Do Possums Like Peanut Butter? A Detailed Look

Possums are nocturnal marsupials that are common in many suburban neighborhoods. With their pointy faces and large ears, they can look slightly alien as they scamper across your yard at night. If you’ve noticed possums around your home, you may be wondering what attracts these critters.

Specifically, you may be asking: do possums like peanut butter?

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer to your question: possums are omnivores and will eat a wide variety of foods, including peanut butter. They are particularly attracted to high-fat and high-protein foods. So peanut butter can absolutely be something a possum will eat if given the chance.

An Overview of Possum Diet and Behavior

Possums are omnivorous marsupials

As marsupials native to Oceania and the Americas, possums are opportunistic omnivores with incredibly diverse diets. They will eat just about anything they can find or hunt, including insects, rodents, eggs, grains, fruits, vegetables, carrion and garbage.

Possums have adapted to thrive in a wide range of habitats, from rainforests to deserts to urban areas. Their flexible eating habits allow them to survive in many different environments.

Possums have varied tastes and will eat many human foods

When living near humans, possums readily take advantage of food sources like pet food, unsecured trash and unattended compost piles. They also don’t hesitate to raid gardens and fruit trees. Some favorite possum treats include:

• Fruits like apples, berries, peaches and persimmons
• Vegetables such as broccoli, lettuce and carrots
• Meat scraps, eggs and carrion
• Nuts, seeds, grains and mushrooms
• Pet food, bread and unsecured trash

Possums are not picky eaters and will consume just about any human food not wrapped or locked away. They are especially drawn to sweet, high-calorie treats but aren’t afraid to eat the scraps too.

Possums have excellent night vision and smell

As nocturnal creatures, possums rely on their heightened senses of smell and night vision to find food after dark. They have excellent hearing too. Possums’ green tapetum lucidum membrane makes their night vision up to 10 times better than humans!

With such great low-light capabilities, possums have no trouble navigating and finding snacks in the dark. Their great sense of smell also helps them locate treats, especially sugary, fermented or rotten foods.

So if you want to keep possums out of your stuff, make sure to secure anything smelly in airtight containers and keep an eye out after sunset.

Do Possums Specifically Like to Eat Peanut Butter?

When it comes to possums and their food preferences, peanut butter seems to be a winner. Let’s explore why these nocturnal creatures appear to enjoy peanut buttery treats.

Peanut Butter is High in Fat and Protein

Peanut butter is an energy-dense food, packing nearly 100 calories into every tablespoon. About 75% of those calories come from healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats that are great sources of lasting energy. The rest comes from protein, rounding out a nutritional powerhouse in just one ingredient.

Compared to possums’ natural diet of fruits, bugs, small vertebrates, and carrion, peanut butter is a calorically dense prize. Offering more calories and nutrition per bite, peanut butter can help possums meet their high metabolic demands.

Peanut Butter Can Attract Possums

The strong scent of peanut butter is useful for attracting hungry possums. Whether smeared on trees or used to bait live traps, the smell can draw possums from quite a distance away. Once they take a bite, the flavor and fat content offers strong reinforcement to return for more.

Peanut butter works well by itself as bait, but possums seem to find it even more tantalizing when paired with other fruits. Try baiting your trap with peanut butter combined with apples, bananas, or melon for irresistible aroma and taste.

Peanut Butter on Traps is an Effective Bait

If you need to trap nuisance possums, peanut butter is one of the most recommended baits. When smeared in live traps, possums will readily enter the traps to get the bait, allowing easy and humane capture.

As the statistics show, peanut butter has excellent effectiveness for trapping possums. The tasty bait ensures the possum will enter all the way into the trap to get every last lick of peanut butter.

If you need to relocate nuisance possums, check your local regulations on possum release sites, use humane handling practices, and consider preventing re-entry once they are removed. For more information, see WildlifeControl.com guidelines on humane possum control and removal.

How to Keep Possums Away from Your Property

Possums can be pesky critters that wander onto your property looking for food and shelter. While they generally aren’t aggressive, you probably don’t want them hanging around. Here are some tips for keeping possums away from your home.

Block access points to your home

Possums are opportunistic and will take advantage of any openings that allow them access to your house. Take the time to walk around the exterior of your home and seal up any holes or gaps that a possum could use. Pay special attention to areas where wires or pipes enter the structure.

Use wire mesh, caulk, wood, or metal to patch holes. This will help deter possums and prevent them from setting up shop in unattended spaces.

Secure trash and potential food sources

Food attracts possums, so keeping your garbage secured is crucial. Use trash cans with tight fitting lids and don’t leave trash bags outside for extended periods. Keep pet food inside, especially at night when possums are most active.

Also, pick up any fallen fruit from trees and trim branches that hang over your roof. This eliminates food sources that appeal to possums.

Here are some other tips for removing attractants:

• Keep compost bins secure and enclosed.
• Clean up spilled bird seed from the ground.
• Install electric fences around vegetable gardens.

By limiting food availability around your home, possums will be less inclined to stick around your property.

Use deterrents like lights and sounds

You can also use deterrents to discourage possums from visiting your yard. Sprinkling granulated chili pepper or ammonia around the perimeter of your property may deter them from entering. Night lights and sounds have also been effective.

A strobe light that turns on intermittently or a motion-activated sprinkler can startle possums away. Play a talk radio station rather loudly outside as well.

The key is mixing up the deterrents and not allowing possums to get used to them. Alternate between lights, sounds, and smells to keep the possums on their toes. Persistence is important here. It may take days or weeks of using deterrents before possums get the hint and move on.

Preventing possums from becoming comfortable on your property takes some work, but is definitely achievable. Focus on exclusion tactics like sealing up entry points, removing food attractants, and employing scare deterrents.

Implement these tips as soon as you notice evidence of possums around your home. With a bit of diligence, you can humanely evict possums and maintain a home exterior that’s less inviting to them.

When to Call a Professional for Possum Control

If you spot a possum in your home

Seeing a possum snooping around your home can be startling. Although they typically prefer outdoor habitats, these nocturnal mammals will sometimes find their way inside attics, basements, or garages in search of food or shelter, especially during winter months.

If you spot one inside your living spaces, it’s best to contact a professional wildlife control expert right away. Licensed pros have the skills, equipment and knowledge for safe and humane possum removal and exclusion.

Trying to catch or drive out a possum yourself often fails or worsens matters. These solitary yet scrappy marsupials can become aggressive when threatened. Mother possums may also attack to protect their young.

Let the professionals handle it to avoid getting bitten or exposing yourself, family or pets to diseases possums potentially carry.

If deterrents have failed to work

It’s common for possums to repeatedly show up in yards or set up dens underneath homes, porches or sheds. There are various humane DIY tactics you can try to deter them, like installing motion-sensor lights or sprinklers, using ammonia-soaked rags or loud music.

However, clever possums eventually habituate to these scary devices and sounds. At some point, it becomes clear your attempts to scare them away have failed.

Continued possum activity on your property indicates substantial attractive shelter and food sources. They will likely keep returning despite your efforts. Don’t waste more time with futile DIY remedies.

Call a pro wildlife control company to conduct a thorough inspection and implement advanced exclusion solutions to permanently block possums from getting in.

If there is damage to your home

While generally not malicious, possums can cause costly destruction when they set up dens inside attics, under decks or in other structural cavities. Telltale signs of their occupancy include a foul stench, holes gnawed in siding or ventilation openings widened for entry access.

You may also hear them making chatter noises or spot their feces on the ground. Possum urine and droppings can corrode surfaces and spread diseases.

Letting these problems go unchecked often leads to exponentially worse soiling issues or structural deterioration over time. As soon as you notice any interior damage from possums, immediately call a professional wildlife control operator.

They have the tools and knowledge to humanely remove possums from dens, sanitize soiled areas, close up entry holes and implement long-term solutions to prevent reoccurrence.

Conclusion

In summary, peanut butter can absolutely attract possums due to its high fat and protein content. While omnivorous, possums are drawn to fatty and protein-rich human foods. If you want to deter possums from your property, reducing food access is key.

But when advanced measures are needed, calling a professional wildlife control expert is recommended.

We’ve covered a lot of ground on answering whether possums like peanut butter. While short on time, we provided a quick answer upfront. We then dove into detail on possum diet, behavior, and control methods.

Hopefully this comprehensive guide gave you all the information you need on peanut butter-loving possums!