Keeping possum away from backyard

[SpaceLamb]

Is there a way to discourage a possum from coming into my yard?

We've noticed a huge possum on our fence and in our yard the past few months. Our dogs actually got ahold of him once but he survived to tell the tale but I thought that would be enough to keep him away. Apparently not. I'm not overly concerned about him getting the chickens because even though their run isn't predator proof their coop is and they're locked up tight every night but he's causing other issues. It's gotten to the point where we don't feel comfortable letting the dogs into the yard off-leash after dark because he could be hiding somewhere and they might get ahold of him again.

We don't leave the chicken feed or eggs out overnight and don't really know what else we can do. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Folly's place]

Trap and shoot?!
Any wild bird feed, or any other animal feed, will attract them, and nobody ever accused them of being smart. It might be a different opossum, there's always more than one. You could just see if your dogs go after it again, or chase it out yourself every night, or see what your DNR recommends.
Electric fencing, if legal where you live, could be a big help.
Mary

 

[SpaceLamb]

Trap and shoot?!
Any wild bird feed, or any other animal feed, will attract them, and nobody ever accused them of being smart. It might be a different opossum, there's always more than one. You could just see if your dogs go after it again, or chase it out yourself every night, or see what your DNR recommends.
Electric fencing, if legal where you live, could be a big help.
Mary

Definitely don't want to kill him, he's not really doing anything wrong I just don't really want him around but we are pretty sure it's the same one since part of his ear got ripped - we assume when the dogs got him. We do shoo him away anytime we see him but also don't stand around outside waiting for him to come around so probably don't catch it every time.

Will look into the electric fence though thank you!

 

[feather13]

Why do you want to get rid of it if it's not hurting your dogs or killing your chickens? You could always bait a live trap with cat food and then call animal control to relocate it. We set traps for stray cats and nearly always an opossum gets in them.

We have opossums in our back yard and they're not a nuisance since we made our coop more or less predator proof, so we just leave them alone. They're pretty cool and enjoying quite a renaissance on Instagram and TikTok lol.

 

[SpaceLamb]

Why do you want to get rid of it if it's not hurting your dogs or killing your chickens? You could always bait a live trap with cat food and then call animal control to relocate it. We set traps for stray cats and nearly always an opossum gets in them.

We have opossums in our back yard and they're not a nuisance since we made our coop more or less predator proof, so we just leave them alone. They're pretty cool and enjoying quite a renaissance on Instagram and TikTok lol.

We mainly want to keep him out of the yard for his own sake. I’m less worried about him hurting the dogs and more about them hurting him. If it was just our little dog who couldn’t care less about him or anything else being there I wouldn’t care but I have a hound mix who has a relentless prey drive and I don’t want her hurting him but also want her to be able to enjoy the yard after sunset.

I guess it’s really not a huge deal if we can’t get rid of him, we’ll just have to keep the big dogs leashes, but I figured I’d ask and see if anyone has any luck keeping possums away.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I would just say, make sure there is nothing out there to attract him and eventually he should go elsewhere. No compost or kitchen scraps for the chickens, etc. The good news, which you may already know, is that possums generally are not rabies carriers. Their body temp is too low to support rabies. Good luck!

 

[Davethebirdman]

Opossums are mostly nocturnal and just looking for food. They never stay long and don’t like people much. Enjoy the brief moment you see them and proof your henhouse. People can live peacefully with animals just like ignoring that bee flying by.

 

[Folly's place]

Opossums will eat eggs and kill chickens at night while they are roosting. Every night when we lock the birds in, we check to make sure there are no 'visitors' inside the coop. During the day they are just looking for a meal, and in late winter it can be pretty tough for them.
Our dogs will kill any critters who get into their fenced yard. And your dogs should be able to enjoy their yard without being leashed.
Mary

 

[cmom]

I agree. I have had a possum kill a bird in the past. I did put up electric wires around my coops and pens and no more problems. I do have several game cameras up on my property and see them quite often on my cameras. Here they are mostly nocturnal. They can carry rabies so I would discourage them. My sister had one attack one of her shepherds. Most of the time they take off but it may have been sick.

 

[cmom]

Opossums are mostly nocturnal and just looking for food. They never stay long and don’t like people much. Enjoy the brief moment you see them and proof your henhouse. People can live peacefully with animals just like ignoring that bee flying by.