What makes possums the household winter pest?

Possums are adorable, which makes it difficult to think of them as pests. In fact, in their native environment, which is the rainforests of Australia, they are not pests. However, as humans have taken over their habitat, they have moved into our environment, giving them the household winter pest name. That is not good for people or for the possums.

Generally, possums are harmless. Unlike some pests, they are very unlikely to attack you. However, that does not mean you want a possum to take up residence in your home. They can be very destructive, plus, like other pests, possums can be carrying a variety of diseases.

One of the main reasons you do not want possums in your home is that they are noisy. These nocturnal animals like to party when it gets dark. You can hear them scampering, scratching, and moving around. It keeps you from getting sleep, plus it makes you wonder what pests are up there.

Of course, like other pests, possums are going to leave feces and urine in your home if they get inside. Their waste is smelly. So is the discharge from their anal glands, which they may expel if they nest in your home.

Speaking of nesting, they are messy animals. They destroy items to create their nests, and the nests themselves are not neat. In addition, nesting possums will eat through any food they can find. That is especially detrimental if you are a gardener, because they will eat almost every type of food you can grow in the garden.

The major problem with having possums in your home is that they can carry diseases. As adorable as they are, they carry bacteria that infect people. They are also hosts to parasites like mites and ticks.

Possums are adorable animals that play an important role in the ecosystem. It is not their fault that human development has impacted their habitat, causing them to seek refuge in homes. At Flick, we recognize that and realize that most people do not want to hurt possums that have taken up residence in your home. You just want them gone. We can help. We can trap and release possums that have moved into your home. We then relocate them to a location far enough away from your home that they are unlikely to find their way back. We also focus on exclusion, helping identify areas where possums can get into your house. We can help you get possum free without hurting the possums.