Evicting possums from inside your property is largely based on knowledge of possum behaviour and the experience of knowing where to look for entry holes. Possums will spend many hours exploring every part of a building and will chew away at softer wood if they believe an access point can be created.
However there is usually deterioration from age or a construction fault; the gap may be due to weakness in the design of the roof, errors in cutting metal sheeting, poor alignment of timber fascia or simply missing timbers. Particularly with renovations and extensions, many builders will ensure that the roofing is water proof but fail to consider the ability of animals to wriggle their way in through gaps under overhangs.
To check what is happening it is usually far easier for our service staff to examine the roof from the outside rather than crawling about inside the rafters. Sometimes there are clear “tell-tale” marks on the roof showing the route the possum takes to his entry hole.
From experience the service staff can also assess a property from the outside when doing a quotation, as the design and evidence of alterations will usually give clues as to how much work is required to stop the animals from getting inside.
Close inspection inside a roof is often unhelpful. Even when possums are known to be inside a roof, it is often impossible to actually see them there. Their colour provides excellent camouflage to hide in dark corners and the many timber beams and rafters provide plenty of places to sit quietly and out of sight.
To establish if a possum is inside a roof, there is always the option to open the ceiling manhole entry and inspect inside a ceiling. But usually the sounds, droppings and smells are sufficient proof of an unwanted “tenant” in the building.
After a quote is accepted the service staff will work to seal up the entry holes, knowing that the possum is probably inside. (Since they are nocturnal they usually sleep inside the building during the day.) The next step is to set a trap inside the roof space knowing the animal will be attracted by the fruit used as a bait.
The possum can then be released outside and should be unable to get back in again. That first few nights there will usually be some extra activity on the roof as the possum checks out every way he knows to get back inside. The alternative method we use when appropriate, is to install a one way door that allows the animal to go out, through its “usual” main entry hole. Then at sunrise it finds it is unable to return and must go for a “sleep-over” with a relative, usually in another property nearby. After a few days, when there are no more noises inside the roof, the one way door can be removed and replaced with strong metal.
