The most effective natural way to get rid of possums is to remove what’s attracting them (food, water, shelter) and then block their access to your property with physical barriers. Repellent sprays made from chili, garlic, and vinegar can help protect specific plants, but exclusion is what keeps possums away long-term. Before you start, it’s worth knowing that opossums are generally harmless, rarely carry rabies, and are protected by wildlife laws in many states.
Remove Food and Water Sources First
Possums are opportunistic eaters. They’ll stick around as long as your yard offers easy meals. The single most impactful thing you can do is cut off their food supply.
Bring pet food and water bowls inside at night, since possums are nocturnal and do most of their foraging after dark. Secure garbage cans with bungee cords or locking lids. Pick up fallen fruit from trees daily. If you compost, use a closed bin rather than an open pile. Clean up birdseed that falls from feeders, or switch to feeders designed to limit spillage. Once possums stop finding food on your property, they typically move on within a few days.
Block Access Under Decks, Porches, and Sheds
Possums love to den in the sheltered spaces beneath structures. Physical exclusion is the most reliable long-term solution, and it works against other wildlife too.
Use galvanized hardware cloth in 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch mesh to seal gaps between the ground and the base of your deck, porch, or shed. The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management recommends cutting pieces large enough to extend from the structure’s wall to 3 to 4 inches below the ground surface, then bending the bottom outward at a right angle so it extends at least 12 inches horizontally. This underground “L” shape prevents animals from digging underneath. Secure the mesh to the structure with screws and fender washers. For extra durability, lay 8-by-16-inch patio blocks along the base where the mesh meets the ground.
Before sealing any space, make sure no animals are currently living inside. Check for activity at dusk when possums leave to forage, or stuff newspaper loosely into the opening and wait 48 hours. If the newspaper hasn’t moved, the space is likely empty.
Natural Scent Repellents
Possums dislike strong smells, and homemade sprays can discourage them from targeting specific garden beds or entry points. The NSW Government recommends this recipe: boil a liter of water with a handful of hot chilis, garlic, and vinegar, then let it steep for a few days. Strain the mixture and spray the cooled liquid directly on affected plants. It’s safe around dogs and cats.
Other scent-based options include blood and bone fertilizer scattered around garden beds, which doubles as plant nutrition while discouraging browsing. Quassia wood chips, a naturally bitter plant material, also work as a ground-level deterrent. Ammonia-soaked rags placed near den entrances can push possums out of a space you want to seal, though the smell fades quickly outdoors and needs regular refreshing.
The limitation of all scent repellents is that they wash away in rain and lose potency within days. They work best as a short-term tool while you set up physical barriers, not as a standalone solution.
Motion-Activated Deterrents
Motion-activated sprinklers startle possums with a sudden burst of water and are one of the more effective hands-off deterrents. Place them along the paths possums use to enter your yard, near garden beds, or close to structures they’re denning under. Solar-powered models are widely available and require minimal setup. Motion-activated lights can also help, though possums may eventually habituate to light alone if no other consequence follows.
Make Your Yard Less Inviting
Possums prefer yards with plenty of cover. Trim tree branches that overhang your roof or fence line, since possums are excellent climbers and use branches as highways onto structures. Keep shrubs pruned so they don’t create dense ground-level hiding spots. Stack firewood away from the house and elevate it off the ground. If possums are climbing a specific tree to access your roof, a smooth metal collar (about 2 feet wide) wrapped around the trunk at least 4 feet off the ground prevents them from getting a grip.
Why Possums Are Worth Tolerating
You may have heard that possums eat thousands of ticks per year. That claim comes from a single lab study which estimated each opossum consumed over 5,000 tick larvae annually, earning them a reputation as “ecological traps” for ticks. However, a more recent study examined the stomach contents of 32 wild opossums and didn’t find a single tick. The researchers also reviewed nearly two dozen other diet studies and found that none reported ticks in opossum stomachs either. So the tick-eating benefit is likely overstated.
That said, possums still play a useful role. They eat cockroaches, snails, slugs, and small rodents. They’re also remarkably low-risk to have around. Their body temperature is lower than most mammals, which makes their bodies a poor environment for the rabies virus. They rarely carry it. When threatened, they’re far more likely to play dead or hiss than to bite.
Legal Restrictions on Trapping and Relocating
Live-trapping a possum and driving it to a park or wooded area is illegal in many states. In New York, for example, it is against the law to relocate any wild animal off your property. The reasoning is practical: relocation spreads diseases, stresses the animal, and often just makes it someone else’s problem. New York also requires a state permit to remove an opossum classified as a nuisance, and animals taken during closed hunting or trapping seasons must be buried or cremated immediately.
Laws vary by state, so check your local wildlife agency’s regulations before setting any traps. If the situation is beyond what exclusion and deterrents can handle, a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator can remove the animal legally and humanely. In most cases, though, making your property less attractive is cheaper, faster, and more permanent than trapping.