the least, get a Tetanus shot!
They also carry a great number of other parasites and diseases...I think you need to read up on the downsides of possums Lauren.

Anonymous said...

Well I'm having a fine time with them. 18 have gone to possum heaven in the past 2 months. I plan on sending many more. And buzzards love them too!

Anonymous said...

Possums can spread bovine (that's cow) TB, not human. But that doesn't mean they are not a pain in the backside- those little guys are getting fat on my fruit trees and tomatoes, then leaving me little suprises on my deck and bins. In Australia you're not allowed to do anything to them, so I guess I have these unwanted houseguests forever.

Lynn said...

Seems kind of funny. How do they get the fox urine. I am sure alot of foxes are killed to make the repellent to keep away the opposums. So now we are left with fewer foxes to kill the opposums so that we can buy cans of their urine. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Pixie Chick said...

@ anonymous....Correct! And they also spread Arian TB as well.

Lana Isom said...

My residential neighborhood is infested with these nasty creatures. At first they were a nusiance, but my dog, who was current on his vaccinations, came down with Leptrosprinosis, which these filty creatures carryin their urine. By the time I noticed a difference in his behavior and got him to the vet, his kidneys and liver were already compromised and even with agressive treatment I had to have him put down last week. I will try ANYTHING to keep them out of my yard as I am now terrified my other dog will meet the same fate. Get rid of them!

Anonymous said...

they eat fruit and lots of plants too - very hard to have a flower garden when they visit every night.

Unknown said...

There are lots of methods that can make those possums go away from your home.

Unknown said...

visit www.housepestcontrol.blogspot.com

Donna said...

one came in my apartment..how the hell it got in ill I'll never know. it ran in the bathroom i turned on the light and shoved a towel under the door. I never saw it, my daughter did and when she screamed i came running. I called maintenance who said they dont remove rodents.."wo, Really"..We called animal control..they told us to put out a trap..Yeah i keep those handy..so I called a guy friend, he went in the bathroom looked everywhere didnt find it..when I asked for a bsket out of there..I heard him screaming..LMAO...It was a baby one that climbed in the basket..He took it outside and let it go..When Pest Control finally came they said there were two more in the building...They claim they were all gone..But my neighbor is once again seeing a big one on the same side of the building..So I have called the office and told them about this stuff. they CLAIM they are going to buy it today...They Better..I do not like anything that crawls around while im asleep.Needless to say I didnt sleep last night or the night it was trapped in the batroom.Thank God a TRUE BLOOD marathon was on...I am officially hooked on the show now.

Pit Blogger said...

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Mr Possum said...

i often find it's the young ones that end up in houses or caught in places they shouldn't be. The older more experienced possums usually won't put themselves into positions they can't get out of. In Australia the young ones are like juveniles, full of energy and can't sit still. As soon as it's dark they can't wait to get out and start to run around. I have found the only way to get rid of possums is to seal the hole with impervious material which doesn't give them any inkling that they may be able to get back in.

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Anonymous said...

Oh, come on, Lynn. Are you really that daft? They don't kill foxes just for the urine. Goodness gracious. I guess nothing in this world makes sense to you, then.

Anonymous said...

Oh, come on, Lynn. Are you really that daft? They don't kill foxes just for the urine. Goodness gracious. I guess nothing in this world makes sense to you, then.

Jester Mark said...

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Anonymous said...

Doubtful Lynn will read this 16 months after her post, but maybe it will be of interest to others. The fox urine is probably obtained from caged animals. Most likely the cage has a grated or screened floor that allows urine to be collected humanely. Surely it's more cost effective to have a fox farm for repeated urine collection, rather than killing a fox each time.

ang said...

The next time I come across a road-kill possum (because there is no way I could bash one over the head or drown the little bugger) I'm going to try 'peppering'.

The following is taken from the Biodynamics web site:

Peppering is a technique suggested by Rudolf Steiner to reduce the incidence of weeds, insects and rodents. The term 'peppering' refers to the ash produced using this method of pest control, which is then sprinkled over affected areas.

Peppering is a very powerful tool, which should only be used as a last resort. Because its effect is to eradicate something completely from a treated area, it does nothing whatsoever to establish or maintain a healthy balance in the interdependent ecological systems of the animal or plant world. The whole matter of making peppers of weeds, insect pests and rodents is very much in the experimental stage.

What is given here are guidelines for those interested in using this technique, based on suggestions given by Steiner, as well as research done by Maria Thun and biodynamic farmers in New Zealand.

Michael Alesandro said...

I think just about everyone here is forgetting that it is us intruding on their natural environment. It is our urbanisation and introduction of cats and dogs that are the problem, not the possums.

Just about everywhere they are losing their territories as the most invasive species moves in (humans), tearing down trees and making their nightly foraging for food more difficult and hazardous.

For those of you advocating hitting, harming or killing possums, they are nationally protected and under Section 18 of the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment or a $100,000 fine.

If you don't appreciate our native fauna - there are plenty of countries with no possums, neither them nor me will be sad to see you go!

Michael Alesandro said...

I think just about everyone here is forgetting that it is us intruding on their natural environment. It is our urbanisation and introduction of cats and dogs that are the problem, not the possums.

Just about everywhere they are losing their territories as the most invasive species moves in (humans), tearing down trees and making their nightly foraging for food more difficult and hazardous.

For those of you advocating hitting, harming or killing possums, they are nationally protected and under Section 18 of the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment or a $100,000 fine.

If you don't appreciate our native fauna - there are plenty of countries with no possums, neither them nor me will be sad to see you go!

Pixie Chick said...

@ Michael Alesandro....I am nearing the pointy end of life, and having spent most of it on farms in NZ....there is NO WAY you will ever convince even 1 NZ farmer that WE are urbanising and encroaching on THEIR habitat....what a load of poppycock!!!! The farmers were there in NZ a long time before some DIMWITTED IDIOT introduced the bloody possum...FROM AUSTRALIA!!!! If you are going to defend the bloody evil little bastards, then do so to an Australian because they LOVE their little nasties here. I have seen the damage those possums do....if you even bothered to watch and listen to the great Sir David Attenborough, or anyone else besides, who has done huge amounts of research on possum destruction (and by that I am referring to the destruction DONE by possums) in New Zealand, then you will understand exactly WHY the possum is such a number one pest in little old New Zealand. It eats, strips and ravages every single young native tree, shoot, bud and anything else thats juicy and tender, in the NZ bush. It leaves its terrible bovine TB traces everywhere, which is picked up by native animals as well as the domestic,....it EATS native baby ANIMALS AND BIRDS...INCLUDING THE ENDANGERED SPECIES! Don't ever come on a forum like this and defend those revolting bloody things. When they dictate your livelihood and shut down your farm and your capital goes out the window...then you can't sell your farm because no-one wants to buy it (yes TB makes big news in farming districts and suddenly you can be so isolated it is not funny) due to the stock contracting bovine TB. The TB is not restricted to just the cattle either and can affect other stock.
Unless you do your research thoroughly before you open your mouth, then keep your opinions...because thats all they are....to yourself!
I'm with 'anonymous'...POSSUMS MUST BE KILLED!!!!

Manmeet Bhatia said...

Just hate these small animals.. I am not good at in dealing with them.. SO i hire possum removal brisbane and mould cleaning brisbane service to remove possum and mould

Katherine said...

Please let me say @pixie chick I HATE possums and I live in Australia! Our laws protecting them are ridiculous! I am so sleep deprived from the stupid animals that loooooove running back and forth on my verandah that I feel I am losing my mind! Here I am, awake late again, on the internet researching how to get rid of possums! So let me be clear that as an Aussie I do NOT love possums!!!!!

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Anonymous said...

I live in a manuafacurted home and they have gotten under the home. i am looking for something to place on the ground to make them go away. I HAVE had two die in the insulation and stink up my home. I haven't been able to find someone to come & FIND them in the insulation and remove the dead animal. Before i could cover the hole, another is under my home. I will try a live trap hoping to get rid of it before dying. The smell is VERy BAD. hELP/

Unknown said...

It can be difficult to find information on opossum removal, so I appreciated your post. My cat is being terrorized by one every night. We even had to take her to the vet last week for her wounds. Opossums carry some nasty diseases, so if the repellant doesn't work, I am calling a pest control service.

http://www.wildlifeeviction.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=53

Unknown said...


Where will I get best cat deterrent spray

Anonymous said...

we are from the north shore of sydney and we used a mob by the name of www.possumstopper.com.au , they came out for free and quoted us on the repairs that need to be done on the roof. we got that done with them and never had a problem with possums since. I think best way to get rid of possums is to block the holes they use to get in your roof

Daniel said...

If you wonder what possums eat and how to you can get rid of them, you can also research here: http://what-do-animals-eat.com/possums/

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Blip said...

YES, I believe also that foxes are killed for their urine. Every time my doctor asks for a urine specimen I say hell no because I don't want to be killed for it. Some of my best friends have disappeared after giving urine samples to their doctor. Coincidence? I think not.

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nickride said...

My apple tree is almost bare this year. Three were in the tree one might and I scared them away, but the top of the tree is bare, no leaves and no shoots. They must have come back.

It seems like fox piss is the best. Is there an enterprising farmer getting 50 or 60 foxes drunk every night and harvesting their second-hand fluid?if so send me your info and I'll stock up for next apple/possum season.

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