Hello, does anyone have any advise on how to get rid of possums coming into my garden? First he was just climbing my papaya trees and only eating the bottoms of each fruit as it started to ripen. So he wasn't just sharing, he was ruining all of them! I didn't mind the papayas too much, but now it moved on to my eggplant and tomatoes! Now it's war! It does the same thing with the tomatoes. Not just eat one or two, but takes bites out of the bottoms of each one. I have to get rid of this rodent!
Contact your local animal control to see if they have traps to loan out to residents. Ours does and when you catch something....be it possum or stray cat, they come to pick up the critter. The possum they release in a wilderness area, cats they check out and adopt them out if possible.
We have 'possums but all the damage they do is digging in the gardens. They prefer meat, or meat products. If you don't have a local animal control, you can put out a tray of dog food in a Hav-a-heart trap, your 'possums will be tempted and then trapped. We are fortunate in that the local wildlife population is balanced--coyotes take care of 'possums and other semi-rodents. Hank, do you serve a red or a rose wine with baked 'possum? When I look at the 'possums little pink nose, I can't bring myself to bring its existence to an end. However, if it attacks my tomatoes, my heart may harden!
Thats unlikely behavior for a possum. Have you seen it ? They are scavengers and typically will just eat whatever falls on the ground. Fresh fruit is usually not on their menu. Sounds more like squirrels. Thats the same thing squirrels do to my fruit. Never eat the whole thing. Just a few bites of each. Possums have a large mouth and teeth so small teeth marks would say its probably a squirrel or squirrels. They tend to bring the entire community when they find something good to eat.
I dislike possums immensely and they were fairly common in Washington State. Ugly looking things that hiss and squabble and usually hiding in dark places during the day so that when disturbed they scare the begebbers out of you!!
Ive caught them in my garden before. But never saw them in my papaya tree. The reason I know it is not squirrel is that I've watch them climb my papaya trees before and they never leave a mark. Whatever is eating my papaya is leaving claw marks where the sap will drip. Also the bite marks are bigger then a squirrel's whole head. It could only be possum or racoon and I have never seen a racoon in my neighborhood, ever. So I am assuming possum. I've caught them in my garden before and threw a trash can at it.... I didn't hurt it, but was hoping to scare it enough that it would get the hint.... sadly, I think possums are too dumb to get a hint. Lol
Do not think its a possum. Raccoon more likely,,you didn`t say it left claw marks on the tree in the original post. No matter if you have seen them or not,,raccoons are probably there. Can you take a pic of those claw marks ? Neither of these animals has to use claws to climb due to the shape of the paws which look the same as our hands. I have never heard of either animal damaging trees.
Papaya trees have a very thin skin. If an animal uses its claws to hold on, and the animal is bigger then say a squirrel, it will most likely pierce the skin and cause the sap to start dripping. "Claw marks" makes it sound a lot more dramatic then it is, but that's is what it is. I will try to take a picture for you.
Here are the pictures, got hit again lol. As you can see there are "claw" or nail marks on the trunk where the critter climbs up. There are exact marks on the direct opposite of the trunk. It looks like it grabs on either side, "hugging" the tree to climb up. As you can see on the fruit, the teeth marks are on either side of the fruit so it appears it could get its mouth around at least the bottom of the fruit. The "k9" teeth on the outside were a lot deeper puncture holes then the middle teeth between the "k9". The critter bites the fruit on the bottom and tries to pull it to the ground where it will eat it. Any ideas??
What about bats? Are you in an area that large fruit bats might frequent? (Course that doesn't explain anything climbing UP a tree) but bats biting into fruit is the the only thing I can think of
No, only small bug eating bats here. It's goal is to pull the fruit from the tree and eat it on the ground.
