Possums

Possums are marsupials. This means the young are born after a short time and are very tiny and undeveloped.They crawl up their mother’s belly and into a pouch where they stay and finish their development. Possums are nocturnal, which means they are active at night. In the day, they sleep in tree hollows.There are many different species (kinds) of possums Mountain Pygmy-possum, Striped possum, Leadbeater’s possum,Green ringtail possum, Common brushtail possum.

Possums body length of 12 to 24 inches and its tail 9 to 20 inches. Obviously not the largest marsupial weighing in at less than 15 pounds. And with a life span of only 2 to 3 years no wonder he is a nocturnal creature.

Therefore it is beneficial to have nest boxes installed in early spring. The gestation period is 16 to 18 days, when they weigh 2 grams at birth and spend 5 to 6 months in the pouch, than 2 months on their mothers back. Females breed at 1 ears and males at 2 ears. Ringtails have favorite nest, with up to 5 other nests nearby. These are used between February and April when the young are dispersing.

Possums are territorial to a point where they will fret when released into an alien territory. They will have to fight residents of the new area, a fight they seldom win. 70% of translocated possums are dead within one week. Trapping and translocating of possums rarely solves a problem, as another possum usually moves it to occupy the territory or densite in our roof, within the short period of time. Released possums may displace other wildlife such as owls, or gliders from hollows. Ideally a trapped possum in your roof should be released into a nestbox in your garden. Ie in its own territory.

Possums, like cats, are territorial. By installing a nestbox for it, other possums may be discouraged from entering your roof. Possums can be attracted to nestbox by placing fruit or in it, and smearing possum droppings over the box to take away the “new” smell. Possums will urinate on, and rub oil from their chest,chin and anal scent glands onto it to make it their territory, and use vocalisations to defend it.

Look for the tell tale oil stains and hair traces in the entrance of the box to see if it is being used. Seal any entrance holes into our roof while the possum is out foraging for food approx. 11pm. Possums wake approx. 9 pm, go out to look for food and return to their den approx. 4 am.

If you ever have any bug related questions feel free to call us either at Beyond Pest Control. Once again, and I can’t stress this enough we are on call twenty four hours a day seven days a week to kill those bugs, we aren’t kidding whether you call us at 9 am or midnight we will be available to take your call and either get rid of the bug infestation, or answer any questions you may have concerning the bug issue. I can honestly guarantee that there will be someone to answer that call. We make it our business to make you bug free!

If you have any questions about pest control check out the rest of our website or go to our blog athttp://nypestpro.blogspot.com.

Beyond Pest Control.

Our pest control specialists service all NYC boroughs, including Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Long Island (both Nassau & Suffolk counties), Staten Island and even both Westchester & Rockland counties.