Opossums have the potential to cause some damage to a home as well as inflict any degree of injury to pets and people, especially if they feel stressed and cornered. Getting rid of them is therefore an excellent idea once you notice their presence. How you do this will have an influence on how much you spend on the venture. If you want to get rid of the opossums once and for all, it would be important to first get a qualified animal control specialist to get rid of them for you. Such parties are usually very skilled in pest removal, and will waste less time compared to when you try to remove the opossum on your own or get an unskilled animal control provider to do it.
However, this is not the end of the road. Once you have removed the opossum, you should also put in place measures to ensure that the infestation is not repeated in future. The alternative to this is having a recurrent opossum infestation, which is not only annoying but can also cost you a lot of money in the long run. Some of the strategies you can employ to prevent this re-infestation include:
Trimming branches on trees around your home
In many cases, opossums gain access to a home via the branches that overlie the home. By trimming these branches, you would reduce the chances of having to find another one in your home any time soon. Of course, there are other benefits of trimming the branches, including reduced roof damage and better aesthetics overall. The fact that it has so many other associated benefits means that trimming the branches should not be neglected.
Protect any vents in the home
Having too many vents that are not protected around the home will result in the opossums gaining access through them to the home. Once you have gotten rid of the ones you have seen, you should then inspect the house thoroughly, taking note of any potential points of entry from the outside to the inside. These should then be sealed, such as by using mesh or a vent cover that allows air entry. The vents that are closer to the ground level are particularly important. Sealing them will not only protect your home from opossums, but also from other rodents and pests that are likely to crawl through the vents into the home.
Proper deck design
These pests tend to hide under decks, especially when there is enough space there. Unfortunately, there are times when they might die, and their decomposition will then result in a smell whose source you might not be able to identify. Protecting the bottom part of the deck is therefore important. This can be done by simply placing a metal barrier beneath the deck.
Keep the environment hygienic
Most opossums are attracted to environments in which there is a lot of food for them to thrive on. In fact, if you have a tendency of leaving a lot of food available for them, they might end up multiplying and causing even more of a problem later on. Measures such as making sure that your dust bins are emptied on a regular basis, and that they are always shut will go a long way in preventing such incidences.
In the same vein, you could also eliminate any vegetation that might act as cover for the pests. This is as simple as mowing your lawn as well as trimming any large bushes. The beauty of doing this is that in addition to making your home less inviting for the opossums, it will also do the same for other kinds of pests and also make your home more beautiful in the process.
The use of motion sensing sprinklers and lights
These days, lights and sprinklers with motion sensors can be bought for relatively low prices. Investing in them can have a safety benefit, since it means that any burglars who walk into the compound will be scared off by the lights or sprinklers coming on.
This can also act as a deterrent for the opossums, which will retreat every time the lights and sprinklers come on. The advantage of this deterrent is the fact that it’s usually not very labor intensive. As long as you have installed these devices in strategic places, you will not need to keep an eye on them.
Using homemade remedies
Some homemade remedies can be used as opossum repellants. These include making a mixture of molasses and dish soap, which is then squirted on some of the vegetation that the opossum might come into contact with. You can also substitute this with a mixture of something hot, such as pepper. The strategic placement of mothballs in the path of the opossums has also been found to work by some home owners in preventing opossums from infesting the home.
Although some homemade remedies are “claimed” to be effective, we strongly urge you to make use of proper animal control services to curb an opossum infestation because this is the best way to get rid of them as well as prevent their recurring infestations.