What do possums eat?

Jan 052012

What do Possums Eat?

Possums are herbivores.

That means they eat plant matter, leaves and fruit mainly.

However they have been know to have a little chew on the odd electrical lead or light fitting in the roof of a house. But this is only when it is in the way of it getting somewhere of interest to it.

They absolutely love chewing on timber, especially if it can gain them access to the inside of your roof.

Lead Flashing chewed by a possum

Nothing is safe

Even the solid lead flashing used to waterproof the join in roof tiles is fair game for a tenacious possum.

The thing with possums, is that it’s hard to generalize about their dietary preferences. They seem to learn what is good to eat and then go all out to devour all the available food in their territory.

In some cases we have seen possums eat the green rind off a lemon just before it ripened. Then within 3 nights the entire crop from the one tree was eaten in the same way.

Over the next 3 weeks they proceeded to eat all the leaves from the tree and with in 6 month the tree was dead because the possums ate every new shoot that appeared and the tree could not photosynthesize.

One possum removal Brisbane job we did, found the possums eating everything in the planter boxes on a balcony of an apartment block, even the chilli plants.

Possum Removal

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Nov 062011

Possum Removal specialists

The number of times I have seen the evidence of poorly executed attempts to get rid of noises in the roof is astounding.

The worst case was a young possum sitting eating rat poison distributed by a pest controller who wrongly diagnosed the noises as rats.

Possums try to get back in day and night

That was right up there with the call i received from someone who wanted me to remove a dead possum from in an exhaust fan above the stove. The possum would have had to have been in there for about 5 days before it died. You draw the conclusion, but my guess is that they wanted to get rid of the possum and thought that letting it die was the answer. The fact is that with any possum removal, if you don’t block the hole then another one will just waltz on in.

If you are suspicious that a possum is the cause of noises in your roof then get a possum removal specialist to check it out, they will

inspect your roof inside
locate any holes on the outside of your roof
inspect the entire outside of you house for possible entry points

You will then know what needs to be done to treat the problem once you know what you are dealing with. The person you use to inspect your property will be able to carry out most work required to get rid of possums from your roof.

How to Keep Possums out

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Oct 152011

Discover what not to use to Keep Possums Out

The material you use to possum proof your house determines the level of success you achieve

If you are serious about getting rid of possums and keeping them out then material selection for your repair is critical. Possums are much smarter than you think.

They will seize the smallest weakness in your workmanship and over time, break through to get back in.

How often have you heard, “We had someone come and seal up the holes with chicken wire, but somehow they got back in”

Worst example of possum proofing a house

Here is an example of of just how effective some repairs are not.

In this case the repair would have taken considerable time to do, with the result being as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike.

If you really want to keep possums out of your roof, there must be thought put into the fact that a possum has plenty of time and plenty of patience when it comes to dismantling your efforts to keep them out.

Don’t under estimate them, possums will get beck in if you take short cuts on the repairs you do to prevent them.

They have sharp teeth and strong jaws, they will chew, gnaw and scratch their way back into their home unless the repair is done properly.

Get Rid of Possums with Care

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Sep 152011

Baby Possums are everywhere

I was recently called to get rid of possums in a roof in Brisbane where they were getting into the roof and causing the people their a huge mount of grief with the running around in the night.

What was puzzling to start with was the excessive amounts of movement during the day. You see normally possums sleep during the day but this one kept move around walking from one side of the roof to the other. The tenant originally thought it was a rat in the roof.

The reason for the movement turned out to be the fact that the possum was a mum and the baby was big enough to be out of the pouch but not self sufficient and like most young ones wouldn’t leave mum alone.

Baby Brushtail possum

Fortunately when darkness fell they both went out of the roof, we blocked the hole in the roof and Mum and baby went to live in a nearby tree as they are meant to.

So if you are hearing noises in the roof, don’t automatically assume that you have rats and throw out rat poison. It could be a mum with a baby, mum will eat the rat bait and die. Baby will end up die because it has no Mum.

If you are unsure whether you have rats or possums in your roof

Can anyone get rid of possums

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Aug 222011

Can anyone get rid of possums

No, ask anyone who has had anything to do with a persistent possum they will tell you that it’s not as obvious as it seems. The numbers ways possums can in to a roof is endless. So therefore it takes a certain amount of expertise that goes with finding these ways. In most cases just having a good look in the roof and not seeing a possum doesn’t mean there isn’t one there.

Possums aren’t pests

I have recently seen some disturbing things happening when it comes to getting rid of possums.

Although possums are inside your roof and keeping you awake at night, they aren’t pests. Therefore they can’t be dealt with as a pest.

You see pests are not protected by Law (Possums are) and the way possums need to be dealt with is in a way that stops them from getting into your roof but humanely as well.

Should you use a pest controller to possum proof your house?

This depends on how they approach the possum removal from your roof. Many a time we have seen where a bit of chicken wire stuffed into the hole where they were getting in and then give you no guarantee that they won’t get back in.

Easy to get through Chicken wire repair

Often when someone calls with a “noise in there roof” problem the first reaction is to assume that there is rats in the roof. (Current treatment for this is to throw out rat poison) . There are a number of issues with this

If possums are in the roof, they will eat the poison and die a horrid death.
The possum or rats may die in the roof
The hole where the got in originally is still open
There WILL be another possum come visit GUARANTEED

Pest Controllers may be good at controlling pests but unless they are experienced and successful at Possum Proofing your house, you should seek the services of a possum removal specialist.

When possums start interrupting you life, DON’T just treat them as a PEST. Call a Possum removal specialist and have them dealt properly.

How to Get Rid of Possums in Roofs

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Jun 082011

Possum traps

There are many companies around claiming to be possum removal professionals. The solution they offer for removing the possum from your roof is to trap them and then block the hole up.

Sounds good in theory but

you are charged for setting the trap and for each visit to clear the trap. Can be very expensive if there is more than one possum in your roof.
when using a trap the company must be licensed with the national parks and wildlife
traps scare possums and they may stay in the roof and not go in the trap for a couple of days, costing you more because of the extra trips to check the trap.

We have a process that will efficiently ensure the possums are out of your roof and the hole is blocked permanently!

Understanding Possums

The trick to dealing with possums in roofs is to understand what they do, when they do it and for what reason they are doing it.

So the methods used for possum proofing a house vary from time to time. The most important factor is to know just what we are dealing with and then take the appropriate action.

Possum noises in your roof

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Apr 192011

Noises in your roof

You might be hearing some pretty heavy running kind of noises in your roof at the moment.

Possums are mating about now, so whether you are in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne or the Gold Coast you will be hearing more activity than normal.

You see a possums mating is a bit like a serious game of football, running and thumping as they chase around inside your roof.

Have your down lights popped out?

Running and jumping through your roof, possums will sometimes land on a down light and OUT it POPS.

Usually as the light pops out it is followed by some of the dust and rubbish in your ceiling and makes a mess all over the floor.

YOU NEED TO GET RID OF THE POSSUM FROM YOUR ROOF like now!

Even though the mating ritual will subside soon. The mum to be is then going to set up a comfy place to sleep and nurture the young one, so it is better for the possum to have to find a new home now rather than when she has the baby on her back.

Call us now to possum removal and to seal up the entry points to stop them getting into your roof, for good.

We can even install a Possum Box in a nearby tree as an alternate home for them.

Possum Removal Brisbane

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Apr 112011

Possum Removal Brisbane

Possums have been up to some pretty strange things lately. Just recently I have spoken to one lady who had a possum enter her house and walk around in the early hours of the morning. It then jumped up on her bed snuggled into her hair and was preparing for go to sleep. Needless to say this lady was a little bit startled, no not just a little bit she screamed, the possum panicked and ran through the house and back outside.

So possum removal in Brisbane has it’s own unique things to deal with. The thing to remember is that when you are asleep in the depth of night, possums are out and about looking for somewhere new to explore or a roof to live in.

It is a good idea to have a look at your roof every so often just to check and see if there are any rotting timber or roof tiles which need repair. Because it’s easier to keep a possum out than it is to get rid of possums in your roof once they are in there.