Possum nest sparks home fire

miz said :

I don’t seem to be troubled by possums – do cats keep them away?

Not the cats in my neighbourhood.
Perhaps whether you are troubled by possums depends on what part of Canberra you live in. Also the number of fruit trees and vegetable gardens.
I live in Narrabundah. When I moved here many years ago I hardly saw a possum, but since then the possums have breed up considerable and are now very common. They never used to be a problem with fruit trees and vegetable gardens, but now that their population has ‘exploded’ they are a major pest. The fruit bats have become a similar pest. In fruit season they can be seen circling overhead and in the fruit trees.

I don’t seem to be troubled by possums – do cats keep them away?

Genie said :

I just wanted them out of my house and not released within 25m of my property. Because unless you were able to fix all the holes, they’ll be sleeping in your roof again.

The only benefit to you to taking the possum currently in your roof a long way away is that the different possum that soon moves in to replace it will take slightly longer to make your roof it’s home than the old one to get back in there. You have to fix all the holes either way.

Genie said :

Grrrr said :

Genie said :

Possums are pests and I don’t understand why they are so protected.

Then you don’t understand that basically all native birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals are protected by law – and you need to.

They are persistant but it is not that hard to block them out.

The issues I have is that you can’t trap possums yourself and then take them on a nice long drive to the nearest reserve so they can live away from houses.. I just wanted them out of my house and not released within 25m of my property. Because unless you were able to fix all the holes, they’ll be sleeping in your roof again.

Possums are also extremely territorial. So if some try to move into your house, where there is already a possum family. Don’t expect sleep for a few nights.

As you point out, possums are territorial. Moving the possums on is just moving them into another possums territory. Where they’ll fight and lose, and move on and become roadkill and/or fox-food, or win and displace the resident possum who will become a vulpine happy meal. If you are going to move it on, it would be probably kinder to just do it yourself.

Grrrr said :

Genie said :

Possums are pests and I don’t understand why they are so protected.

Then you don’t understand that basically all native birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals are protected by law – and you need to.

They are persistant but it is not that hard to block them out.

The issues I have is that you can’t trap possums yourself and then take them on a nice long drive to the nearest reserve so they can live away from houses.. I just wanted them out of my house and not released within 25m of my property. Because unless you were able to fix all the holes, they’ll be sleeping in your roof again.

Possums are also extremely territorial. So if some try to move into your house, where there is already a possum family. Don’t expect sleep for a few nights.

Roundhead89 said :

The chicken and game shop at Fyshwick Markets used to sell possum sausages along with crocodile kebabs and wallaby steaks.

Now you’re talking. And NZ does a roaring trade in possum fur products. These cute little buggers are anything but endangered and they’re a bloody nuisance in an urban environment.

Torching the house to cook a possum seems a bit extreme.

The chicken and game shop at Fyshwick Markets used to sell possum sausages along with crocodile kebabs and wallaby steaks.

Genie said :

Possums are pests and I don’t understand why they are so protected.

On an unrelated note, there’s heaps of possum recipes on the internet. Although none of the say to stuff a possum up your exhaust.

Grrrr said :

Genie said :

Possums are pests and I don’t understand why they are so protected.

Then you don’t understand that basically all native birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals are protected by law – and you need to.

They are persistant but it is not that hard to block them out.

Yes, and after blocking access to the house, you build wire cages over the fruit trees and vegetable gardens. An ugly look, but it helps the home owner get to eat the food. Doesn’t kept the possum poo out of the rain water tank though. It adds that little something to the household water.