Get a dog that will either scare them away or kill them, a gun, or an electric fence to surround the garden. If you go with a fence, have one wire strand low enough for rabbits & possums, & one high enough for deer. These have been the only ways we've been able to get rid of the ones from the woods who come into our yard & garden.

Kathy, are electric fences terribly expensive? Then what do you do about the squirrels, voles and mice?
jan

We've got an old metal building across the little road from our garden spot that's wired with electricity so all we do is string wire from the circuit box-thing on the side of the building, across the road, & all around the garden. We have it up on a cedar pole so you can still drive a car or tractor without hitting the wire. Neither my husband or I know anything about electricity or wiring stuff up - this is what the old man who sold us the house did & how he showed us so that's how we do it. Our vegetable garden is about a square mile in size. On two sides & part of a third there is old barbed-wire fencing. The fourth side borders the neighbor's property where he has horses & that has a good fence. We bought the metal rods that you push in the ground & the yellow things you loop the wire around. These we go all around the garden with, or around whatever part of the garden we've got stuff planted. We bought from the feed store but I'm sure other places sell them. The rods were $1.00 or $1.50 each & the yellow things (clamps or whatever they're called) came in this big bag with like 20 in the bag for $5.00 or $10.00. My neighbor down the road has this spring hook-thing that has a rubber handle on it & all she does is touch the rubber handle & lifts up the latch, like a gate. I think there's something called a fence charger that you can get but I don't know how much one runs.

Squirrels, voles, & mice -

Although we are surrounded by woods & have lots of trees in the yard, this year is the first time we've seen squirrels near us. I've inherited cats from people dropping them off so I guess they keep mice, moles, & voles down. Until about a year ago we had this Catahoula-looking dog & he hunted down every mole & vole he could smell, but he came up missing so now I'll have to figure out what to do about them. I don't like the catch & release stuff for possums & the like because it's my personal opinion (& everyone has one) that they breed so quickly that it's not like I'm going to wipe them out.

I have possums & cats in my garden, & the cats cause more problems than the possums. Possums can be beneficial since that they eat insects & mice. I have had problems with possums eating parts of my plants, however, so I empathize with you. I now place an apple out for the possum & he eats the apple & not the plants. Mine prefers apples over lettuce & carrots. Feeding possums is usually not recommended, though, as outdoor food attracts possums. They are easy to trap; so you can set a humane trap & relocate it. There are local laws for this, so you need to check with your humane society. The problem is, there may be many possums around, so you may be busy.

just post possum recipes around the garden, they'll get the hint!

I have heard that rags soaked in ammonia help repel possums. There are also products carried by suppliers such as https://www.critter-repellent.com that have formulas that reportedly repel possums such as fox-urine powders (a natural form of small animal repelents. These are used so that you don't actually harm the animals.

I had a problem with critters digging around in my lawn and flower beds. Never saw exactly what it was, but assume it was an armadillo or a possum, since that's what I see in the neighborhood. I used Mole Out from Gardeners Supply Company . I haven't had any problems since. It's a repellant made with castor oil, not a poison, so it's safe for pets and people.

To help possums I recommend. Opossum Society of the United States Rehabilitation and Education .

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Reading the posts from the cold-hearted people on houzz makes me glad I live on a farm and can have all the critters I want in my yard without having to worry about some ridiculously selfish and territorial neighbor trying to hurt them. Possums get rid of ticks, snakes, and small rodents and are harmless to people and pets. Ignoramuses who freak out that there is something in their yard they don’t have complete control of and who insist on unbalancing nature to maintain a ‘mine, mine, mine’ mindset deserve all the problems they bring down upon themselves and their property.

Thank you so much for enlightening me. I'm a beginner gardener (6 months) and while on Houzz looking for some ideas, my backyard lights came on. I got up to see why and there were two Possums in my yard near my raised bed garden. I was immediately alarmed due to knowing nothing at all about Possums. The only thing I knew in the moment was that I worked really hard at starting my garden. Thinking that it would be destroyed was my only thought. The Possums kindly left my backyard after I opened my door. I returned to my computer on Houzz and decided to type in Possums and your comment was the first one I saw. It was a reminder to me that we all share this earth together and should show respect and consideration to all life forms. Everything has a purpose! In the words of the late Dr. Myles Munroe, "Where purpose is not known abuse is inevitable." I am humbled. . .Thanks again.