{"id":179920,"date":"2025-09-30T11:49:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T11:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/179920\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T11:49:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T11:49:11","slug":"possum-infestations-australia-how-to-prevent-possums-making-your-house-their-home-as-demand-for-removal-surges-ahead-of-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/179920\/","title":{"rendered":"Possum infestations Australia: How to prevent possums making your house their home as demand for removal surges ahead of summer"},"content":{"rendered":"

T\ufeffhey might be cute, but possums are proving a huge nuisance for Aussies trying to get some sleep each night.<\/p>\n

Airtasker<\/a> has revealed a \ufeffmassive 40 per cent increase in demand for possum removal in August and a 15 per cent increase in September this year compared to 2024.<\/p>\n

That demand is set to continue with possum infestations expected to peak up until November.<\/p>\n

\"thisThis cheeky little brush-tail possum thinks its found a nice home in the shed roof (Getty)<\/p>\n

One region is struggling more than most with people from Melbourne’s inner east \ufeffposting the highest number of possum removal tasks on Airtasker.<\/p>\n

The second most affected is Melbourne’s inner south.\ufeff<\/p>\n

“Melbourne’s combination of possum-friendly old housing with gaps and roof cavities can make DIY removal tricky. The noisy breeding and fighting is a nuisance at all hours, especially when it’s dark, as they are nocturnal, and people would rather pay a pest control expert than do it themselves,” Ibby El-Jamal, licensed pest technician, explained.<\/p>\n

“That leads to high demand, as proven by the amount of possum removal tasks posted on Airtasker.”<\/p>\n

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Regions in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula take up six of the top 10 spots for possum activity\ufeff.<\/p>\n

The four other locations experiencing the highest possum infestation rates are in the Greater Sydney area with North Sydney, Hornsby, Ryde, Northern Beaches\ufeff and the Eastern suburbs.<\/p>\n

Possums commonly seen in Australian yards and homes are the brushtail possum and the ringtail possum.<\/p>\n

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\"PossumNot much can stop a possum when it wants to get some food and shelter. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Possums are nocturnal, emerging at dusk to look for food and a place to nest. You may hear scratching, gnawing, and general noise coming from the ceiling space and\/or roof,” El-Jamal said.<\/p>\n

“If you think one has made its way into your ceiling space, it’s definitely time to call a pest professional, as possums not only can be destructive to your property but also to your health, although cute-looking they often times carry disease and harmful pests like lice and mites.”<\/p>\n

Removing possums from the home can be tricky as they can get quite comfortable in spaces like roof cavities, so prevention is the best option.<\/p>\n

Prevention starts with removing sources of food by securing rubbish and compost bins and cleaning up thoroughly after eating outside or using the barbecue.<\/p>\n

Possums love to nibble on plants in the garden, so if this is an issue \ufeffthere are repellants you can add to plants such as garlic spray or covering them with netting.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"APossums love nibbling on plants and trees in your yard. (Getty)<\/p>\n

Fruit trees in particular are a source of food, transport and shelter for possums.<\/p>\n

“Possums use trees and powerlines to traverse from place to place. Keeping overhanging trees trimmed down and ensuring fruit trees are also kept tidy with no fruit sitting on the ground that will attract possums, which will also attract rodents into your home,” El Jamal said.\ufeff<\/p>\n

The other important step is to cover openings in the home like attic vents, tile gaps and cavities in the roof and walls.<\/p>\n

“Identify and then seal all possible entry and exit points. You can do this simply using DIY materials, including netting, plasterboard or expanding foam, depending on the size and location of the entry and exit points,” El-Jamal added.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE<\/a>: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"T\ufeffhey might be cute, but possums are proving a huge nuisance for Aussies trying to get some sleep…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,128,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-179920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}