Possums climb trees well, and they put the same skills to work on fences, power lines and rooftops. The word covers two different animals: the Virginia opossum of North America and the possums of Australia. Australian possums spend most of their lives up in trees, while the Virginia opossum splits its time between the ground and the branches.1Wikipedia. Opossum How high a possum goes, and how often, depends on which animal is in your yard.
The Feet and Claws That Make Possums Good Climbers
An opossum climbing a tree grips with opposable toes that work much like our thumbs to wrap around a branch.2Virginia Living Museum. Opossum On the hind feet, the big toe has no claw and can be pressed against the other toes like a thumb. That lets the animal clamp both hind feet around a branch and hold on while its front feet reach for the next hold.
You can sometimes spot this in the dirt. The hind footprint shows a thumb-like toe pointing sideways, which a cat’s or raccoon’s print doesn’t have. Small scratch marks on soft-barked trees or wooden posts often come from climbing claws, and they usually cluster where the animal starts its climb and around branch forks.
Brushtail possums have the build of a powerful climber. They share key traits with koalas: strong front legs and very mobile shoulder and elbow joints.3PubMed Central. Herds Overhead: Nimbadon lavarackorum (Diprotodontidae), Heavyweight Marsupial Herbivores in the Miocene Forests of Australia Their hands and feet are large for their size, with a partly opposable first digit.4PubMed Central. Herds Overhead: Nimbadon lavarackorum (Diprotodontidae), Heavyweight Marsupial Herbivores in the Miocene Forests of Australia Their claws are big, sharply curved and narrow from side to side, which helps them dig into bark.5PubMed Central. Herds Overhead: Nimbadon lavarackorum (Diprotodontidae), Heavyweight Marsupial Herbivores in the Miocene Forests of Australia
This is quite different from a squirrel. Squirrels rely mainly on sharp claws and speed, often running straight up a trunk. A possum climbs more slowly, wrapping its hands and feet around branches as well as hooking in with its claws. That grasping grip lets it move along thinner branches without racing up them.
Do Possums Hang by Their Tails
A possum’s tail is prehensile, meaning it can curl around and grip a branch like a fifth hand. Opossums use theirs mostly for balance as they climb.6Virginia Living Museum. Opossum Brushtail and ringtail possums have a long gripping tail with a bare friction pad on the underside that helps them cling to branches.7Penguin Foundation. Brushtail & ringtail possums The tail can also carry bundles of leaves and twigs back to the nest.8Penguin Foundation. Brushtail & ringtail possums How much fur covers it varies between kinds of Australian possums.9Fauna of Australia. Phalangeridae
When a possum reaches between branches, the gripping tail often wraps a branch behind the animal while its front feet stretch forward. That gives it an extra point of contact while crossing gaps, and it works like a safety line if a foothold slips.
The tail also helps you tell the animals apart. The Virginia opossum’s tail is long, scaly and nearly hairless, like a rat’s. A brushtail possum’s tail is bushy with fur, with a bare strip underneath. A ringtail possum’s tail often curls into a ring and has a white tip.
The picture of a possum dangling upside down is mostly a myth. Young opossums can briefly hang by their tails, but adults are too heavy to hang for long and do not sleep upside down. If you see an adult possum in a tree, expect it to be sitting or wrapped around a branch, not dangling.
How Possums Move Along Branches and Slopes
Woolly opossums, a tree-dwelling relative, walk on thin poles by moving a back foot and then the opposite front foot, the same stepping pattern many monkeys use.10PubMed. Origins of primate locomotion: gait mechanics of the woolly opossum They reach their arms far forward with each step and put less weight on the front legs than the back legs.11PubMed. Origins of primate locomotion: gait mechanics of the woolly opossum
A ground-dwelling opossum tested on narrow tracks tells a different story: on a branch-like surface its front legs did most of both the braking and the pushing.12PubMed. The biodynamics of arboreal locomotion: the effects of substrate diameter on locomotor kinetics in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) Its weight sits closer to the front legs, and those legs have a wider range of movement.13PubMed. Locomotor kinetics and kinematics on inclines and declines in the gray short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica On a 30-degree slope the same opossum slowed down and kept more feet on the surface at once to avoid slipping.14OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. The biodynamics of arboreal locomotion in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) Going downhill, its front legs took far more of its weight and braking than the hind legs.15OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. The biodynamics of arboreal locomotion in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) Climbing down is the harder direction, which is why possums descend slowly and carefully.
If you watch one come down a trunk, it often goes headfirst or sideways, with the front feet doing the braking. It pauses often and keeps several feet on the trunk.
Smooth surfaces are harder than rough ones. The same opossum moved more slowly on a smooth branch-like track than on a rough one.16PubMed Central. The effects of substrate texture on the mechanics of quadrupedal arboreal locomotion in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) On smooth surfaces it kept more feet touching, used more muscle effort and moved with less speed to avoid toppling.17PubMed Central. The effects of substrate texture on the mechanics of quadrupedal arboreal locomotion in the gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) Rough bark, brick and wooden fences are easy routes, while smooth metal or plastic gives possums much less grip. They need texture for their claws and pads to work with, so a smooth band of metal around a trunk or post removes that grip.
Why Possums Climb Trees
Climbing is an escape route. When a predator threatens, an opossum may hide or climb a tree.18Virginia Living Museum. Opossum Fleeing opossums use trees, grapevines, kudzu thickets and ground holes as temporary refuges.19American Midland Naturalist. Escape Behavior of Virginia Opossums They don’t always stop at the first refuge they reach, so they are choosing where to hide rather than running blindly.20American Midland Naturalist. Escape Behavior of Virginia Opossums Opossums are famous for playing dead, but that is a last resort.
Trees also mean food. Opossums climb to reach fruit, bird eggs and insects, and Australian possums feed on leaves, flowers and fruit in the canopy. Some gliding possums return to the same food trees year after year.21EarthSky. The gliding possum is a nocturnal acrobat of the forest
You can often tell why a possum is up there. One that goes up quickly when a dog, cat or person approaches, then stays still and pressed against the trunk, is escaping. One moving along branches toward fruit, flowers or a feeder, and pausing to eat, is foraging and will usually carry on once it has finished. Time of day is a clue among several: possums are mainly active at night, so a visit after dark is usually feeding, while one up a tree in daylight deserves a closer look.
If a possum is up a tree in your yard, leave it alone. It climbed because it felt threatened or is feeding. Bring dogs inside so the animal can come down, and most possums leave on their own after dark.
Which Possums Climb the Most
Most American opossum species live both in trees and on the ground.22Wikipedia. Opossum Woolly opossums and a few close relatives are mainly tree dwellers.23Wikipedia. Opossum The Virginia opossum shows some ground-living traits, and short-tailed opossums are mainly ground animals.24Wikipedia. Opossum Tail muscles differ between tree-living and ground-living opossums,25PubMed Central. Myosin isoform expression in the prehensile tails of didelphid marsupials: functional differences between arboreal and terrestrial opossums so the tail’s strength fits how often an animal climbs. That’s why you can’t assume every animal called an opossum climbs like the Virginia opossum in your yard, which climbs well but spends plenty of time on the ground.
Australian possums are mostly full-time tree animals. Brushtail and ringtail possums feed and sleep mainly in trees, coming down to cross ground between trees or to visit gardens. Gliding possums go further, sailing between trees instead of climbing down.
That changes what a possum on the ground means. A Virginia opossum on the ground is normal behaviour, not a sign of illness. An Australian possum on the ground is usually moving between trees, but one lying still there in daytime may need a wildlife carer.
Where Possums Sleep Up High
A tree hollow is a cavity inside a trunk or branch, usually found in large old trees. A tropical possum picked hollows that stayed on average 1.6°C cooler during the day than other spots, and swung less between hot and cold.26Animal Conservation. Microclimate of daytime den sites in a tropical possum: implications for the conservation of tropical arboreal marsupials The height of the hollow, the width of the entrance and the thickness of the tree all affect how warm a hollow gets.27Animal Conservation. Microclimate of daytime den sites in a tropical possum: implications for the conservation of tropical arboreal marsupials
Hollows are in short supply. Hollow trees are declining worldwide because of logging.28PubMed Central. Kin selection in den sharing develops under limited availability of tree hollows for a forest marsupial Where hollows are scarce, mountain brushtail possums share dens, often with relatives.29PubMed Central. Kin selection in den sharing develops under limited availability of tree hollows for a forest marsupial In Victorian ash forests, the number of possums and gliders rose with the number of large hollow-bearing trees, up to about 11 animals per 3 hectares.30Wildlife Research. Tree Hollow Requirements of Leadbeater’s Possum and Other Possums and Gliders in Timber Production Ash Forests of the Victorian Central Highlands Leadbeater’s possum was absent from most sites with fewer than about 4 large potential nest trees per 3 hectares.31Wildlife Research. Tree Hollow Requirements of Leadbeater’s Possum and Other Possums and Gliders in Timber Production Ash Forests of the Victorian Central Highlands When hollows run out, possums look for other high, dry spaces, such as roofs.
Virginia opossums don’t depend on one kind of den the way Australian possums do. They use tree cavities, brush piles, burrows dug by other animals and spaces under decks, and they move between dens often rather than settling in one.
For Australian possums, nest boxes can stand in for missing hollows. Placing one in a tree can draw a possum out of a roof, as long as the box goes up before the roof entry is blocked so the animal has somewhere to go.
How Possums Get Onto Roofs and Into Houses
Possums reach roofs from overhanging branches, fences, bushes and power lines. Chain-link and wooden fences are easy for them to climb,32Critter Control. Opossums on the Roof and some textured siding can give them enough grip to climb walls.33Critter Control. Opossums on the Roof
The route is often a chain of small steps rather than one big climb. A possum typically begins at a low point such as a fence, bin, woodpile or shrub, and uses it as a first step. From there it walks along the fence top or a branch until it reaches a spot within a short leap or reach of the roof edge. Branches that touch the gutter or eaves, and power lines running to the house, are the most common final links.
In Australian records of animals using buildings, brushtail possums made up 26% and ringtails 24% of records.34People and Nature. Buildings as accidental habitat: Where animals nest, sleep and forage Building cavities, such as roof spaces and wall gaps, were the most used spots at 40% of records.35People and Nature. Buildings as accidental habitat: Where animals nest, sleep and forage
Thumping or scurrying overhead soon after dusk and before dawn is the classic sign. Droppings and urine stains near gutters or entry points, and scratch marks on posts, fences or downpipes near the roof, point the same way.
Check the law before acting. In Australia, possums are protected and relocating them far away is generally not allowed, and many areas require a licensed handler to remove them. In North America, rules on trapping opossums vary by state or province.
How to Keep Possums Off Your Roof
Start by trimming branches that overhang or touch the roof, since these are the easiest route up. Then wrap a smooth metal or plastic sleeve around trunks or posts the possum climbs.
Closing entries takes patience. Find the entry gap and wait until the possum leaves at night before sealing it. Using a one-way flap or loose plug for a few nights confirms it is gone. Sealing a possum inside can trap it, leading to damage or death in the roof.
Removing what draws possums in helps too. Pick up fallen fruit and secure compost and pet food at night. Keep bins closed so opossums don’t learn your yard is a food stop.
Some things don’t work or cause harm. Poisons are cruel, often illegal, and the animal may die in the roof. Lights or noise alone fail because possums get used to them quickly. And sealing entries in daytime without checking the animal is out risks trapping it.
Call a professional if the entry is high or hard to reach safely, if there may be young in the den, or if local rules require a licensed handler.