possums

Not only does the avenue of Elms in University Square provide an irreplaceable oasis amidst the busy, traffic-ridden surrounding streets, the trees are also home to countless Microbats, Rainbow Lorikeets and Possums, native species whose survival depends on using hollows and trunks for habitat. There is nowhere within the precinct to re-locate these animals who will surely perish under the planned chainsaw massacre foreshadowed by Melbourne City Council’s University Square Master Plan. The proposed removal of University Square’s elms adds to the devastating effect of around 900 established trees to be sacrificed to the metro rail tunnel with unimaginable impact on native animals across inner Melbourne.

Between 8.30 and 9 pm one evening this week a friend and I counted 30 possums emerging from tree dens, after watching with delight countless rainbow lorikeets returning to their breeding hollows, in the very trees designated for initial removal.

We are currently in discussion with project coordinators to develop a plan to rescue and relocate the native creatures that now call University Square home,whilst knowing well that the level of disruption this process will involve is potentially life threatening. No rescue plan will fully protect the animals who have lived and bred in this habitat for generations and,together with the old trees, enhance and vitalise an otherwise sterile environment.

Considering that under current law relocation of possums must take place within a 50 metres radius of their original habitat there are no suitable trees outside of University Square itself where relocation can take place.. When the Lorikeets return to their nesting hollows next year, as they do annually, the trees will be gone. Possums will be cast adrift to die on the busy roads bordering the park.

It would be wisdom, especially in the face of gathering public disapproval of the proposed plan, to renew park flora gradually by planting new trees between the old so that they will grow and replace each dying tree incrementally over time.Wooden nesting boxes can be installed in remaining trees providing new homes for displaced possums within their familiar habitat.
The wanton destruction of trees that continue to fulfil a multiplicity of critical roles in our climate-challenged environment is unjustifiable given alternative approaches can be applied that save the trees while meeting urban planning goals.

NOTE There is still time to modify the University Square Master Plan. Become familiar with the proposed plan at: www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/universitysquare and lodge objections and suggestions to Steve Perumal, Email: [email protected]

For more details on the perils faced by Melbourne’s elms see article “ Melbourne’s elms are under threat” recently published in The Age:
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/melbournes-elms-are-under-threat-20161216-gtchi1.html

Currently there are attempts to demonstrate pro or contra the attribution of blame on possums for some cases of tree damage. Relatedly, there has also been discussion about the value of introduced predators in keeping the numbers of possums down. Currently Mt Eliza Council has hired Ecology Australia to study this matter. Their final results will be published at the completion of their study early in 2014. This article reviews the results of completed studies regarding tree dieoff and possum predators.

Earlier studies have not even mentioned native animals as having a role in causing tree damage, yet appear satisfied with a wide range of other causes.

"Patches of dead and dying eucalypts have been recorded in Victoria for many years and may be caused by both biotic agents (fungi, insects etc) and/or abiotic agents (drought, water logging, fire, herbicides etc.)." See /files/Survey of tree dieback on the Mornington Peninsula Smith Smith and Clements 2006.pdf (Draft copy).

Below we reproduce the results of a number of scat [droppings] content studies for owls and foxes.[1] These show that possum numbers are much less affected by fox presence than the presence of owls, their natural predators. Owl scats carried signs of digested possum in 90% of cases; foxes only in 11% of cases. The effectiveness of fox predation on possums shows that foxes make only a minimal impact on possum numbers. Cats prey less on Brush-tail possums than foxes but possibly more on ringtail possums than foxes. The table below shows the results of fox predation on mammals in various reserves, based on the percentage of scats containing possum remains.

Considering that one possum would produce several scats, the above figures appear relatively too high.

The other 82% of mammalian remains in the scats consist of Sugar Gliders, Bandicoots, Swamp Rats, Bush Rats, Marsupial Mice, Dunnarts and introduced species. This scenario can be compared with the cane toad which does much more damage to other species than to the intendant ones. It is therefor unacceptable to relay on foxes and cats to reduce possum numbers. Beside mammals, both foxes and cats are also serious predators on birds, lizards,frogs and insects.

The ideal predator on possums may well be the powerful owl. This species is declared endangered in Victoria and it feeds almost entirely on both species of possums. Owl pellets collected less that 200m from a residential area at Hastings contained a high 90% of possum remains.

Probably the most drastic reduction in possum numbers occurs during the more and more frequent heat waves that we experience where thousands of possums die from heat exhaustion. We may ask, is there a need for the reduction of possums?

Then comes the big question, what are all the other reasons that are the cause of tree dieback? In an article:

“Survey of tree dieback on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria” by I.W. Smith, D.I. Smith and P.A. Clements of Melbourne University, several other other reasons were given that cause tree dieback.

They include:

- Root disease (Phytophtora sinnamomi)

- Armilla luteobubalina (fungal pathogen)

- Defoliaters (Bell miners associated dieback)

- Other insect defoliaters (6 species)

- Mycpherella Leaf disease (several mycpherella species)

- Vertebrates (Possums and Koalas)

- Bark and wood borers (Longicorn beetles)

- Abiotic (Mundulla Yellows)

- Salt (Salt spray)

- Drought

In their recommendations for each reserve, possum control (by tree banding) was only once mentioned and this was in the Mt. Martha reserve. Are possums really such a problem?

** Finally, why don’t we remove the thousands of pines and replace them with eucalypts?

NOTES

These zoological studies reflect situations when fewer humans impacted on the areas in question and there were more trees. Arguably they therefore represent a more normal environment than today's.

Sherbrook Forest Park:

“Fox Scat Analysis in a Forest park in South-eastern Australia”

Hans Brunner, John W. Lloyd and Brian J. Coman, 1975, Aust. Wildl. Reseach

Dandenong Valley:

“The Vertebrate fauna of Dandenong Valley Metropolitan Park”

Robert R.L. Wallis, Peter R. Brown, Hans Brunner and Anna M. Andrasek.

A Report Prepared for the Melbourne and metropolitan Board of Works, Waterways and

Park Division, May, 1990

Currawong Reserve:

“Diet of Red Foxes and Cats;” The impact on Fauna Living in Parks Near Melbourne.

R.L. Wallis, H. Brunner and J. H. Seebeck. Vic. Nat. Vol. 113, 1996

One Tree Hill Reserve:

Vic. Nat. Vol. 113, 1996

Dandenong Ranges:

Vic,. Nat. Vol. 113, 1996

Seaford Wetland:

Flora and Fauna Surveys of Seaford Wetlands by Hans Brunner & Bev Courtney,.

Report to Frankston Council, 1999

The Briars:

Vic. Nat. Vol. 113, 1996

Dartmouth Reservoir A&B:

“The diet of Dingoes and foxes in the Dartmouth Reservoir Area” Technical Report

based on”The Use of Predator Scat Analysis in a Mammal Survey at Dartmouth in

Northern Victoria” H. Brunner, R. L. Amor and P.L. Steven, Aust. Wilsl. Res. 1976

[Candobetter.net Editor 4 April 2018. Our attention has been drawn to the fact that the title of this article could make people think that candobetter.net is generally in agreement with Dr Yugovic on this matter. The fact is that we do not agree, but we have permitted him to put his argument here, in response to other articles that find that tree dieoff has many other causes. These articles can be found under the general topic of 'predator restauration>.]In response to Hans Brunner’s post, I note he does not actually quote me and if he reads my article ("Do ecosystems need top predators?" on the SPIFFA website and in the journal Indigenotes) carefully he will find there is no recommendation for more foxes, cats and dogs. The term ‘plague’ of possums is not mine and I use it in quotation marks in the article. It is a term I have heard locals use, and with some justification.

(Photos provided by Dr Jeff Yugovic)

Possum induced tree decline is very real and is a very serious threat to indigenous trees on the Mornington Peninsula, with thousands of trees dead or dying in many locations. Just drive down Old Mornington Road, Walkers Road or Kunyung Road in Mount Eliza or visit Mount Martha Park to see for yourself, but you need to be able to identify indigenous eucalypts as the many planted non-indigenous eucalypts are generally not eaten by possums. I also attach further photographic evidence.

The evidence of possum damage is all too abundant and there are several consultant reports on this issue (see my article for some references). Mornington Peninsula Shire has an unreleased tree pathology report on tree decline on the Mornington Peninsula which says in relation to Mount Martha Park:

Diagnosis: The sparse crowns of the trees in plots appear to be indicative of browsing damage. Eucalyptus pauciflora appeared to be the main species affected. The probable cause of browsing animals is supported by the banded trees in one area of the park, which show significant crown recovery following the installation of the bands (Figure 20A). Prognosis: Continued unsustainable browsing will result in further defoliation and dieback and eventual death of trees in the Park.

We need to recognise the problem of possum induced tree decline, and move on to analyse what is causing this imbalance and how it can be addressed, noting that the phenomenon was not reported by early Europeans when Victoria was in its original and natural condition and seems to have developed since European arrival.

Jeff Yugovic

Mornington Peninsula[1] The writer of an article about ecosystem need for top predators claims that "Observations on trees and experience with possum guards by the author indicate that possums are the major cause of tree decline on the Mornington Peninsula ..."

Hans Brunner: I am somewhat alarmed that a highly respected ecologist, Dr. Jeff Yugovic, can declare that possums on the peninsula are in plague proportions (published in the journal Indigenous, “Do Ecosystems need top predators?”) and that this was supported by Carol Shelton on behalf of Mt Eliza Association for Environment in form of a press release. There are probably many other people who would agree with Yugovic and Shelton merely because they don’t like possums jumping about on their roofs during the night.

I myself believe in scientific evidence.

Where are the regular spotlight counts that establish the real numbers of possums compared to the number of trees available to them in a given area?

Where are the true numbers of trees that actually die from possum browsing compared with trees dying from the many other reasons?

I have inspected lots of sick-looking trees without finding possum droppings under them and no signs of browsing. I can find more possum droppings in built-up areas under power-lines used by possums than under trees and in those areas all the trees look healthy.

The assumption that there is a plague of possums on the Mornington Peninsula resulting in the destruction of the tree canopy is in my view only a hypothetical observation and is definitely not based on rigorous scientific and unbiased research.

Over the last three years Victoria has experienced each year one or two severe heat waves. As a result, thousands of possums died in those years from heat exhaustion. So, where now is this “plague” of them?

With more heat-waves predicted in the future they may even become endangered.

The suggestion that we overdo predator control and that, on the contrary, we need more foxes, cats and dogs to reduce possums is totally irresponsible.

Because of these predators - foxes, cats and dogs - on our Peninsula, nine (9) native mammalian species have already become extinct, five (5) species have become extremely rare and another two (2) are endangered. And this is just mammals!

This same ratio or worse applies to species of birds, reptiles and amphibians.

While I think, and hopefully all of us agree, that in large natural environmental ecosystems a balance between predator and prey species is essential, here on the Peninsula the situation is very, very different.

The expectation that an increase of predators may reduce a few possums would surely be badly out-weighed by the risk of losing proportionally even more of our rare, native wildlife species.

Putting flexible plastic sheets around the trunk of trees, to be effective, would require being done to every tree on the Peninsula, because if possums can’t go up one tree they would soon find another one. Even if this were possible, practical, or desirable, the risk is that it will also exclude koalas, sugar gliders, marsupial mice and reptiles accessing these trees in the same manner as possums.

So, please don’t make possums the scapegoat and declare war on them!

Hans Brunner

NOTES

[1] The Mornington Peninsula is in Victoria, Australia.
Comment by Candobetter.net editor: It was declared part of the UN Biosphere series a few years ago, in one of many attempts to save its biodiversity and considerable natural ammenity, but despite this, it is sadly being covered in roads and housing by successive troglodyte Victorian governments.

Originally published under another title on 2013-03-26 20:40:25 +1000.

Why do some focus energy
to stop the little possum he
from strutting very naturally
upon the branch that be?

What did possums ever do to humans?

An example of a 'possum band'. This ridiculous sort of chastity belt for trees to stop possums sheltering where they have always sheltered is a cruel device for which residents unwittingly foot the bill to councils in nice little rorts arranged with the manufacturers of these totally unnecessary devices.

Why do some focus energy
to stop the little possum he
from strutting very naturally
upon the branch that be?

What gives? What's up
what motivates
the householder the radio jock
the councillor the passing hoon
to scheme so strangely to deprive
the naive possum of his life?

Is it bloodlust
Is it fear
that so inspires
the deadly sneer
that so conspires
the dark career
to so reject the furry feature
to so harass a fellow creature?

What is this dreadful cowardice
this low pursuit of the defenceless?
How do his persecutors justify
harassment of this little guy?

Time for Reform, St Kilda Councillors:

The Australian suburb of Saint Kilda, Victoria, is memorable in its dedication to possum harassment by possum-banding trees against all opposition and in its provision of easily disprovable reasons for doing so. The Port Phillip Council that oversees St Kilda started out saying that possums transmitted a kind of wilt that affected palm trees and that they were banding the palm trees in Catani Gardens, St. Kilda. They were unable to prove that possums spread palm wilt and unable to show that the palm trees had any wilt. In the picture you can see that the trees' thatches are uniformly healthy. That didn't stop the council putting up the possum bands, though and causing deaths of possums through loss of shelter. There was a war for years between the council and the people who loved and visited the possums. It was a stinking example of despotism on the part of petty officialdom. The most obvious motivation was commercial gain from manufacturing and providing the metal bands, which ratepayers were funding under the guise of combatting a non-existent threat to palms. The wound has still not healed. The bands are still there. The possums still lacking shelter. The unfounded cruelty still unrepented, still shaming. The scandal, the cruelty, still raw, still present. And since spread to other councils, like a commercially motivated cancer, masquerading as science.

The cruel and silly possum band

O see the cruel and silly possum-band
example of the stupid hand
of some man
- or woman
who
given too much power
did not improve the shining hour

What reason pray
to persecute
the innocent arboreal brute?

Were the councillors irate
to know that something lived and ate
yet did not bow to council rate?

How else to make the possum
know
that humans ruled the land
Except to place around its trees
arcane and ugly possum-band?
That piece of steel and human vice
flouting reason, cruel device and -

Ridiculous at any price!
An impost and an insult to
ratepayers of intelligence
moreover anybody who
had the slightest bit of common sense

Cloaked in pseudo science and blindness
- to prevent wilt they said -
bereft of empathy or kindness
- they left the possums dead -
the humans, creaming off some cash
from ratepayers to reimburse
the manufacturers of this trash

The media and various government websites clearly and openly qualifying native kangaroos and possums as 'pest animals' needing to be 'culled'. But what if they aren't pests at all? The law protects those who kill protected native species under certain conditions but could there be non-lethal ways of dealing with the problem? Could this be part of a national strategy to drive the nails deeper into our native animals' collective coffins? It is no wonder we have the world's worst record for mammal extinctions with government attitudes like this.

On 26 October, 2010 in the Banyule and Nillumbik Weekly (1) there was an article about how kangaroos in Plenty Gorge in Greensborough, the North-Eastern suburbs in Melbourne are becoming a problem.

In this article the Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre says:-

“Kangaroos can cause serious damage to farm fences and crops, scare domestic livestock, such as cows and sheep, and cause motor vehicle accidents. Controlling numbers is essential for safety and productivity.

‘‘Kangaroos can also cause environmental damage, especially if they are confined on reserved land and their numbers are allowed to increase unchecked. Contraceptives may be useful for controlling kangaroo populations in confined areas or in the peri-urban area. However, much more work is required, including an assessment of their biological and ecological impacts, before they could be considered,’’ the centre’s latest report states."

In my mind many questions arise. Let’s examine all these claims to see if they are true:-

1. Invasive Animals?
What on earth is the Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre doing commenting on a non-invasive animal? Kangaroos are native animals and by definition are NOT invasive, exotic or feral. Why did this newspaper choose to quote from this organization and not the Department of Environment?

Invasive Species (IUCN definition):

Invasive species are organisms (usually transported by humans) which successfully establish themselves in, and then overcome, otherwise intact, pre-existing native ecosystems.

According to Dept Env website, kangaroos are not invasive species either.

2. Destruction to the Environment?
It is well known that cows and sheep, being hoofed, cause massive soil erosion and destruction of soil ecosystems, pollute the air, soil, waterways, contribute to deforestation and biodiversity loss and the drought. In short they are turning this country into a desert. So why are kangaroos being scapegoated for causing environmental damage when it is not the truth?

3. Damage to Fences?
If kangaroos cause damage to fences, isn’t it time farmers erected ‘kangaroo-proof fencing’ so that kangaroos do not enter farms and do not get entangled in barbed wire fences. What about the damage fences cause kangaroos, does it ever occur to them that fences are a worse hazard to kangaroos than kangaroos to fences? And what about the fact that livestock routinely damage fences? Should we cull livestock because they damage their own fences?

4. Damage to Crops/Competition with Livestock

According to CSIRO kangaroos hardly ever visit wheat farms. According to the Dept of Environment grazing pressure of kangaroos is very small 1-8% compared to livestock (92-99%). (2)

It is a proven fact that kangaroos do not eat crops (8). Graziers will normally budget 10 litres of water per day for sheep which doubles in hot dry summers. An average size kangaroo of say 25kg only needs only 1 litre of water per day to survive. (Hume 1999).

According to the CSIRO, kangaroos do not compete with sheep (3).

5. Scaring Livestock?
As for scaring livestock, it’s more likely that kangaroos would be scared by livestock. Kangaroos do not attack cows and sheep - they are herbivores after all.

6. Causing Motor Vehicle Accidents?
It would be fair to say that humans cause motor accidents as equally as kangaroos. We are in their territory after all. In many ways we could prevent these motor accidents.

a) Why aren’t there overpasses or underpasses for wildlife on main roads?
b) Why aren’t there wildlife corridors for kangaroos to traverse to their habitat which we continually carve up as if the land is ours, not theirs? Surely we are the ones to blame for not accommodating them and their needs?
c) Why don’t more motorists slow down when they see kangaroos by the roadside, especially at dusk and dawn?
d) Why don’t more cars have shoo-roo devices attached to them emitting a high-pitched noise to alert the kangaroo of the approach of their vehicle?

Aren’t we equally responsible for all the motor vehicle accidents involving kangaroos? How many kangaroos and other animals die every day and suffer in agony compared to the number of humans losing their life as a result of these accidents? Aren’t we being a trifle selfish (anthropocentric) here?

7. Controlling Populations?
The Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre says it’s important to control kangaroo numbers. Well isn’t it time we controlled our own populations? Human overpopulation at 7 billion is certainly overdue for a bit of controlling! What a joke that we should be controlling a native species (and white man is feral to Australia remember) when we can’t even control our own. Perhaps compulsory contraception of humans would be a good start? Yet the Department of Sustainability and the Environment (DSE) issues permits for landowners to ‘cull’ kangaroos on their property. Obviously we live in a society where it is permissible to kill ‘protected’ native animals when people are unwilling to find other win-win solutions to a perceived threat.

8. Threat to Communities or Public Health?
The DSE spokesman Nick Talbot says

“The permit system is necessary because animals can …. pose a direct threat to communities or public health,’’

I have never heard of kangaroos attacking people unless they were walking a dog off the leash. That is understandable as those kangaroos were most likely only trying to protect their mob. If people would have their dogs on a leash at all times, including on their properties, such a situation would never arise. Herbivores are not aggressive unless there is a life-threatening situation.

As for public health, eating kangaroo meat (such as what is for sale in supermarkets around Australia) would be far more of a public health risk than having them hop around outside. It’s a joke that DSE can talk about public health in this way when kangaroo meat, being game meat, is full of parasites and zoonotic diseases (4).

9. Is it Humane to Kill a Healthy Animal?
According to DSE a condition of a permit is that humane methods of destruction are used. However, we know that this is not always the case. Not all landowners are skilled in the use of firearms and many kangaroos will not be humanely shot in the head. Anyone can get a gun and a permit without the ability to hit a target. Wildlife carers have to attend to animals with faces blown off, limbs missing, orphaned joeys. Yet DSE does not regard relocation as an option, which seems infinitely more humane to me. Given a choice between death and a new place to live, what would you choose? Is killing a perfectly healthy animal because it’s in our way humane? Or is there a better solution?

In view of the above points, how can anyone refer to kangaroos as a pest?

Definition of ‘Pest’

The website http://www.feral.org.au states the definition of ‘pest’ as:

A pest is an animal that causes significant damage to a valued resource. The pest status of an animal can change with time, between areas or according to the perception of the assessor. What might be one persons pest might be another’s valued resource. Native animals such as kangaroos and possums can be a pest in some situations.

By that definition, humans are pests because we cause significant damage to the most valued resource of all – our environment. We have destroyed 75% of our forests. Billions of native animals have died in the process. We have polluted waterways and sucked them dry, blasting all the fish out of the water.

We have ignored the unique biological and ecological role our native animals have to play in their NATURAL environment, which we are taking from them. To native animals we, with our bulldozers, concrete, trucks and cars, would be the biggest pest of all, worse than hoardes of dingoes, pythons, feral dogs and cats, poisonous toads, predatorial eagles put together. In fact WE are the nightmare to them! They flee from us on sight and no wonder.

According to http://www.feralfocus.org.au

The word 'pest' is generally used to describe an animal that causes serious damage to a valued resource. Such a pest may be destructive, a nuisance, noisy or simply not wanted. A pest may be an animal that was originally introduced by humans to new lands - this is particularly the case in Australia. Or, it may be a native animal such as a kangaroo, possum or parrot.

It is important to note that people decide whether an animal is a pest. What is one person's pest may be a valuable resource to another. For example, recreational hunters and meat processors may regard the feral pig as a valued resource rather than a pest. Others believe that feral pigs are a threat to the environment and agriculture. Such diversity of opinion is one of the main reasons that pest control has had varying success.

Strictly a feral animal is a non-native animal that has escaped from captivity and established a self-sustaining population independent of humans. Hence wild horses, pigs and cats are feral, while foxes and rabbits are not as these latter two animals were deliberately released to establish wild populations. However, the word is now generally applied to ‘any non-native animal that causes serious damage to human interests’

How convenient… for humans that is!

Definition of ‘Feral’

According to http://www.feral.org.au:

What is a feral animal? Strictly a feral animal is a non-native animal that has escaped from captivity and established a self-sustaining population independent of humans. Hence wild horses, pigs and cats are feral, while foxes and rabbits are not as these latter two animals were deliberately released to establish wild populations. However, the word is now generally applied to any non-native animal that causes serious damage to human interests, and is how the word is used in this web site.

Man has encroached native, endemic species' natural habitat, it would make more sense to refer to us as the 'ferals' in this scenario! Does that mean we should be culled, since we are a non native species infiltrating an area outside our natural range?

What is an exotic animal?

An exotic animal is an animal that is outside its natural range. It may be an animal that has been introduced to Australia or New Zealand from another country, or it may be an animal that has been translocated to another part of Australia or New Zealand. For example kookaburras have been introduced to south-west Western Australia.

Our National Emblem

Since kangaroos are on our national emblem and proudly displayed by Australian companies, airlines, rugby teams etc. and since we regard kangaroos as pests, how does that auger for our overseas images? Guess it affirms that we are a PEST WORSHIPPING nation?

AT ONE POINT THIS WEBSITE CLASSIFIED KANGAROOS AS 'FERAL' UNTIL THEY WERE INUNDATED WITH LETTERS! AFTERWARDS, ALL REFERENCES TO KANGAROOS BEING FERAL WERE REMOVED BUT THEY WERE STILL LISTED AS PESTS ON THE WWW.FERAL.ORG.AU WEBSITE. WHY ARE THEY THERE AT ALL WE ASK?

Since we classify kangaroos as ‘pests’, all those logos we use to flog things to other countries and to promote our country with our Coat of Arms, must by interpretation declare that our goods and our image is, indeed, a pest.

It is one thing to use something for largesse, another to appreciate its true worth.
Time for some reassessment methinks.

It is outrageous that government websites such as www.feral.org.au should list kangaroos and possums native to Australia at all let alone as pests.

Kangaroo Shooting Unsustainable

Referring to native animals as ‘pests’ is what drives local and complete extinctions, as any scientist well knows. Certainly it is more and more recognised by landowners and by ecologists and wildlife experts that the larger macropods such as Eastern Grey and Red kangaroos are disappearing from the landscape except in few pockets where their habitat and landowners allow them to exist.

Even the commercial 'culling' program in NSW lists densities of the 'common' Eastern Grey that are in fact scientifically quasi-extinct (5). The shooting of 15% of this species is unsustainable when consideration is given to actual kangaroo population biology.

Shooters do not limit themselves to shooting 15% of a local population. Local populations and mobs are in fact shot in entirety with the 15% quota only being applied as a whole to the state itself. This is why shooters are not meeting their quotas – as the populations do not exist. This is also why, in rural and regional areas, whole landscapes are being emptied of kangaroos - as ecologists doing field work in central and western NSW are noticing.

Certainly the National Parks and Wildlife Service in NSW does not check landowners’ claims of hundreds of kangaroos needing to be shot under occupier licenses. Rangers have in fact explicitly admitted that they don’t ask questions as the issuing of licenses are a ‘public relations exercise’. There is in fact no central collation of the numbers of kangaroos that are shot under s.121 licences in NSW. This means no baseline data or any idea of the numbers of kangaroos shot outside the newer commercial culling program has thus ever existed.

Further, the Kangaroo Management Program itself does not assert that commercial shooting is to protect the landscape from damage. It is a program driven by the kangaroo industry.

If you check and analyse the official surveyed population numbers and actual reports on government websites (6), you will see their numbers have plummeted between 40-80% across regions since 2001. As a whole, populations have crashed by an average of 50% across the state since 2001 – despite correction factors multiplying actual counts by higher numbers and despite population figures including whole new counted areas in the 2009 census.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics - Bureau of Rural Sciences (ABARE-BRS, formally BRS) administers the Australian Pest Animal Research Program (APARP) which engages in pest animal management issues. It is through this program that ABARE-BRS supported the development of the website feral.org.au.

ABARE says that native animals such as kangaroos and possums can be a pest in some situations as they cause significant damage to valued resources such as the environment or agriculture (e.g. possums in New Zealand). But that does not mean that native animals should be referred to on a feral animal website!

Conclusion

I utterly condemn the inclusion of native animals on a website about ‘pest’ animals, paid for by taxpayers’ dollars, using information that has not been tested or critiqued by independent sources.

Since Australia has the worst reputation in the world for mammal extinctions especially in the last 230 years, surely it means humans are the biggest pest to biodiversity as well as the environment in every aspect?

It's well and truly time we Australians stopped treating our native animals like vermin and learned to respect our national icon, at least as much as overseas visitors do. Premier Keneally (7) has acknowledged that our iconic kangaroos and koalas hold the key to a revival of tourism in Australia. So why don't the laws change to give them the protection they and their habitat so desperately needs? I only hope she is serious and not saying it because Oprah Winfrey (who hails from her country of birth) happens to be touring here right now?

What can I do?

Write to the following people and voice your complaints about the government's attitude to and treatment of our national icon, the kangaroo and possums, who are also supposed to be 'protected.'

[email protected]
[email protected]

References
1. http://www.banyuleandnillumbikweekly.com.au/news/local/news/news-features/watch-out-roos-on-the-run/1978238.aspx?storypage=0
2. http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/indicator/162/index.html
3. http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR9740027.htm
4. http://www.nokangaroomeat.org
5. http://www.stopkangarookilling.org
6. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/wild-harvest/kangaroo/population/index.html
7. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/its-time-to-get-real-on-tourism-says-nsw-premier-kristina-keneally/story-e6frf7l6-1225969554791
8. Arnold, G. “Can Kangaroos survive in the Wheat Belt?”, West Australia Journal of Agriculture, Vol 31, 1990

Mayor Robert Doyle has recommended that powerful owls be encouraged back to Melbourne's parks in order to reduce the possum population. He may be desperate for publicity, but he is giving a poor example. It sounds mean to possums, which he misrepresents as 'vermin' and might encourage still more cruelty to them by ignorant people. An anonymous contributor writes, "Mayor Robert Doyle is focusing on the wrong pest. ..." (This article first appeared as a comment by Nimby, "Melbourne Mayor Robert Doyle's war on possums," to candobetter.org.)

Article by "Nimby."

Melbourne Mayor Robert Doyle's war on possums

Melbourne's Lord Mayor Robert Doyle is threatening to unleash a brigade of predators - powerful owls - to fix our problem possums. Cr Doyle yesterday declared war on the "exploding" population of "vermin".

He says, "I know they are protected, but I come out of my house in South Melbourne and I'm virtually waist deep in possum poo."

Next year, nesting boxes designed to attract powerful owls will be placed in Royal Park in Parkville, and the Fitzroy and Flagstaff gardens in the city.

Powerful owl

The Powerful Owl is symbolic as being one of the supreme nocturnal predators in the forests of south-eastern Australia, They are forest dwellers which rely on areas of old growth forests that contain mature, live hollow bearing eucalypt trees that can be hundreds of years old. The main component of the Powerful Owl diet across its range is Ringtail Possum, this may be supplemented by other arboreal possums and gliders depending on the geographic location and prey present, eg Greater Glider, Brushtail Possum, Sugar Glider, Yellow-bellied Glider.

Ironically, the powerful owl is Vulnerable in Victoria. They are adversely affected by the clearfelling of forests and the consequent conversion of those forests into open landscapes, but the species may persist in forests that have been lightly or selectively logged. Thanks to VicForests! Here we have contradictory policies from State and Local government.

More trees needed for native animals

Rheya Linden from Animal Active branded the Mayor "ignorant". The human population explosion has meant that native trees are being chopped, and the number of exotics have increased. What we need is an ecological balance, with MORE native trees!

Too many humans too ignorant to recognise our natural wealth

Mayor Robert Doyle is focusing on the wrong pest. Why not clean up all the alcohol venues and the drugs and violence in Melbourne's streets, and make it safe like it used to be? The violence and crime is not coming from possums, but feral humans! We can't fight against Nature and pretend we are a European city. Australia is a country called "mega-diverse", which means we are rich in flora and fauna. This is part of our natural wealth, and it needs to be embraced, not trashed.

An old age pensioner tells his heartbreaking story of Josie, the little possum joey who he and his wife lovingly raised but was unable to release due to human imprinting. After 6 years of being part of Raoul Harvey's family, suddenly the RSPCA tried to confiscate her and another possum they were rehabbing. That's when all hell broke loose! It's time some new laws were made in the best interests of the animal, not the law. Read what this courageous man did to outwit the system.

I wonder if our childrens’ children will read about us as the ones who looked after the animals we used to have in the wild?

My first experience with "real" wildlife care started on 21/01/2003 when a female possum who used to stop by our door regularly for a handout came inside our house one night and would not leave despite gentle persuasion. We went to bed leaving the door open should "Mrs Possum" change her mind and leave.

In the morning she was dead on our loungeroom floor and in her pouch was a little pinky who became Josie and a unique and wonderful bond was forged that January morning. I rang around and the word was to tap her on the head, something I could not do because of the trust Josie's mother had in me looking after her baby. Talk about jumping in the deep end! I purchased every book, searched every site that mentioned possums and did everything possible to get this little charge through.

Most of our friends thought us mad when we would visit with our baby and I'm sure some thought we had early dementia but each day Josie became stronger and we became prouder with what we were seeing, our baby was going to make it. So like the proud parents we had become we built Josie a nice new home and when she was about 26 weeks of age we moved her in.

Well, what a disappointment! She wanted nothing to do with her sheepskin covered bed, her new shiny stainless food and water bowls and the two fans installed at each end of her house, all she wanted was to be in my shirt (I learnt very early to put a T shirt on first).

What to do? Being an experienced dad I knew exactly what was needed. I would sit in her cage with her until she nodded off and quietly sneak off. Well I forgot possums play at night and sleep all day. Josie thought it was wonderful that her dad had moved in with her and showed her happiness by jumping from the top of her box on to my head all night, each time she had a breather I crept out but each time she would see me gone and scream out until I returned.

This could not continue so I got in touch with a carer and it was suggested I put a child's teddy bear in her box. I dont know what Josie thought the toy was but it did the trick and a little sanity returned to our house.

Next trick was to find what bush tucker she ate. Another bright idea, I put her in my shirt and we would ride around our 5 acres on the rideon mower and stop at every likely tree and shrub and find out what she liked and after a few days I had a fair idea but it seemed Josie liked the ride as much as jumping on my head and so began a ritual that lasted for 6 years and 190 days.

I should mention here that the reason I never went to QPWS or any other authority to ask about permits to have and keep Josie was that I was told that the law said she would have to be put down if she could not be released, so I gave them a miss.

We now had to reconsider our retirement plans which included a 4WD and caravan to hit the road but we thought travelling with a possum who thought she was a kid (so did we) might be a little hard in caravan parks so with a stroke of genius we decided an off-road camper trailer was the way to go. We became the proud owners of a Pioneer camper and did a few trips to secluded fishing and camping locations which Josie thought was magic. She would grab any smallish fish I caught and "protect" me from these flopping strange things. She would stand on the bow of our tinny like a pointer dog as we ran our crab pots. She really did enjoy our trips away.

She would be in my shirt when we went to town, my wife did the shopping and we would stay in the car but when I had to buy "mans" stuff Josie would be in my shirt and if she was noticed she would revell in any attention, especially from kids. At times a quick dash in to buy a filter for the car turned into an hour. She really did know she was special and would pose for the camera and allow people to pat her, not once did she nip anyone but on occasions if I failed to heed her need for the toilet she would do her thing much to the delight of any kids who were present at the time.

When Josie was 2 years old a family member presented us with an orphaned male brushtail who was about 6 months old. This little bloke was very traumatised as his mother had been killed by dogs on a golf course. Talk about a special needs kid, Fred as we named him was very clingy for months and is still very timid.

I must mention here that up until Josie was 2 years old we tried 7 times to release her at varying times of her cycle but she would not have a bar of being a "real" possum. Fred has always been free to come and go but on the two occasions he left home he came back very hungry and sorry looking, the only time his cage is closed is when we know there are dingos in the area or we are away for the day.

Everything apart from my health was going well until Friday September 25 when we got a phone call from my mother in law telling us that acting on information (don't you just love it?) the RSPCA were taking Fred and I had 2 hours to surrender Josie. I will not repeat what I said but it included the fact that if not returned Fred would die from stress very quickly. Josie had already sensed my stress and was cuddling very close to me. Josie and I went into hiding but not before I contacted the local Rockhampton newspaper and met them in an isolated place, like a criminal. They did the story which was published on the Saturday generating unbelievable support from the public for Josie and myself (see links at end).

Friday night was spent up in the state forest as was Saturday and Sunday. Josie would not eat and I could not so it was a very uncomfortable weekend for us both. While we were in hiding, the local wildlife carers were busy letting NPWS and RSPCA know that their action would kill Fred and he should be returned immediately.

I got a call on my mobile on Monday morning from a wonderful lady telling me Fred was on his way home and Josie and I could come home. All carers will understand this next part of the saga, as my stress level fell and my tears eased my little Josie gave me a big wet kiss, cuddled even closer and went to sleep. The transformation was unreal, animal magic.

Unfortunately the ending of this story is not so happy as my beautiful little friend died at 1.30pm on Sunday 6th of December. Even though she calmed down after the terrible incident she and Fred went through she was never as calm as before this garbage happened. I have had wonderful support from the carers in the area and have joined one group. They all agree that the stress Josie went through was why she is no longer with me. Of course only an autopsy would prove the cause but I would not allow that to happen.

After Fred was returned I had to hand feed him and sat in his cage with him for hours letting him know he was okay. Hopefully things will turn out well for him.

To this day I still do not know the reason why the RSPCA was called or why NPWS became involved. These "public servants" would not know a feral pig from a bower bird and when confronted they have to be non commital for fear of being seen to actually make a comment off their own bat and therefore rock the good ship NPWS. Their efforts would be better directed toward the bird smugglers and the people trading off the misery of our wildlife instead of giving fair dinkum animal carers a hard time and wasting tax dollars on witch hunts.

On a happier note I now have 2 young possums about 9 months old, one an orphan and a little female who was burnt in the recent fires in our area. They are both doing well and will be released as soon as there is enough food out in the bush to sustain them.

In ending my story I would like to say that the time Josie and I had together was an absolute privilege, a relationship built on respect, trust and most of all LOVE.

Raoul

To get in touch with Raoul email him at rharvey [AT] cqnet.com.au
Please share your 'Josie' stories with us by commenting in the box below.

P.S. Check out the newspaper articles below - the comments of supportive people below the article show the true heart of where wildlife carers are coming from.

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2009/09/26/raouls-possum-magic/

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2009/09/28/josie-is-still-on-the-run/

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2009/10/06/possum-carer-raoul-takes-on-his-new-charge

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2009/09/29/beady-eyed-freds-back-now-for-josie/

Australia's native Brushtail Possum is a small mammal which in nature lives in forests and woodlands and like many Australian mammals; they are marsupials, meaning they carry their young in a pouch.

Lanamania is a distributor for possum yarn from New Zealand. Its website boasts: "Our passion for knitting, our love of nature and our New Zealand heritage all come together in one product...Possum handknit yarn of Zealana -the light and soft touch of New Zealand."


Lanamania promotes: "Our luxurious natural handknit yarns include 'KAURI' - 60% fine merino wool / 30% possum wool / 10 % silk, in 11 different brilliant colours. A luxurious blend. The silk fibre stabilizes the yarns and gives it a light shimmer.

In 'KIWI' - 40% fine merino wool/ 30% possum wool / 30% cotton, in 10 different natural colours. The cotton smoothes the yarn and adds elasticity and lightness.

In 'RIMU' - 60% fine merino wool / 40% possum wool, in 11 different brilliant colours. A very soft and nevertheless hardwearing yarn. Very minimal or no skin irritation.

and 'Zealana Eco' or 'Eco Merino Possum' - 80% Eco fine merino wool / 20% possum wool, in 16 different natural colours."

"...our ecological yarn."

But let's see what Australian children have to say about Australian Brushtail Possums from Anderson's Creek Primary School north of Melbourne in Australia:

"The Common Brush tail possum is hunted by many predators such as owls, Tasmanian devils, Dingoes, Foxes, Cats, Feral dogs, Large Pythons and goannas. If a possum is attacked it will climb up the nearest tree or it will its nest. If it gets caught it will kick, scream, scratch and bite. The Common Brush tail possum uses sound and smell to communicate. They hiss, growl, cough and scream to tell other possums to get off the property. In breeding season the mother possum uses a soft calls to round up her young."

"Brush tail possums eat different kinds of leaves .They also eat fruit that we grow which is a nuisance and they eat flowers. Common brush tail possums mainly are plant eaters (herbivores) some times they eat insects, grubs, moths, birds eggs and baby bids. They spend 4 hours eating at night."

But Lanamania thrashes out fur trader eco-spun yarn to its prime German export market:

"Possum yarns help to maintain the unspoiled New Zealand environment. Possum are not native to the islands and in proliferating very quickly they are a real danger to the ecological system. Using our luxury yarns you help to preserve the pure nature of New Zealand. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) supports especially the sales of possum products.

So lets go and check with the World Wildlife Fund on this and see what they have to say about this endorsement? ...'Through the Habitat Protection Fund, WWF has distributed more than NZ$ 1,400,000 to over 150 local conservation projects in New Zealand since 2000. “We'd like to see all possums as dead possums. From a conservation perspective, they are New Zealand's number one pest problem.” Eric Pyle, conservation director - WWF-NZ.'

Yet dozens of NZ possum fur traders are making a killing from the 1837 introduced immoral trade. Possum numers are not going down, they are sustaining an immoral international fur trade out of New Zealand just like the 19th century fur seal trade of Canada.

Oh and by the way "We sell possum yarn from New Zealand" is translated into German for die German export market:

'Wir verkaufen neuseeländische Possumwolle'

"By buying possum yarns you will help to maintain the environment."...and our 1837 immoral fur trade profits, danke schoen!

Then shopping online in Germany one reads at http://www.possumfur.co.nz/

"Possum fur has a similar feel to mink. Possum were introduced to New Zealand from Australia approximately 150 years ago to establish a possum fur industry. They thrived in New Zealand to the point that they are now considered a pest and a threat to the native bird life and flora."

So New Zealand is perpetuating its disgraced 1837 fur trade. What message is New Zealand sending to the world about its natural environmental image?

Australian Possum Habitat
"The Brush tail possum lives in a hollow branch of a tree trunk. They sleep in the day and come out at night. They are located in most outskirts of Australia. The common brush tail possums are found through out Australia and Tasmania. Common brush tail possums live in a variety of habitats. They prefer open forests and woodlands but also they live in thick forests in wet areas. Many brush tail possums live in cities too." [Chloe and Kathleen, Anderson's Creek Primary School, Victoria, Australia].

On New Zealand's North Island at the Bay of Plenty, another backyard possum fur trader, BASICALLY BUSH, runs a thriving business slaughtering Brushtail Possum for profit. It's just like the good ol' days of the 19th Century.

It seems the preferred kill method is by shooting..."Be careful not to get rubbish into the bag, and that you don't end up dropping bullets or spent shells in." But then they sell traps to possum poachers as well, so take your pick.

Check out the possum trap called 'Bushmaster No 1':

A good sound trap, leg hold. Freight Costs incl GST: 1 - 12 traps: $6.50 12 - 24 traps: $17.00 24 - 48 traps: $25.00 48 - 96 traps: $65.00 Please add the cost of freight to your payment.

Basically Bush's motto is "SKIN THE BEST and PLUCK THE REST"
It claims "this exciting raw material that has revolutionised the knitwear industry in New Zealand. Possum fibre is referred to as 'possum merino' and is promoted as 'lighter than cashmere'

And profits are healthy. Back in 2007, "there has been a marked increase in fibre availability since we raised the price to $105/kg. "This increase was necessary to make sure that there was enough raw material to meet the needs of domestic production. "

These pest controllers have now gone international, making trips to India to promote fur sales, with brands like 'Snowy Peak' and 'Woolyarns'.

Click here to meet the poaching team.

Yes, Brushtail Possums are a destructive pest in NZ. Probably the most relevant and credible authority on the centuries old problem of human introduced possums into New Zealand should be New Zealand's own Department of Conservation (DOC).

Yet DOC has no watchdog to vet its possum control policy, to evaluate the ethics of its indiscriminate aerial 1080 poison programmes, its budget decision making, its pest control methods. DOC is its own master, answerable to no-one. It dictates possum control and culling only on the basis of it deeming it administratively cost effective and efficient. Perhaps this is a leftover culture of Rogernomics applied to lean management of New Zealand's ecology.

On the DOC website the possum problem in New Zealand is clearly explained. An issue this author accepts as a serious ecological problem facing New Zealand.

Under the heading 3.3 Possum damage to native forests, the possum problem in NZ is explained as follows:

"Over the past 50 years, possums have emerged as one of the major threats to the health and wellbeing of forests throughout New Zealand. Many of these impacts are subtle and indirectly affect native birds and insects. Possums cause damage to native forests from the ground level to the canopy where, by concentrating on individual plants of their preferred species, they can kill trees by defoliation over several years. Possums preferentially feed on some of the tall canopy species – such as tawa, northern rata, kohekohe, southern rata, kamahi, pohutukawa and 20 Hall’s totara – while ignoring others. They also prefer some of the smaller trees, such as tree fuchsia and wineberry, along with mistletoe, forest herbs, some ferns, and a number of endangered shrubs.

It is difficult to imagine that possums, which are about the size of a large cat, can kill individual trees that have dominated forest landscapes for centuries before possums were released here. But when the number of possums is combined with the total amount each one eats, their impact on their preferred species is easier to appreciate. The amount of food consumed by an adult possum each night is about 160 gm of digestible dry matter. There are probably tens of millions of possums living in native forests. In total, possums are consuming thousands of tonnes of vegetation each night.

Possum populations have now modified many New Zealand forests. The rate and extent of these changes vary widely between different types of forests. Beech forests are the least affected, but in the vulnerable southern rata-kamahi forests of Westland many valleys have lost between 20% to 50% or more, of their canopy trees. In severe situations, possums have caused the complete collapse of the canopy within 15–20 years of their arrival. Tall forest is then replaced by shrublands.

While the impact of possums is most visible and dramatic when it involves canopy trees, their most pervasive impacts are often less visible. Possums have recently been described as “reluctant folivores”. This means that possums prefer to eat other forest foods than the leaves of trees. Flowers, fruit, leaf buds, fungi and insects are all highly favoured. The consumption of these foods has the largest impact on the healthy functioning of forests and the animals that rely on them. The consequences of possums concentrating on these foods are:

Loss of flowers:
•preventing the formation of seeds
•removing nectar sources for birds and bats
•reducing the food supply for many invertebrates
•nectar loss reducing food supplies for chicks, e.g. kaka, tui.

Loss of fruits:
•reducing food supplies for birds and invertebrates
•affecting bird breeding condition and nesting success, e.g. kakapo, kereru
•reducing or eliminating seed dispersal
•reducing the regenerative capacity of native plants.

Loss of new shoots:
•reducing the ability of plants to overcome leaf loss from weather and seasonal patterns
•reducing numbers of new leaves, jeopardising plant health."

DOC also states that "the damage to native forests can be seen all too clearly in many areas. Possums ignore old leaves and select the best new growth. In some areas they have eaten whole canopies of rata, totara, titoki, kowhai and kohekohe.

Possums compete with native birds for habitat and for food such as insects and berries. They also disturb nesting birds, eat their eggs and chicks and may impact on native land snails. DOC cites examples of natural vegetation damaged by possums at Pirongia Forest Park, and the upper canopy of NZ native forest trees on the slopes of Mt Karioi, south of Raglan."

So, assuming DOC's account is correct, the introduced Brushtail possum is a serious pest to New Zealand (NZ) native ecology. But what to do about it?

The repatriation option

It's long overdue for the New Zealand Government to get serious about its self-caused possum problem and look to resolve it once and for all for the benefit of the New Zealand ecology and the possums themselves. It needs to look at the root causes. The possum was introduced to New Zealand by New Zealand profiteering colonists. It is not the possum's fault it is in New Zealand.

Pouring $80 million a year of taxpayers money into cruel indiscrimate aerial baiting is not working. If it was the possumproblem woudl be reducing and there would not be a burgeoning possum fur trade.

Instead of perpetuating a 19th Century immoral fur trade, in order to control possums and other introduced pests in NZ, one option is to catch and relocate them back to their native home country habitat. This may seem highly expensive and labour intensive and far fetched, but what other option is both humane and effective?
It's not the possums' New Zealanders introduced them from Australia to New Zealand. The problem is an inherited inter-generational problem caused by New Zealand colonists. It shoud be solved by their descendants, not perpetuated as a fur trade.

Questioning DOC's claims of Humane Possum Control

Acknowledging the possum in NZ is an introduced pest, the question in this case is whether the possums in New Zealand are being killed humanely and whether this is being effectively monitored by a government watchdog worthy of the public trust?

By killing possums, humans have a moral obligation to do it humanely. Possums like all animals feel pain, fear and suffering.

But in NZ, DOC's officially choice of death is aerial baiting with the the literally chaep and very nasty poison '1080' ('ten-eighty', or Sodium Monofluroacetate). DOC's argues it is humane and safe.
Heading out to drop 1080 poison across NZ forests

But The World League for Protection of Animals argues otherwise and offers the following explanation about '1080' poison.

"1080 (sodium monofluroacetate) is a cruel and indiscriminate poison used to ‘remove’ unwanted populations of animals.

Banned in most countries, 1080 is still used liberally throughout Australia to control so-called ‘pest’ species, and reduce ‘browsing damage’ caused by native animals on private land.

1080 poison is a slow killer. When ingested (usually through baited food) the animal suffers a prolonged and horrific death. Herbivores take the longest to die – up to 44hrs, while carnivores can take up to 21hrs before finally succumbing to final effects of the poison. The speed of death is dependent on the rate of the animals metabolism.

A Slow & Horrific Death
Witnesses to the deaths of herbivorous animals, such as macropods, have reported:
"Affected wallabies were sometimes observed sitting hunched up, with heads held shakily just above the ground. Generally they appeared non-alert and 'sick', with shivering or shaking forelimbs and unsteady balance. Most individuals then experience convulsions, falling to the ground and lying on their backs and sides, kicking and making running motions with their hind legs before dying. Many individuals also ejaculated shortly before death, and, with others, exuded a white froth from their nostrils and mouth."

Carnivorous animals such as dingoes, dogs, foxes, and cats become very agitated, as they tremble, convulse and vomit.

The list of symptoms include:

"…restlessness; increased hyperexcitability; incontinence or diarrhea; excessive salivation; abrupt bouts of vocalization; and finally sudden bursts of violent activity. All affected animals then fall to the ground in teranic seizure, with hind limbs or all four limbs and sometimes the tail extended rigidly from their arched bodies. At other times the front feet are clasped together, clenched or used to scratch frantically at the cage walls. This tonic phase is then followed by a clonic phase in which the animals lie and kick or 'paddle' with the front legs and sometimes squeal, crawl around and bite at objects. During this phase the tongue and penis may be extruded, their eyes rolled back so that only the whites show and the teeth ground together. Breathing is rapid but laboured, with some animals partly choking on their saliva. Finally such individuals begin to relax, breathing more slowly and shallowly and lying quietly with the hind legs still extended but apparently semiparalysed".

From the above descriptions, it is without question that 1080 poison inflicts great pain and suffering on affected animals. Aside from the physical pain endured over the many hours before death, the terror, fear and anxiety felt by these animals is unimaginable."

The main reason DOC uses 1080 is because it is cheap. Dropping it it indiscriminately by air is efficient and convenient.

Setting caged traps for possums is expensive. Using poisons that act faster that 1080, sush as cyanide is also more expensive.

So DOC's key justification for its use of 1080 is one of cost. DOC also justifies using 1080 because other countries use it for pest control, like Australian & the USA , so implying that 1080 must therefore be ethically acceptable. But New Zealanders should make up their own mind and should recall that both the USA and Australia used Agent Orange in The Vietnam War.

DOC also justifies 1080 use because NZ has no natural mammals so the risk to non-target species are nil. But this claim is FACTUALLY INCORRECT!

On 30 July 2008, The Dominion Post reported that after a DOC aerial drop of 1080, seven kea had died at Fox Glacier from eating the 1080 poison, wiping out almost half a group of the endangered and protected parrot being monitored by the Conservation Department. DOC came up with excuses, but with such an endangered bird with so few kea left on the planet, DOC cannot afford to gamble with the kea's extinction.

Anti-1080 campaigner Mike Bennett said the kea deaths were the tip of the iceberg. "These are only the monitored ones. If that percentage is extrapolated for the entire population, that doesn't leave many for the next drop" and has called for a ban on all aerial 1080 drops in alpine areas.

NZ's Commercial Possum Fur Trade

New Zealand's own backyard fur trade has seen a recent resergence since the 1830s when New Zealand hunters first introduced the possum to the wilds of New Zealand. the traditional method of possum slaugher is by trapping. For nearly two centuries the cruel 'gin trap' with serrated jaws was used. Although the trapping laws have recently banned gin traps, leg-hold traps remain the method of choice for trappers.

According to the NZ Lifestyle Block website:
"Leg-hold traps such as the Lanes Ace or gin trap have been widely used for possum and rabbit control for many years. The gin trap is more than 10.5 cm across its open jaws, which are serrated, and it is powered by a flat metal spring, so it's a "size 1½ long spring" trap.

Traps of size 1½ or larger are more likely than the smaller traps to snap shut across the belly or chest of an animal. Although larger traps have been banned, traps of size 1½ can still be used if they are powered by double-coil springs. From January 2011 they will have to be padded, and you can't modify them yourself to make them padded...

Why are these traps cruel?

When the gin trap snaps shut on its victim, the teeth bite into the skin and can cause a lot of trauma and no doubt agonizing pain. All leg-hold traps are indiscriminate about what they catch. If they are set in possum tracks or runs it's more likely than not that any catch will be a possum, but it might also be a cat, hedgehog, rat, bird or small dog. Large dogs can sometimes pull out of them but they may be injured in the process.

Icing sugar or flour around traps is sometimes used to attract possums, but if used beneath a trap the animal is likely to be trapped by its snout or head.
What are the alternative leg-hold traps?

(In NZ) it is still legal to use size 1 leg-hold traps such as the Victor within the restrictions on location and setting described above. It is smaller than the gin trap and doesn't have serrated jaws. The Victor No 1 can be bought with cushioned inserts that make it more humane. It tends to cause less frequent and less severe injuries than the gin trap and larger leg-hold traps, but it can still cause severe bruising, and trapped animals will sometimes cause themselves severe injuries in their struggle to get free.

Trappers favour the Victor No 1 because it is compact, light and relatively efficient. The changes in the legislation mean that it is likely to become even more popular.
There's good advice for landowners on the most humane way to use leg-hold traps and their alternatives on the National Possum Control Agencies website (www.npca.org.nz), and not just for possums but for ferrets too."

Typical traps used in NZ for possums are the flat jaw/leg hold' type such as the the Bushmaster. While recognised as more humane that the serrated jaw 'gin trap', it can still cause suffering to a trapped animal, and of course is indiscriminate.

The Hamilton City Council prohibits the use of leg-hold traps such as gin traps in residential areas and within 150 metres of dwellings or places where there are likely to be pets. It instead recommends cage traps and Timms traps for possums and other feral animals.

Feratox (encapsulated cyanide)

According to the Lifestyle Block website NZ veterinarian Dr Marjorie Orr, BVM&S, PhD, BA and lifestyle farmer on , the most humane method of possum control is to use Feratox capsules, which is an encapsulated cyanide. The preferred baiting method is to use these in specially designed "bait stations or sachets stapled to trees, baited with peanut butter (possums like it and dogs and birds usually don't). The pest control companies that put out the poison will usually on request remove the sachets after a few days, and this helps reduce the risk of accidental poisoning of other animals. The poison in the capsules, cyanide, is quickly destroyed on exposure to air. Death is quick and relatively stress-free and there is no risk of secondary poisoning of dogs that scavenge poisoned carcases."

The test of humane killing must be conditional on the absence of pain and stress caused to the animal and that the killing be very quick.

But the killing of a native animal is wrong, despite it being introduced by humans. It has become a convenient excuse for New Zealanders to kill possums. Possum control by either DOC or the fur trade is not effective and in both cases teh chosen methods are inhumane. New Zealand's possum problem has been allowed to escalate into an immoral industry for profiteers. The New Zealand Government is responsible for failing to deal with the problem effectively and humanely. It has perpetuated an immoral fur trade that begun in the 19th Century, and at the same time allowed much irreversible harm to be caused to New Zealand's fragile ecology.

Nichols (NZ) Ltd is a "supplier of quality tanned skins of New Zealand and Australian origin." It is based at 29 Wickham Street, Bromley, Christchurch, New Zealand and is a subsidiary of UK based L H Nichols Ltd.

Nichols slaughters Australian native possums for commercial profit.


Nichols (NZ) Ltd is a "supplier of quality tanned skins of New Zealand and Australian origin". It is based at 29 Wickham Street, Bromley, Christchurch, New Zealand and is a subsidiary of UK based L H Nichols Ltd.

The Nichols Group has operated since the 1950's and now includes tanneries in both the United Kingdom and Christchurch, New Zealand and also operates in Victoria, Australia.

Nichols has a well established customer base in Australasia, The Americas, Europe and Asia, offering manufacturers high quality finished leathers, and other tanners, carefully selected and graded raw material.

Nichols slaughters Australian native possums for commercial profit.
Nichols argues it is doing New Zealand a favour in the process.
How is it killing them?

Meanhile, back in their native home Australia, possums are respected as an important native animal by the volunteer Wildlife Informaton Rescue and Education Service Ince. [WIRES]

The NSW Wildlife Information,Rescue and Education Service Incorporated WIRES is the largest wildlife rescue organisation in Australia. When an echidna is hit by a car, a possum is attacked by a cat or a lizard gets its head stuck in a drink can - WIRES is there to help.

Since 1985, WIRES has established a network of hundreds of volunteers who rescue, rehabilitate and release sick, injured or orphaned native animals. Each year WIRES receives over 100,000 phone calls and rescue over 56,000 native animals, from injured bluetongues to orphaned wombats.

WIRES is a non-profit, non-political charity with branches operating across NSW. Over 90 per cent of our funding comes from public donations. Each year we receive a small grant from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the NSW Department of Agriculture these grants represent less than 2.5per cent of our funding.

At WIRES, the best interests of the animal are always placed first. After treatment - often involving intensive veterinary care and nursing by unpaid rescuers and carers - animals are returned to the wild, with as little human intervention as possible.

See also: candobetter.net/Wildliferescue - Ed, 6 Apr15

Columnist Elizabeth Farrelly, in her Fairfax article ‘Critter cullers turn our lives into roadkill’ (2-Jul-09) claims "so disdainful are Kiwis of our beloved Trichosurus vulpecula (Australian possums) that, not content with persecuting what they carelessly tag the "common brushtail", they pay themselves a hundred bucks a pelt, call it conservation and use the fur for beanies and rugby scarves. (And no, the critters are not simply shorn).”

Farrelly, like many Kiwi’s acknowledges New Zealand’s introduced possum problem, but like many Kiwi’s with an Australian chip on their shoulder, she is quick to deride anything Australian. On the New Zealand introduced possum problem, Farrelly is defeatist. Why not offer a genuine suggestion to New Zealand’s introduced possum long ignored plight? But instead, Farrelly quips “happily shoot the little varmints, pink noses and all” or even “shove them home through some great sub-Tasman possum pipeline.”

Farrelly, an urban futurist in her 2008 book ‘Blubberland: The Dangers of Happiness’ prescribes a utopian urban Australia as one that crams urban sprawl vertically into extreme high-rise where people aspire to the ‘simple life’ by “growing veggies on a postage stamp city lot”. And Farrelly's an urban planner?

In Fairfax media, 5-Aug-09 Farrelly taunts “make climbing the Rock an initiation rite for every Australian." Is this ignorance or a neo-colonist contempt of Aboriginal spiritual lore?

Farrelly is disdainful and condescending of this author's proposal in CanDoBetter to repatriate possums humanely back to Australia. Perhaps Farrelly has a better humane suggestion? Or perhaps to balance the population scores, the repatriation could be reciprocated by repatriating introduced Kiwis taking Aussie jobs should packed up humanely back to New Zealand? This would simultaneously address Australia’s population sprawl, caused by the many immigrants displacing Australians and underpinning the sprawl of which Farrelly is so critical in her book.

Kiwis in glass houses....

Out of Australia’s dark white colonial past, colonial antagonism towards its indigenous people and fauna has been typically incited by smug prejudiced colonists. 'Colonialism' is a practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another. [Stanford Dictionary].

Colonialism is a form of cultural imperialism and should be relegated to dark white history. Neo-colonialsm is immigration. Immigrants to any country have a moral duty to be respectful of the values of their new country of choice. Immigrants do have a choice after all.

When offered Australian citizenship, one of the greatest privileges anyone on the planet could be granted, Australia's compulsory 'Pledge of Commitment' reads:
“From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey.”

But smug new Australians in their generous host country have a nerve to sling off and put down locals, indigenous peoples and their culture, and to condemn its nature. Asserting acquired situational narcissism involving racist vilification should be a breach of conditions of citizenship and a precursor to questioning permanent residency privileges.

During 2008-09, short-term arrivals of New Zealand citizens totalled 1 354 500, an increase of 0.9 percent over the previous year. [ABS]

In rural Wassau in the southern US state of Florida, the Wausau Possum Festival has become an annual summertime folk festival over the past forty years. This event is said to celebrate the role of the opossum in the survival of the populace of Northwest Florida during the depression. Aside from the music, a key feature is the fundraising possum auction for the local Wausau Development Club, which involves holding opossums by their tail. Possum is served up as a main fare.

The Virginia oppossum (Didelphis virginiana Kerr) is the only marsupial native to the south eastern region of North America and extending through Central America.

American Republican politician Katherine Harris of Florida is shown here in August 2006 during her campaigning for the 2006 Florida United States Senate election, holding a possum by the tail and is said to have bid $400 at the so-called 'possum auction'.

According to the festival's sick tradition, every election year, national and statewide candidates in Florida must prove they are good country folk by mistreating a possum at the Wausau Possum Festival. "Candidates bid for a possum, taking it out of a holding area by its tail and giving it a shake to terrify the creature into going limp so it won't claw them. They're later fed and released into the wild.

As one commenter rightly suggested:

"Someone should pick her up by her nether regions and shake her until she goes limp. Then take her back to the woods."

New Zealand's native and threatened flightless birds - the Great Spotted Kiwi or Roroa (Apteryx haastii), the North Island Brown Kiwi, the Okarito Brown Kiwi or Rowi and the Haast Tokoeka (Apteryx australis) are not about to be culled for down for sleeping bag export.

The much very smaller Little Spotted Kiwi (Apteryx owenii) has become locally extinct on the New Zealand mainland due to decades of unchecked predation by introduced pigs, stoats and cats. Less than 1500 remain in the wild on New Zealand's Kapiti Island.

Maori value Kiwis for spiritual reasons as part of natural respect for native forests. The culling of Kiwis for their feathers would be abhorent to Maori and most colonist descendant New Zealanders, especially to the famous South Canterbury Battalion and the Hastings Rifle Volunteers, which borrowed the kiwi as their respective mascots.

No-one is suggesting that a new wildlife industry be setup to slaughter a native bird for sleeping bag down or for any other profiteering.

Yet a commercial profiteer based in Dunedin in the South Island is actively promoting culling the Australian Brushtail Possum for commercial yarn. The company is Merino Possum Consortium located at 47 Craigleith St, Dunedin, New Zealand. It's website is at www.possumnz.com

No such profiteer exists in Australia either for possum fur or kiwi down.

Merino Possum Consortium justification for what it does reads as follows:

Supreme Possum Merino "Nature's Wonder"

Supreme Possum Merino Yarn
"Supreme Possum Merino’s unique New Zealand yarn provides garments that are light, soft and very warm. It has taken 7 years of research to perfect the process of blending Merino wool with possum fur.

The possum fur is hollow and, when spun with merino wool, produces a hardwearing yarn with superior heat retaining qualities. And while other similar fibres contain only 15 - 30% possum fibre, Supreme Possum Merino yarn has a 40% fur content.

In knitwear, possum fur, unlike angora, resists pilling and is a lot fluffier. Has minimal or no skin irritation.

Yarn Structure
Supreme Possum Merino yarn structure and attributes remain intact because the possum fur is painstakingly hand-plucked - machine plucking breaks down the hollow fibres, resulting in a fibre with less quality and length.

The combination of possum fibre with merino wool followed research in the 1990s and a possum fur market that had been in decline.

Possum – National Pest (justification)
Introduced one hundred and fifty years ago to provide the basis of a New Zealand fur industry and declared a national pest in 1936; possums now inhabit all areas of native forest where they cause extensive damage.

Key Justification: Purchase of Supreme Possum Merino yarn is another step in the conservation of New Zealand, as 5% of every sale goes into the preservation of New Zealand environment.

The company offers the following justification for its commercial culling for yarn programme:

"The brushtail possum is an introduced species released in NZ in 1837 to establish a fur industry.

As demand for fur fell and its value dropped to uneconomic levels the numbers of possums dramatically increased. They have now reached epidemic proportions with well over 70 million possums munching their way through 21,300 tonnes of vegetation nightly, decimating New Zealand's native bush and birdlife.

With no predators, New Zealand's bush is defenceless against possums. Possums are a serious threat that has spread to 92% of New Zealand's three main islands and, with their habitat destroyed by the possum, many native trees, plants and birdlife, including the kiwi, are under threat of extinction.

The only way that we can get the possum numbers down to manageable levels is by marketing possum products worldwide and getting people who care about the environment to purchase these products. Only then, will it become financially viable for hunters to trap the possum, reduce their numbers, and help save New Zealand's environment.

NZ possum fur blended with merino is luxurious, warm & soft, anti static and a luxury that nearly everyone can afford. By purchasing our products not only are you helping to protect our environment, you are also buying a truly versatile and extremely warm natural fibre that will last years.

[Author's comment: a superior aim ought to be to humanely remove all possums from New Zealand. Profiteering from animal slaughter is immoral. If Merino Possum Consortium is ecologically genuine, I challenge it to post NZ Dept of Conservation [DOC] assessments of the company's possum control activities on a quarterly basis. I also challenge Merino Possum Consortium to post its annual financial results on its website to reveal the true extent of how the business owners are financially benefiting from slaughtering these animals.

But let's consider a different perspective and ask New Zealanders and Maori if they would accept such treatment of their Kiwi birds. It is no different.

Questioning Ethical Fur - by Animal Liberation

"So it seems that possum fur has been labeled as the 'ethical fur' for the animal welfare and environmentally aware consumer. However, there is no such thing as ethical fur and Auckland Animal Action is in firm opposition to the possum fur trade. To enable the trade to remain profitable, it will have to rely on continued possum numbers and as such has no conservation value. To wear a dead animal's skin is disrespectful to the animal. Many people consider criminals to be 'bad' yet we do not shoot them and wear their skins. The promotion of possum fur will also lead to demand for other factory farmed furs, and in the worst case, could lead to the introduction of possum factory farming. To be ethical, do not wear fur. To kill for ones own vanity is disgusting and unnecessary in today's world.

IMPACT OF POSSUMS - A RURAL LEGEND!

The myth of possums destroying our environment is one that fashion designers often refer to in order to back up their bloody trade. However, MAF has admitted the actual number of possums in NZ is about 1/3 of what is sometimes claimed. If we were to destroy the creatures most responsible for the destruction of our native forests, we should look no further than ourselves. New Zealanders taste for meat has left most of our land barren and razed for intensive and unnecessary farming. If these people are serious about saving our forests they should go vegan right away!

Possums eat about 21,000 tonnes of vegetation per day (300 g wet weight per possum x 70 million possums). This oft-quoted figure is frequently used to depict possum as a rapacious consumer of all things green, but that implication ignores the daily foliage production of perhaps 300,000 tonnes for forests alone (7.5 million ha x 15 tonnes wet weight of foliage/ha/yr).

These rough calculations are backed up by a study at Waihaha, West Taupo, which showed that possums there ate only a small percentage (<15% by weight) of the annual foliage production of any of the 15 most common plants. Possums do not, therefore, threaten total deforestation on a national scale-in most forests, the process is one of compositional rather than structural change. [Source - Landcare Research NZ]

THE FUR INDUSTRYS' SICK SECRET REVEALED!

Brushtail possums were among the earliest animals introduced into New Zealand by European settlers. They were first brought from Australia in 1837 to establish a fur industry.

By 1922, 36 batches of possums had been imported, mostly from Tasmania where possums were larger and had the black fur preferred by furriers. These possums and their descendants were liberated at more than 450 places around New Zealand by 1930. [Source - Landcare Research NZ]

WILDLIFE ETHICS

Possums were brought to New Zealand over a century ago in the hopes of introducing a bloody fur trade. The fur trade itself is responsible for bringing the possums here. How can we expect this industry to treat its own mistakes with care and ethics?!

It is our responsibility to treat these animals fairly and humanely. No animal is a 'pest'. It is humans alone that categorise animals such, reflecting our anthropocentric philosophies. Possums can feel just as much pain as a dog or a cat. They are highly social animals and loving parents.

It is our own fault possums are here in the first place therefore it is our duty to possums to find ways of controlling their numbers that are humane. Barbaric hunting and trapping, is not the answer, not to mention the horrendous 1080, which is a bigger problem to our natural environment than the possums themselves!

1080 completely dehydrates all the cells in the body. 1080 causes convulsions, internal bleeding and continual vomiting. It is simply a long painful inhumane death.

Leg hold traps cause immense pain and trauma to possums caught in them again the animal can suffer a slow languishing death. Such traps are indiscriminate and often catch non-target animals. Kiwis have been reported as caught in traps meant for possums!

In the 1980's several experimental intensive possum fur and meat farms were set up. All failed as the possums experienced high mortality rates due to stress at confinement. Why were such farms ever attempted when our bush land is apparently over-run with possums?

SUMMARY OF OUR CASE AGAINST THE POSSUM FUR TRADE

The damage possums are causing to Native bush is overstated, as are their numbers. Possums were brought to NZ by humans in the hopes of making money from their fur.

Perpetuating an industry that relies on slaughtering introduced animals is not going to solve the introduced animal problem. If anything, profiteering and building a market for pssum fur will only perpetuate the problem.

It is defeatist and convenient for the New Zealand government to proclaim 'the possum will never be eradicated in New Zealand'. What a easy cop out! And what will that management avoidance strategy do to the New Zealand natural environment? The NZ government approach to possum control is to apply 1080 poison in the wild and spends $80 million p.a. of taxpayers money in the process. The 1080 poison is banned in many first world countries because it causes a cruel agonising death. The New Zealand Government is unethical in using it.
[SOURCE: http://www.debandada.com/About+Possum+Fur/Possum+History.html]

What about controls on introduced stoats and weasels that are a serious predation threat to indigenous Kiwi birds?

TIGERQUOLL RECOMMENDATION: Repatriate all possums safely back to Australia.

New Zealand colonists owe the Maoris and New Zealand itself 170 odd years of introducing animals like the Australia native Brushtailed possum, rabbits, stoats and weasels into the New Zealand wild for misguided reasons and its subsequent breeding and environmental damage. The introduction (or species invasion) was not by the possum, but by New Zealand colonists.

The full cost of recovery and rehabilitation and redress for the 172 years of environment damage caused to New Zealand and its flora and fauna, ethically must be borne jointly by the Australian and New Zealand governments. Colonial crimes against the environment must be brought to account.

If it costs a billion dollars to repatriate possums out of New Zealand back to Australia so be it. May be Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will realise that he is squandering Australian taxpayer money on his pet personal projects that Australia can't afford, such as his splurging of $750 million topping up F35 joint strike fighter extravagance to appease US-Australian political agenda. May be New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key will stop wasting $1.5 billion on duplicating a regional fibre-to-the-home broadband plan.

The problem is not one of resources in either country; it is one of lack of political will and skewed priorities.

Leadbeater’s Possum – Victoria’s endangered State Faunal Emblem.

The following article is based on an urgent communication from Friends of Leadbeater's Possum.

Leadbeater’s Possum (LBP) Quick Facts:

- Approx 43% of the Leadbeater's Possum Permanent Reserve System (30,000ha) was burnt in the 2009 fires.
- It is estimated remaining populations are around just 1,000 individuals in the wild.
- There are no Leadbeater's Possum in captivity in Australia, and there is no captive breeding program planned
to help increase their population.
- Massive scale salvage logging and new timber harvesting coupes in areas of un?burnt water catchments are compounding the effects of the bushfires by removing all LBP habitat elements for the next few hundred years!

What can you do to help LBPs this Threatened Species Day???
On September 7th please make the effort to contact Premier Brumby and let him know you are not happy with the way his government is treating our forests and that you want more to be done to protect these forests for threatened species like Leadbeater’s Possum.

- Demand a full scale review of our forest estate

- Demand a full scale review of our forest estate – before any more logging coupes or salvage logging coupes are approved.

We need to ensure our State Government is managing our forests for threatened species, biodiversity & ecological values,
carbon storage, water catchments and air quality – for all Australians, not just those benefiting from our destructive
timber harvesting industry.

- Demand an end to all logging in water catchments. Water scarcity is an increasingly alarming issue, and rather than building destructive pipelines and energy intensive desalination plants, Victoria should be protecting the water catchments
that have provided us with some of the best drinking water in the world!

- Demand more resources be spent on threatened species management, including broad scale monitoring programs, habitat enhancement measures & community engagement.

To Contact Premier John Brumby:
www.premier.vic.gov.au, Twitter: ‘vicpremier’
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JohnBrumbyMP

For more about saving the little Leadbeater's Possum contact
Friends of the Leadbeater's Possum
Email Friends of Leadbeater's Possum
PO Box 1175
Healesville VIC 3777
[email protected]
www.leadbeaters.org.au

I can hear that collective intake of breath from wildlife warriors and carers all over Australia. Possums as pets? Wildlife as pets! Isn't it bad enough that humans mistreat dogs and cats, without encouraging them to imprison and malnourish possums and other wildlife? See also: "Living with humans - A possum responds to "Living with wild animals" article" and earlier episodes of Gloria O'Possum's adventures.

Breakfast at 6pm, delivered to my door by a friendly and tolerant human. Note that I can leave and enter the house anytime and I forage for my own food and sometimes sleep elsewhere. I am a free but friendly spirit.

Settle, gumnuts!

I wasn't talking about keeping us all locked up.

No. I was talking about sharing shelter - as I do with my giant human -.
I meant not locking us out of the Great Indoors which you humans have converted our forests into. I was talking about time-sharing possum boxes with the local population, hanging out together in the garden, growing native trees to attract us to your backyard, going on bushwalks together, singing at the moon together, playing with baby possums together and interacting with adults on a free and equal basis.

Baby possum and human interacting

Free to come and go, human and possum. I wasn't talking about locking us up, feeding us tinned 'possum-food' and 'science-diets', or taking us for a walk on a leash (Great Possum no!). I was talking about living and letting live and making friends.

Intolerance of different species is rife amongst Australians. Although the government preaches multiculturalism, possums and other wildlife are displaced and persecuted - even killed - by humans. Do humans really prefer dogs and cats to possums, quolls, devils and roos, or is it just because they have been discouraged from making a connection with Australian wildlife?

A lot of wildlife carers think that the government really wants to get rid of all of us native animals. The government is very unfriendly, calling us pests and taking away our natural habitat. A recent treasurer of Australia, Peter Costello, said that he wanted to get rid of all of us! What a horrible remark! He should have been locked up for hate crimes as well as for promoting greed and human overpopulation.

A lot of humans think it is illegal to keep Australian wildlife. Well, it IS illegal to lock some of us up without a license and, so it should be. The same applies to locking up humans - you also need a license. But it isn't illegal to interact with us and let us live on 'your' property. No policeman is going to come along and tell you that you mustn't address possums on your back fence, or feed them gum-flowers, or have them come in and out of your bedroom window and sleep in a possum box on the dresser. No policeman is going to come along and tell you that you may not encourage a long-necked turtle to live in your swimming pool or fish pond either, although you need to conform to certain specifications if you purchase a long-necked turtle.

You know who will try to tell you not to be friends with us? Your dog or your cat. They will try to kill us. These animals have been taken from their natural homes and they have brought a culture here that is anti-possum, just like many human settlers who were not born here or who grew up in a possum-less high-rise, or who have been so indoctrinated with Beatrix Potter animal stories that they are rabbit, dog and cat mad.

Okay, you love your dog and cat. But, when they die, please think about us possums and the rest of the indigenous animals. Don't get another dog or cat. As well as being naturally cute and funky, natural tightrope walkers and roof-dancers, we are so much more convenient. You don't have to desex us, you don't have to register us, you don't have to keep us inside all night or walk us on a leash. We are free to come and go - except where we are falsely persecuted in public places and by intolerant householders.

One of a tribe of possums at Catani gardens, St Kilda, harassed by the Council, falsely and persistently accused of spreading Fusarium wilt

Yes, a possum-human relationship can be an equal partnership. What's more, you can follow us into our world. Imagine, children, tree-climbing with friendly possums. The poor dog or cat - at best tolerated as immigrants - have no real citizenship. They are not allowed out and about without a human in tow. But the possum, the kangaroo, the long-necked turtle, the quoll - we are free as birds - or we would be - if there were not so many dogs, cats, and wildlife-phobic politicians out there.

Let's clear up this misunderstanding now.
You can buy possum-boxes at your local petshop. What's stopping you?

Politics of indoor and outdoor possums

I hear that there has been a bit of a kerfuffle in the candobetter possum camp - among the humans, that is - over whether I should be living outside or inside. For me, of course, there is no doubt. 'Inside', as humans refer to some of the bigger wooden hollows in Brisbane, is the normal place for possums. We don't live 'outside' by choice. We live in holes in wood, like humans. What did you imagine? That we sit under trees holding fig-leaves over our heads in torrential rain by choice? No, we possums have the same needs as humans. To paraphrase Shakespeare:

"I am a Possum. Hath not a Possum eyes? Hath not a Possum hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer, as a Human is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? [Try it some time!] If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, do we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that."

The only reason you may find us outdoors (except for nights of the full moon, singing) is because of the housing crisis in Australia, notably in Brisbane, where I was born and reside. I used to come to this place with my mother between 11pm and 2am and we would sit in the shelves in the kitchen, avoiding possum hoons outside. You can see us in a film about the housing crisis that shows me when I was little. Now I am living permanently in this very big old dead tree, made of finest extinct Brisbane Forest, with many superb hollows containing refrigerators, stoves, bookcases, baths, computers, with running water and food. My particular haunt is the comparatively small, snug hollow (known as the AWPC possum-box) behind the door of the hollow adjacent to the kitchen, where the backpack used to hang. The giant human I share with lives in a gigantic hollow at the front of the house. We rattle around here. Sure beats Vinny's clothing bins. I won't pretend that I didn't like that backpack - it reminded me of mum - but I do admit that the possum box is more durable and harder to get me out of. Best of all, the human who placed the possum box here, doesn't try to take it to work with him. We both got a shock when he tried to pack his lunch and novel to take to work the first time.

See more about that episode in "Living with Wild Animals"

For us possums it is obvious that humans know very little about us. That is the reason they are so intolerant. So I have taken it upon myself to write this educative blog.

Possum circuits and time-share arrangements

Some of you may be surprised to hear that the other night another possum slept in this box. Since I am not going to go into my private life, I will not tell you whether it was a male or a female possum, but I can tell you that it is quite normal for related female possums to live together, and for male possums to visit. It doesn't mean that this place is going to be inundated with possums. We are too territorial for that. (Although not as territorial as humans; most of you want the forest all to yourselves - although you call it 'inside'. Ha!) Male possums have a big circuit and visit a number of females and different possum quarters in their travels, for reasons which you may guess. They often sleep rough. Female possums have a smaller range of addresses and they prefer comfort and security. I felt secretly triumphant to realise that the human here, initially so keen to keep me 'outside' (it's unofficial about the small refugee population of possums, bats, rats and birds in the roof) was disappointed after I spent two nights in the possum box then didn't come home the next. Well, that's about my rhythm at the moment. Two nights in the box and the third night visiting relatives. There is a bit of a time-share arrangement among a wider circle with the possum box. I spent the last two nights here but I'll be sleeping in the ceiling of a kiosque in the Roma Street Gardens tomorrow, after dining off some of those rare fruits. We spread ourselves around. We are not the ones who ate all your roses; it's snails - because there aren't enough birds. Encourage birds and you will not have any big problems with snails. Only another two hours before the sun goes down here in the tropics, so I think I'll have another little nap. Hopefully there will be a bit of banana when I wake up. My mother started this project and it's taken years, but I think I have this human nearly trained.

Humans have moved into native animals' backyards yet many of us get upset when there is a possum in our roof and go to all ends to remove it by having it relocated. Some farmers even shoot these hapless animals that are only looking for somewhere to sleep during the day and something to eat. We have a responsibility to them because we caused this situation and it's possible to not only share our space but give back some habitat to them. Here's what happened to a friend of mine recently when a possum moved into his house..... See the sequel to this story.

Every time I talk to my friend, who lives in suburban Brisbane, he tells me of another encounter with a possum that happened in his house. Apparently there is a small part at the top of the window where this small possum can squeeze into. The first event was a loud crash and evidence of a microwave door window being smashed. The poor thing must have been sleeping in there! Lucky my friend didn't turn on the microwave...

Being an animal-lover, of course he had to offer the hungry creature some of his leftover birthday cake. After that, evening sortees into his house became more regular. I encouraged him to give the possum vegetable and fruit matter instead of highly processed food which could make a native animal sick in time.

The last encounter was yesterday when he went to get his haversack to take to work and who was sleeping inside but none other than Ms Possum. Unhappy to be woken from her snooze in such a nice dark, warm place obviously she would have been forced to find another dark warm spot to continue her rudely awakened and by this time much-needed sleep.

I suggested to my friend that he get a haversack especially for Ms Possum but then it occurred to me that a better solution would be to get a (available here possum house or simply make your own possum house
which is attached to a tree.That would be a nice dark location for the possum and its future offspring to sleep in by day. Perhaps position it in a shady spot so it won't be too hot in the summer. Possums should be encouraged to live outdoors and if they have a place to sleep and a food source there is no need for them to come into your house.

Relocating possums is not in the best interest of the possum. Possums are extremely territorial and if moved to another possum's territory may lose its life in a death struggle with the presiding possum.

Normally possums like to sleep in tree hollows but these are very rare and fiercely contended for by a variety of other animals. By providing a box for various native animals you will be allowing them to survive the damage wrought by tree felling over the years which has led to the destruction of their habitat.

Perhaps you could consider planting some trees in your backyard that it might like to climb in or some fruit trees. Possums feed on leaves, buds, flowers and fruits. Occasionally they eat insects, eggs, meat.

For those people who have orchards or vege gardens who object to possums eating the fruits of their labour, why not put a fence around the tree or the vege patch or at least part of it? The possums could at least have access to your compost pile. Possums come to my open, compost heap which is full of organic, unsprayed veges and fruit and must find something tasty in there.

Possums are native to Australia and therefore protected (which doesn't mean much in a country like Australia whose kangaroos are also 'protected'). However in NZ possums are regarded as 'pests' and number 70 million. They have no sympathy and are shot on sight by farmers.

Native animals have a right to live too. Without biodiversity we will all perish. Besides, possums can offer a pleasant diversion for people who live alone. Even though I live in the rainforest, the sound of the gutteral calls of the possum who comes around regularly at night and his funny way of running which reminds me of ladies in high heel shoes delicately prancing across my tin roof at top speed gives me pleasure.

There is something very satisfying about non-verbal interspecies communication. Fundamentally, we are all the same as all creatures seek happiness and avoid pain and suffering. Ultimately, nothing brings as much joy as helping provide another being its needs. For many native animals, their survival depends on our kindness, especially as they share our world.

Maybe the day will come when the lion will lay down with the lamb and man will no longer regard other creatures like kangaroos, possums, wombats and bats as pests but beings who share the planet with them in peace.

See the sequel to this story.

Australian-based Japanese students mistaken possum for cat!

I recently received the photograph above with the following email message:

"Subject: Lost Cat found........... posted by Japanese students renting in Brunswick,VICTORIA

AND FEEDING IT CAT FOOD TOO !"

The students had apparently posted a picture of a possum they had found in the street, believing it was a lost domestic cat. Admirably, they were feeding it and looking after it, whilst seeking a rapid return to its owner. Perhaps even more incredibly, the possum seemed to have adapted to its new role as a rescued domestic cat.

Incredible - yes!

Incredible, eh? What cute naivety on the part of those Japanese students. What must the possum think of the whole thing, you wonder? Did it stay with the students? Did it manage to get them to enlarge its diet to include seaweed salad and radishes? Did the students eventually realise that what they had was not a cat, and change the possum over to its rightful diet of gum-nut flowers and coastal tea-tree, perhaps with the occasional desert of red geraniums?

The real story

Actually, this poster is a fake. Sandy Fernee writes, "The possum is one that was in a shelter over 10 years ago, in fact the picture was stolen from the shelter operators' posting."

But the real story is a nice one too. "The possum was released 10 years ago and has probably had lots of babies in the wild [...] This fake poster has been going around for about 2 years now."

She adds, "Please remind people with injured possums that they should call their local wildlife rescue group."
Sandy is the Executive Officer at Wildlife Victoria www.wildlifevictoria.org.au and a licensed wildlife carer.

Photo by Julia Buch

Totoro or Pokemon possums

Come to think of it, while we are on the subject of Japanese view-points, possums look a bit like Tortoro, a giant friendly Japanese wood-spirit made famous through the Japanese anime, film, My Neighbour Tortoro.

And Tortoro looked like a great big Pokemon, the Japanese cartoon animal hero.

It would in fact be nice if the Australian Brushtail Possum were to have the same support that Pokemon has, world wide. As it is, in many places in Australia our brushtail possum wood spirit look-alike is atrociously treated and disrespected. Anyone who has formed a relationship of mutual trust with a brush tail possum - through raising one or looking after an injured one for a long time, knows what fun they are - and how cute - as well as courageous and social. They are, however, mistreated by many councils in Australia, treated as 'pests' by the state government, and seen as a target for cruelty by some members of the public.

The possum is a powerful suburban advocate for all Australian wildlife and so many Australians and Australian visitors miss out on possum magic. Tortoro was a kind of animal god who made friends with some children and protected them and was remembered all their lives. How much richer our lives in Australia would be if we gave that kind of respect to that curious and sociable, playful and mischievious, but independent creature, who tries to get along with us in the suburbs - our friend - the common brush-tail possum.