Opossum is tearing out my garden. How do I get rid of them?

Question

I walked outside this morning to find my garden completely torn to shreds. It's not a gopher. There are no gopher holes anywhere. The only thing I can think of is that it has to be an opossum. Any ideas how to get rid of it? I called the Opossum Society (yes, there really is one) but since I have no idea where it's hiding or where it's home is, they won't come out. I don't really want to kill it. But if I have to poison it, I will. Please, no hate responses because I said I would resort to that... I spent more than 600 dollars planting my front yard this spring, and to have it completely ruined is a bit irritating. Any real suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Answer 1

Manually.

Answer 2

I promise this works and its the only thing that has worked for my family's farm in SC over the years. Don't bother with moth balls, ammonia, fox urine or vinegar. Many sites suggest these as deterrents, but its a waste of time. Take an empty trash can and put an opened can of fish flavored cat food in the bottom. Before nightfall take it outside and lean it at a 45 degree angle. During the night the opossum will climb in but he will not be able to crawl out. Simply put the lid on the can (tightly) in the morning and drive him to a wooded area and let him go.

Answer 3

I know how you feel! I lost an entire veggie garden to ground hogs this spring. Luckily it was early enough to replant, but I was not a happy gardener!  I bought something called cayenne spray that is just hot pepper in a liquid form.  Sprayed it on my veggies and it not only got rid of the ground hogs, it also chased away Japanese beetles on my roses.  Give it a try! I got it at my local hardware/gardening center place.

Answer 4

I really doubt it's an opossum.  Maybe ground hogs or deer.  It doesn't sound like your vegetable garden was wrecked, but rather flowers or shrubs and such.  Look around for hoof tracks.  With deer, there's not much you can do except try to find which plantings they won't eat.  To answer your question, opossums are pretty easy to trap in a "Have a Heart"  (sp) traps and then you can take it to the humane society (animal control) or relocate it somewhere.  Look on the "Have a Heart" trap web site for the best bait/lure.  Possums are omnivore so they will eat meat and vegetables and fruits.  I've caught them with freshly cut apples.  You could also try tuna.

Answer 5

I am not sure you can be a hundred percent that it is a opossum.  It could be so many animals.  I have never heard of a opossum tearing up a garden. Deer yes, moles yes, squirrels yes, rabbit yes, nutria yes, dogs yes, rats sure, ground hogs absolutely but opossum? I just never heard of them doing that. You should probably be absolutely sure this is what you are dealing with.  There are these wonderful netting covers you can buy that will keep animals from eating the plants.

Where I live in Maryland we have a huge problem with Deer.  So far this year I have had them eat my entire vegetable garden and my neighbors garden.  Eat my tree ferns and azalea and p**p and leave ticks all over my yard.  I would do just about anything to keep them out.  Anyway you can't assume it is a opossum.  

If it is an opossum then few rags soaked in ammonia will get them to stay away.  They don't like the smell.  You can put it around under the plants.  You don't want to poison them and accidentally kill some other animal.  As animals go opossums are pretty benign.  They actually do a lot of good.  They eat slugs and harmful bugs in the garden.  Anyway hope you figure this out.

Answer 6

You buy or borrow an AK-47 and blow him to smithereens.

Answer 7

Never trust a marsupial.  Be glad you don't live in Australia.

Answer 8

Well for a really cheap thing to try before going all out, you could try mothballs, they are very cheap, found in dollar store laundry isles, and what you do is put one every few inches around your garden border.  They will disolve over time, but animals (especially cats) hate the smell, and usually once they get a whiff they go the other directions.  As long as you don't have any small dogs or toddlers to pick them up and eat them, it is worth a try!  Good luck! :)

Answer 9

Your invader's behavior reminds me of what an armadillo does to a garden.  Little 3-toed footprints and tail-drag marks will confirm that it is an armadillo.  This site covers all areas of how to deal with the problem.  Surprisingly, it suggests similar methods to what other answerers recommended.

https://www.msu.edu/~nixonjos/armadillo/...