Mistaken Identity

I had a phone call the other day from a guy in Brisbane that was really peed off about the “bloody pests in my roof” as he put it.

Proper repair helps to stop them getting back in

The thing is that when people have their peaceful sleep interrupted they get pretty angry. This guy was going to kill the possum if we weren’t able to do anything about it.

Thankfully we were able to get it out of the roof and it no longer is a problem. But the truth is that possums aren’t pests. Just their activity is a pain sometimes.

I guess the concern was that this little animal which is native to our land is being persecuted because he is interrupting our sleep

When we really should be having a look at our house to see if there is any potential spots where possums are going to get in. Remember if there is some weak timber or a slight gap then all you need is a possum to wonder past and it will take a look.

No one home, possum has a new home and you have a new problem.

A bit of maintenance can save many sleepless nights.

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Source: Brisbane Pests

Successful possum removal in Kedron

Possums are generally able to get back into the house in the morning. This one had trouble after the hole was blocked up and he couldn’t get back in

It’s so important to get possums out of the roof as soon as you hear them, it only gets harder to keep them out the longer it has been in there.

Call us now to make an appointment to get it sorted out for you.

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Source: Possum proofing in Kedron works

Rats and Rodents in Roofs

Rats in roof are particularly bad when it comes to the damage they cause to insulation, electrical wiring and electrical hardware like transformers and junction boxes.

Rats in roof can be an expensive problem if left alone for to long. They burrow into the insulation to make their nests and breed, they chew wiring and electrical junction units and they bring food and scraps back into the roof. Make sure you don’t let rats stay in your roof. Be sure you don’t have any other animal in your roof first then get rid of them.

You have a couple of options

1. Rat baiting
2. Rat traps – manual and electronic rat trap

When you are looking to solve the noise problem in your roof, first make sure you are only dealing with rats and you don’t have a possum in the roof as well. Once you’re sure there are no possums you can then use your preferred method of getting rid of rats.

Often what is required is an initial deinfestation and then a maintenance program to keep them away in the long term. This can be in the form of rat bait stations around the property or setting the electronic rat traps in places that are in areas where rats travel, they are slightly higher maintenance but you will always know where the dead rat is.

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Source: Rat and Rodent Control

Disturbing number of dead possums on the road

I was doing a possum proofing job around Browns Plains this morning and was surprised by the number of dead possums on the road. They looked like they had been hit by cars sometime during last night.

I guess, given the numbers of young possums around at this time of the year, most of which have recently left mum to venture out on their own. It’s not surprising that the young ones end up in places they shouldn’t be and obviously have very little road sense.

PLEASE keep an eye out for them and remember, If you hit one check and see if it’s injured or not before driving off.

If its injured call the RSPCA and they will be able to help

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Source: Dead Possums on the Road

Possum Removal on the Gold Coast

The other day while removing a possum from a roof in Bonogan on the Gold Coast I was confronted with a rather feisty young possum.

Probably as with teenage boys, he was trying to flex his muscles and stamp his authority. Either way as i got close to the entry point which he had been blocked out of, he rared up and screeched at me. He even had a little swipe at me. I thought “now here’s a worthy recipient of the Mr Possum award of the week”.

As you can see he is a real Mr Possum.

This obviously a Mr Possum

Related posts:

1. Possum Removal Southport, Broadbeach, Coolangatta

Source: Mister Possum

Young Possum Removal

In recent times which is autumn in Australia, I have been seeing a number of instances of young possums getting themselves in compromising positions.

Possums exiting Roof space

This is a bit unusual because predominantly this happens at the end of winter after they have breed in autumn.

What this means is that possum removal may not be as straight forward as normal. You see, young juvenile  possums are a bit like teenagers, think they know everything except when to stay out of trouble.

So be on the look out, they can end up in the weirdest places after a big night exploring.

Some places I have heard of are:

• Curled up in the corner of your kitchen bench
• Snuggling into the hair of a lady while she was asleep at 4 am (she freaked)
• head buried under a snuggle rug in a childs cot (baby wasn’t in there Thankfully)
• sitting on top of a pelmet asleep

If you have a story about where you have found a possum in the morning Let me know

What it means

Don’t leave windows open during the night, adventurous young possums will go places they can’t get out of.

What can you do?

If you find a young one inside your house you can

1. Just leave sleep and call us or someone who handles wildlife to come and take it out
2. Leave the window open and seal the room off so that when night falls it will hopefully go out again (not recommended)
3. At least you can ring us for advice
4. Organize possum removal and site inspection to limit the options of them climbing through your windows again

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Source: Young Possums

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.

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.

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Source: What do possums eat?

Possum Noises

Ever wondered what it’s like when 2 possums face off, one defending its territory and the other trying to take over.

Chances are if you’re hearing this noise inside your roof, you have a resident possum trying to ward off some agressive action by something. Time to get Mr Possum to get rid of Possum.

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Source: Possum Noise of Defence

Possums provoke dogs into barking

Find out what you can do to stop it

Many home owners have pets and many of those in urban areas are dogs.

Possums are often responsible for tormenting dogs at night. They run along the fence or sit up in a tree and the poor old dog can see the possum but can’t get at it.

This can be a real problem causing problem with with sleeping children and upsetting neighbours.

So what can you do?

Firstly it is illegal to just catch the possum and take it miles away and release it into the bush

Well to build a bit of a picture here for you. Possums are territorial and at night when they are out of the nesting quarters, they will forage around close to there nest. If that nest happens to be in your roof then they will stay around somewhere close to the hole or entry point, they do this to protect their home.

That being the case the obvious thing is to block the main entry point up and force the possums to find a new home.

You can also put a possum box up in a tree some where away from the house so the possum will hang around down near it.

So what can you do to stop dogs barking at possums? You can train your dog not to bark  at the possums. This is the best option because even if the original possums disappears, another will replace it in a short time.

So if possums are causing your dog to bark all night, train it to stop barking at them.

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Source: Stop dogs barking at possums

Possum removal

Many people have had experience with possum removal. Some people believe that the only thing you can do is to remove them. What they mean is to trap them and relocate them.

YOU CAN”T DO THIS. Just because a possum is keeping you awake at night doesn’t give you the right to take it away from it’s territory.

It would be like someone kidnapping you and taking you interstate just because you played loud music.

When a possum enters your roof, the only thing you can do is to find the hole and block it up. Making sure the possum is out of the roof first.

A word of warning though.

When possums have been resident for awhile in your roof they will do just about anything to get back in. I have recently seen a roof in Brisbane where the possum chewed a piece fascia board 6″ wide and made a hole about 8″ long.

So, never under estimate a possum that has been locked out of its home. They are very tenacious and will work away until they gain entry if they think there’s a chance.

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Source: Is Possum Removal the Answer?