Pesky possums - help required

18 years ago

Hi All

I went up to the garden to take a photo of my first rose - Stainless Steel - and to pluck her for a vase, only to find that the flower has been eaten and that several of my other newly-planted roses have been shorn. We assume it is possums - we usually feed a mother and her annual off-spring this time each year and we also have two rogue males that she chases off from time to time.

Searching through the forum it seems that the only solution that anyone has suggested is removing the possums. Has anyone tried birdnetting or wire frames? Happy to remove the males but would miss mum and bub.

BTW I was most impressed with SS - she looked just like her picture, had a lovely perfume and a really long stem. She struggled to open from bud (those cloudy days) but was perfect once she did - and now I don't even have a photo to remember her by :(

Jackie

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

Woodlands
18 years ago
Hello Jackie,

I've found that a temporary fence made from plastic trellis and bamboo stakes works wonders keeping out possums, scrub turkeys and bandicoots. Yes, we had all three last spring. If the 'fence' is loose and floppy the possums will not climb it. It doesn't look the greatest but your roses will.

Think I may have to re-erect it as the bandicoot is digging out bulbs and seedlings. Anyone with bandicoot prevention ideas for a large area?

Hazel.
0
vee71
18 years ago
Jackie
I have the same problem. Found two half chewed buds on the ground on Saturday morning and spent the rest of the morning sulking. I have sprayed a product called SCAT which is supposed to deter birds and possums but am not feeling too optimistic as yesterday there were crows flapping about in my rose beds.

Good luck..
V
0
Related Discussions
Pesky Yellow Jackets
Q
Comments (9)
Yes i will try the bottle trap trick, i seen a guy hang one at work a long time ago and it attracted a lot of the yellow jackets which seem to frequent our area and are a real pain. Last year like i said there were at least a hundred or more spread among my five tree's i started swatting them and ran for my life and luckily did not get stung. Would have made America's funniest video program. But what reaaly helped me get rid of them was the hose and a nice stream of water as they would fall to the ground i would take my best shot,it was a pleasure after what they did to my fruit.Don't get me wrong i don't mind a few here and there but when they swarm like this it was just to much for me to take,they really ate the fruit with maybe 5 or more on just 1 fig the next day would be a little more than the neck of it left. The pussywillow tree i have seems to attract them as well which is about 20 feet away.Seems like over the years there are more and more of them. Oh well will try the bottle and see if that helps but will keep the hose handy also. Reading one of the replies about getting stung when i worked in a factory i was eating a burger outside and bit into it not know one was on it and it felt like a needle going into my tongue. Doc made me keep ice on it all day. Thanks for the replies and will update later in season and hope to learn how to post pictures as well. Martin
...See More
So, What Do YOU Do About Coons And Possums?
Q
Comments (45)
I think this is a very tough issue. We chose to live on conservation b/c of the wildlife that we might see. We have lived in our home for over 4 years and I've never seen a 'coon or 'possum in our yard. We did have an armadillo issue for which we hired a trapper to catch and relocate to his acreage (he said that's what he would do and I hope he did). Other then that, I have never had a problem with any animal eating/stealing/destroying anything I have grown. I have a 40-mile roundtrip commute to my office each day. Every day, I see so many poor animals that have been run over. At the rate I am seeing roadkill, I truly question that there are more of them than there are of us. Look at the amount of habitat loss! I also blame some, certainly not all, of the animals that get hit on people not paying attention to the road and/or speeding. One of the main roads leading to where we live is a very dark, narrow, 2-lane road. Because I have seen deer, rabbits, 'coons, etc., I know to drive as slow as I can and pay extra attention to my surroundings. But that is my soapbox for another thread. Personally, I cannot justify killing these animals, unless like Nicki said, it's for food or the animal is suffering. Call me a bleeding heart, but I personally do not think it is right to kill or harm these animals because they eat our veggies. Like Marcia and others have said, my philosophy in my yard is to live and let live. I have enough space and grow enough stuff to be able to share with the wildlife that live around me.
...See More
Need help right away - baby possum
Q
Comments (9)
Angela, she can't post here for some reason..... But here is what she says..... I tried to reply....and it said "cookie rejected". What the heck does that mean??? Have I been banned at KT??? Anyway, here is my reply, Patti, if you want to pass it on to her. I don't know why KT won't let me post. I tried to start a different topic and post it there, but it was the same thing. ******************************* If you can get some kitten milk replacer or Esbilac, which is puppy milk replacer, you can give it to them. If their eyes are open, they are fairly easy to raise. They should be able to eat from a dish. If you give them a heating pad, put it under the box or whatever they are in, and put it on low. Give them a rag or clothe to hide under. If their eyes are open, give them some of the milk and a little yogurt and soak some dry cat food in the milk and let them eat that. Now, if you check on the internet, that is not a good diet for baby possums, but the main thing is, you want to see if they will eat. Once they start eating easily, then I can tell you a better diet for them. You do not want to give them too much fruit. Mostly milk, yogurt and dry cat food to start off. Later chicken wings and necks...boiled on the bones. Tiny bits of bananas, apple, avacado, soft scrambled egg, earthworms, june bugs, pill bugs....anything. They just have high calcium requirements...so once you get them eating, you have to be careful of that...but they are easy to raise. If you start feeding them from a dish and they walk all thru it, that's okay. They will clean each other up. They will learn to eat from a dish in a day or so. They catch on fast. If their eyes aren't open, they probably won't make it. You can raise them if they are that small, but it is more difficult and they would need to be tube fed. Thank you for caring enough to try to help them. Let me know if you need any more help. Here is a link that might be useful: To Find Marilyn....
...See More
Possum Living
Q
Comments (27)
I love it! The only things I buy new from a store are underware, eletronics, paper/hygene products and some food. I do the garage sale circuit all summer. I pick up items at the side of the road too! It's so much fun! You would be amazed at what can be found and bartered for! I have done the dumpster diving also, once upon a time, but it has been awhile. I spent a year dumpster diving at a nearby plant nursery/garden center chain until it went out of business. The things they threw out were unbelievable! The huge Goodwill warehouse near me has a 50% off sale about twice/mo. My kids had so much when they were growing up and it was all second hand, brand name, quality items. I can buy so much better quality if I buy it used, than I would get buying anything new. I, myself, own still-new high end wool suits (London Fog)and silk blouses, etc, for work that I picked up for a song. I buy expensive shoes and boots, still new in the boxes, at garage sales. $2.00 is my limit to pay for anything I wear. I get most of my clothes at an "all you can shove in a large garbage bag for $6.00" sale that happens 2xyear here and you can get a lot of tightly rolled up things in a large garbage bag. Once I brought home 24 NEW golf shirts for hubby. (He's hard on shirts.)I make my own jewellery. I use Freecycle, as well. I'm the best dressed person at work. While it is a little extreme for most people, I understand where she is coming from. My intertainment costs would be the same as her's. I don't believe in saving the "good" stuff for visitors, which we almost never have. My family is worth more than any visitor, any day. She buys only those things at the grocery store because they grow the rest of it, like we do. We are in the process of producing most of our own food too. If we didn't both work full time because we pay rent, I would make just about everything from scratch and would can/freeze all of our food. As it is we do grow our own eggs and vegetables and are in the process of growing most of our own meat, as well. I don't eat wheat, so I have learned the hard way that what most people eat regularly from the grocery store is completely unnecessary and unhealthy, as well. You don't need the unhealthy processed foods from the grocery store shelves. However, toilet paper and hygene products are things I would buy at the store, however the thought that I could make my own sterile paper just occurred to me... no, I don't have time. lol! I'm a real DIYer! Why do they need insurance? Perhaps if they had children they have to support it would be different, but for just two adults and absolutely no material possessions to protect and no car, what do they need it for? I think people put too much stock in their material possessions as it is. Easy come - easy go. You can't take any of it with you when you leave this planet. I think that money would be better spent feeding the local homeless and elderly on a fixed budget.(We have insurance, but the lease and the law require it.) If the rabbits are happy and clean in the basement and in the sunshine as she says, why not keep them in the basement? Rabbits have cool manure that can go directly on the garden without burning anything. If they kept it reasonably clean, rabbits wouldn't smell. They would be fine in the basement. If she kept the deep litter turned and composting regularly, it wouldn't smell from the 2-3 chickens she keeps there either. My chicken house doesn't smell and I have 21 in there. They don't use the basement for anything else. Dumpster diving and second hand does not mean dirty, smelly, unhealthy or at all "used" looking or run down. Cleanliness has nothing to do with where your things came from.
...See More
Brissy
18 years ago
I have the same problem and use "Poss Off" which you can buy at Big W. I have found it saved me last year and I need it again now!!!

I love them too but not when they eat all my leaves and the buds!

Brissy
0
Thrip
18 years ago
We have problems with hares damaging young roses in particular. They tend to eat/strip bark on bare rooted newly plants often resulting in dieback.However they also eat new shoots and flower buds.Maybe some of you are having nocturnal visits from some of these little takkas.
Oh well they taste good if you can catch'em. Otherwise electric fences set low to ground are highly effective deterents.I can't stand the look of them but once the new bushes are larger and established they can be removed.
Mr Thrip
0
suesette
18 years ago
We've got rid of ours by putting plastic collars on the trees (after destroying the nests, possums were killing the trees as well as the roses).
0
User
18 years ago
Jackie I cannot help with your possums problems.
But sorry to hear that the rose has been eaten what a shame
Thank goodness Roses are such a forgiving plant so Cheer Up
And it wont be long before your SS rose is blooming again looking forward to the Pics.
Cheers...MM
0
rosedreamer
18 years ago
Blood and bone sprinkled around the plant is supposed to repel rabbits and hares - it is worth a try for the possums and will do the plant good at the same time! There is a liquid blood and bone that can be sprayed on the foliage. Good luck!
0
mtnebo_jackie
Original Author
18 years ago
Hi All

Thanks for all your advice - I can really relate to the sulking, V, we really get emotionally involved with these roses, don't we?!!

We went for a mechanical deterrent rather than a chemical one. Each of the shrub roses has its own barricade of stakes and wire mesh - I guess that's the advantage of only having 20 and not 200 like some of you ;) The only exception is Tatjana - my is she thorny - I guess she can look after herself. She gets a 7 on the MGR thorny scale (a point I overlooked when ordering her) but I don't see how any rose could get more.

As you say, Hazel, the barricades don't look too aesthetically pleasing but hopefully they're temporary and can be removed once the bushes are more established and the rose garden is off the possums' tucker lists.

Thanks, MM, for the condolences over the loss of my first flower. I'm certainly looking forward to reaping the rewards of the past year's labour and photos will be forth-coming in due course :)

Jackie
0
janineJ9
18 years ago
Oh, yes, I do feel so sorry for you and the possum problem. Ours eat the new buds off my ramblers along the fence and the only thing I could suggest is to give the possums their own little restaraunt somewhere else in the garden well away from the roses...that is, if you have such a place! They can certainly learn new habits...and can smell a banana or apple from quite a distance, I've discovered. Good luck Jackie. Janine
0
wattleblossom
18 years ago
My parents have a small garden courtyard backing onto bushland. Possums kept eating the buds of many different flowers until someone suggested my parents leave the outside lights on all night. They did this, albeit with very strong globes, and the possums went elsewhere. Obviously this would only work in a small area.
0
rross
18 years ago
I second the lights-on strategy. Last summer the roof garden I was tending was being gobbled by some nocturnal animal/s. The only bits that came out of it semi-o.k. were where there were strong lights shining all night.
0

Pesky possums - help required

Comments (11)

Woodlands

vee71

Related Discussions

Brissy

Thrip

suesette

User

rosedreamer

mtnebo_jackie
Original Author

janineJ9

wattleblossom

rross

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Pesky possums - help required

Comments (11)

Related Discussions

mtnebo_jackieOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

mtnebo_jackie
Original Author