The brushtail possum is a pest in New Zealand although it's also protected by law which makes it illegal to capture or kill the brushtail possum in Australia.
Possums are a pest in Australia as well as other countries although possums are protected by law in Australia which means it's illegal to kill or capture a possum in Australia and you can get a huge fine if you do kill a possum or capture a possum in Australia.
The difference between a possum and an opossum is in the tail.
A possum has a furry tail, while an opossum has a bare tail.
Possums most often stay in one place for 2 nights and then after those 2 nights the possums typically find another place to stay for another 2 days and then move on again.
Lights will keep possums away as possums hate lights.
You can install motion activated lights which will scare the possums away when they trigger the motion activated light and the light comes on.
The lights make possums uncomfortable and will scare the possums away.
'Possums do sleep in the same place every night for at least a few days and then the possum will most often move on to another place to sleep.
Possums sleep in nests in hollow trees or dens inside caves, attics, and abandoned buildings on the ground.
Possums also don't like the light, so they usually find places that are well covered during the day to sleep.
A group of possums are called a passel.
Some possum families can be found in burrows together although possums are most often solitary animals.
Possoms and Opossums do carry diseases and can give diseases to humans through biting if they bite the human.
Some of the diseases that Possums and Opossums can give to humans as well as pets include leptospirosis, tuberculosis, coccidiosis, spotted fever, tularemia, and other diseases, the pesky creatures pose serious health threats when they invade urban environments.
Most possums are active during the night although it's not uncommon to see possums out at night sometimes especially during winter months.
Opossums are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia endemic to the Americas.
The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 120+ species in 19 genera.
Possums are not aggressive: their open-mouth, defensive hissing is merely a bluff to look vicious.
And if that doesn't work they play dead when really scared! If there is an opossum in the backyard, don't worry.
They aren't a threat, and more than likely they will be moving on in a short while.
Just like any scared animal, it's possible for opossums to bite in defense.
If they feel cornered or threatened, opossums will use several escape strategies ranging from playing dead to hissing.
Biting is rare, but people should avoid contact with all wild animals to eliminate the risk.
The possum has a furry tail, while the opossum has a bare tail.
One key difference between the possum and the opossum is their tails.
A possum's tail is thick and furry, much like that of a squirrel.
The name of one of the most widespread possum species–the common brushtail possum–highlights this feature.
Possums are usually seen coming out during the night since they sleep during the day and forage during the night.
But some possums do come out during the day when the weather is cold or when the possums run out of food or have been disturbed from sleeping.
It's not unusual to see a possum during the day although they mostly roam around during the night.
Possums do not eat cats nor do the possums prey on cats.
However a possum may attack the cat and kill the cat if they are cornered by the cat or feel threatened by the cat.
Possums mostly eat things such as fruits, nuts, green plants, insects, snails, snakes, frogs, birds, and their eggs, as well as small mammals such as meadow voles, mice, and rats.
Possums are nocturnal omnivores and don't really want to eat cats or dogs or any other animals but like I mentioned before they will attack the cat or dog or other animal if they need too.
But your cat is usually safe around possums as long as the cat doesn't get near the possum.
The diseases you can get from a possum are leptospirosis, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, tularemia, spotted fever, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, trichomoniasis, and Chagas disease.
Do your best to stay away from any possums because if they do bite you then you could be infected and if you're bitten by a possum you should go get medical treatment right away so you increase your chances of not getting the diseases from the possum.
Although possums rarely harm humans if left alone they do carry diseases that could be fatal to humans if you're bitten by them.
Those diseases include salmonella, tularemia, toxoplasmosis and even coccidiosis.
If you do get bitten by a possum you need to get to the doctor to be sure you haven't been infected by any diseases.