How to Get Rid of Opossums in San Jose CA
Preventive MeasuresWhen there is a risk of an opossum appearing on your property, you should consider some preventive measures to prevent them from invading your home and yard. Prevention is always a better option than getting rid of the opossums. Opossum prevention is a perfect approach to getting rid of opossums. It doesn’t include that much effort. However, the main issue with opossum prevention is that most of the opossum prevention techniques fail. This is because opossums are obtrusive creatures that have numerous reasons to reside in your home. However, in this article, we will learn some of the best and most effective San Jose opossum prevention tips.
Possum-proofing your Property
What does this step of preventing opossums include? Well, this step includes eliminating food debris and other types of debris from your yard, such as fallen trees, unused cars, unused equipment, fallen fruits, fallen nuts, deep leaf litter, and other types of debris. Remember that, to prevent opossums from getting close to your property, you will need to lawn your grass frequently. You will also need to trim your bushes up. Trim every tree branch that touches your home or hangs over it. Cover the areas under your outbuildings, sheds, and porches. Protect those areas from California opossums with hardware cloths. You can also use rocks to protect underground areas from opossums.
Get Rid of Shelters
If you have brush piles in your yard, we recommend you rake them up as soon as possible to prevent opossums from invading your yard. It is fairly easy to rake up brush piles and it will keep opossums away from your property for miles away. If you have any wood piles in your yard, you should either cover them or seclude them in a shed or any other secluded area. To prevent opossums from appearing on your property, you will also need to make sure all your boathouses, woodsheds and garages are closed.
Fencing
The two best types of fencing that prevent opossums from invading people’s properties are electric fences and woven wire fences. Now, you may ask us how to get rid of opossums rapidly with proper fencing. Well, you will need a fence that is more than 4 feet high. The top foot of your fence should away from the garden and outwards. This will prevent wild animals such as San Jose opossums from climbing over it.
Eliminating Open Spaces
Don’t only check your yard for opossums, but also check your home. This is also a place where opossums love to hide. Opossums usually enter our homes through small and inviting holes and cracks. If you find such holes and cracks in your home, cover them with a metal mesh.
Opossum Repellents
Many people reach out for opossum repellents if they have an opossum problem on their property. However, are opossum repellents effective? Let’s find that out.
• Mothballs. People usually stick mothballs in the areas where their possums are most active. However, California opossums simply don’t care about mothballs. Mothballs won’t scare your possums.
• Scat and D-Ter. Both D-Ter and Scat are special powders that you dilute in water to make a spray. However, neither Scat nor D-Ter is effective in getting rid of possums.
• Ammonia. People also use ammonia to chase away possums from their property. Ammonia actually works sometimes. However, most of the time it won’t work and will be a waste of your time and money.
Traps
The best opossum traps are live opossum traps. There traps are easy to install and they are humane because an opossum will remain alive if caught in them.