Living in Arizona means entertaining outdoors year -round. Now that the weather has cooled, outdoor gatherings will be more frequent. Picture this: You’re ready to invite your guests over to your home, and you start by prepping your patio or outdoor kitchen. As you’re getting things cleaned and freshened up for your guests, you see an opossum out of the corner of your eye.
After letting out a hearty scream, your spouse comes to the rescue to see why you’re screaming at the top of your lungs. You point at the hideous thing that frightened you out of your skin. The poor little possum is staring back at you with sad eyes, and both you and your spouse look at it not as the enemy but as a poor, hopeless victim who has wandered onto your property.
You don’t want to hurt it, but you certainly don’t want this to happen again when your guests arrive. What can you do?
Calling a wildlife removal company is at the top of your to-do list.
How Opossums Are Getting into Your Yard
You’ll want to pick up the phone and call a local wildlife removal service to safely handle the opossum unless it wanders away on its own. However, let’s take a look at why it came into your yard in the first place. Here are a few reasons you may be attracting opossums to your yard.
Food Sources
If you discover an opossum in your yard staring back at you, it probably was lured to your home by the smell of food. If you’re grilling, you’ll naturally attract plenty of animals to your home from the scent of delicious food filling the air.
However, this activity alone may not be the only reason opossums are foraging through your property in search of food. If you have a pet and you keep food bowls outdoors, opossums may be attracted to their leftovers.
Water
Besides food, the heat of summer may bring many types of wildlife to your yard in search of water, including opossums. If you have a body of water, such as a pool or pond, or you have makeshift water features like bird baths or fountains, this could attract opossums.
Shelter
Another way you may be inadvertently attracting opossums to your property is by providing them with ideal dwelling places. Opossums love taking shelter under cozy log piles and in unprotected crawl spaces. Such spaces on your property may be why they are wandering in your yard.
What You Can Do to Keep Opossums at Bay
If you don’t want an opossum invasion, here are a few things you can do to ensure they don’t come into your yard.
Clean Up and Declutter
One of the best things for you to do is to avoid providing them access to food, shelter, and water. If you have pets, keep their food and water bowls indoors. If you prefer to keep the pet bowls outdoors, ensure they are not left unattended for long periods with food or water in them.
Likewise, avoid standing water on your property. If you have a pool, ensure that it is covered when not in use. Also, avoid having piles of wood or other places that could become a habitat for opossums. Ensure that your crawl space is free and clear of rodents, and seal it properly to prevent them from entering your home.
Incorporate Repellents
If you want to minimize your chances of having an encounter with an opossum, it’s a good idea to scatter repellents around your yard. They abhor the scent of garlic, vinegar, and cayenne pepper.
Another commercial option available online or at your local hardware store is coyote urine spray. Coyotes are predators of opossums. Once opossums smell their urine, they will avoid the area. A few other options include wind chimes and motion-activated sprinklers, which will scare the opossums out of your yard.
Put up a Fence
Cleaning and incorporating repellents may keep opossums out of your yard. However, if you continue to see them, it may be a good idea to install a fence at least four feet high.
How We Deal with Your Wildlife and Opossum Problem
Another way to keep an opossum at bay is to trap it. This is where we can help. We don’t advise you try to trap opossums yourself. Instead, allow an experienced wildlife removal company to bait, trap, and relocate the opossum.
If you’ve seen opossums or other wildlife on your property, call us here at Critter Evictors in Scottsdale. We’ll inspect your Maricopa County home and set humane traps to remove the critters from your property effectively. Schedule your inspection today, and one of our experts will be dispatched to remove critters and keep them away, providing you with peace of mind.