Past two days I’ve been wondering why our platform feeder looks nearly bare in the a.m. and tonight I learned why–a possum invades at night! It’s a small young possum, saw it tonight for first time, shocking as the platform sits atop a 5’ 1/2" steel pole the diameter of a nickle! How does it get up there and HOW can I keep it off! looking for suggestions, but nothing that would harm the animal.
thanks in advance!
Are there trees overlooking that it is jumping from? Otherwise, it is coming up the pole and you need to put an inverted cone collar on the pole.
Here in TX we’d just shoot the SOB.
Use a BB/Pellet/Paintball gun if ya don’t want to kill it. Otherwise, pull out a nice rifle/pistol and kill it.
There is no way to keep a possum away from anywhere a possum wants to go- they are the most successful marsupial in North America. There are good reasons for this.
Do not approach the animal- a possum, even a young one, can cause you some serious hurt.
If you want to have some fun, get a long stick and poke him. He will likely play dead (yes, they really do that.) Keep quiet and watch- shortly, he’ll crack one eye open and snigger at how he fooled you.
The possum will, indeed, go where it wants to go. (Just wait until it’s a big possum - we have one the size of a huge fat cat I like to call Dragqueen, I see her every so often of an evening. She has no fear of man, or anything else, as far as I can tell. Man does have fear of her, though. So does dog, cat, and racoon.) If it’s climbing, a cone thing may convince it that other food sources are easier to get to, but if it’s jumping from a tree you have to either get rid of that limb, move your feeder, or give up.
Get a squirrel-proof feeder, the kind that has a door that swings shut when the critter’s weight lands on it.
Welcome to the world of “trying to keep non-birds from eating your birdseed”… 
Since the feeder is on a post/pole, purchase a strip of Nixalite bird control spikes and attach one end to the post below the feeding platform using something like a nylon wire tie, and then wrap the spiky strip around the post/pole until you reach the other end, securing it with another wire tie. Methinks Mr. Possum won’t want stainless spikes on his paws or tender belly.
I thought the same thing. I’m from Texas too. Guess it’s just cultural.
Thanx for this suggestion! We’ll try that, along with a plastic dome to hover over the platform… since we do have trees, not sure if he’s jumping from tree onto the platform, if so, then he’ll slide right off the dome and onto the ground, this with your suggestion should deter him–I hope!!! 
Another non-lethal method we’ve used on squirrels in our yard is a trap. Sprinkle lots of seed around the ground and put of these puppies on top. Easy to use, totally non-lethal. You have to be very careful picking it up and transporting it, however. You also need to have a good place to leave the little booger so he won’t come back any time soon.
The trap also gets cats and 'coons, too. Be ready for a little hassle if you go this route.
I used a trap to catch squirrels some years ago, until…
If you really want to have fun, wait until you catch a skunk. From then on, anything you do will be wrong.
The Virginia Opossum is in fact the only native marsupial in North America.