OPOSSUMS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 August 1913, Page 2

OPOSSUMS.

Question for Levin Fruit Growers. "JL'iLE PItUS AA D IJOJN S DISCL SSED. Tiie secretary of the Jluruwlienua Eruitgrowers' Association is ill receipt of the following letter from Mr \V. 11. Eield "Wellington, August 12, I'JU). AL. Eosella, Esq., Levin. Deai' Mr Eosella,- 1 notice in the llorowhenua Chronicle that your Eruitgrowers' Association lias passed a resolution against the admission of the opossums to the Levin district, and 1 see a correspondent . of the paper is taking up cudgels on belmlf of this beautiful and valuable little animal. Eroni what 1 have been able to Icyrn, and I have made exhaustive enquiries from Tasnianians and others, 1 should .judge thai the Association is making a mistake. There is no gainsaying the fact thai on occasions opossums will help themselves to apples, pears, and,.l suppose, other fruit, but the damage they do is very slight, unless they i re starved on to the fruit, and in any case no harm can happen to orchards which arc situate long distances from the bush in which the animal hides during the day. Having received a letter from a South Island orchardisi, thai opossums had done great damage in his orchard, the Minister for Internal Affairs recently was prevailed upon to issue a proclamation allowing the DESTRPCTIOX OE OPOSSUMS all the year round, but since more accurate information has reached him he has declined to protect practically the whole of the South Island, except in the winter mouths, and he lias now under consideration how much ol: the North Island shall be protected. 1 have strongly urged him, as also have the Acclimatisation Society, supported, I believe, by the Orchards Division of (he Agricultural Department, to protect the animal in all parts of the island except areas actually in orchard, and the immediate vicinity. Recently a trapper secured 400 opossums in a fortnight in the bush reserve at Waikanae and sold them for Ids apiece. A fair price for (irst-class skins in I asniania, and the .New Zealand ones are superior to them, is t'l, or slightly more. The very best Xew Zealand skins are, I believe, worth -'10s in the old country. You can readily understand therefore how valuable the industry is likely to become if the animals are PROPERLY PROTECTED. Tn Tasmania nobody is allowed to kill opossums outside the three winter months, the penalty being a minimum of' i'l per skin. Owners of orchards are, however, allowed to destroy them on their properties but ire forced to hand all skins to the ( overnment, this precaution being necessary to prevent the illegal slaughtering by orcharcisls. I understand one settler at Paraparaumu had some pears eaten by opossums, hut I am interested in an orchard t hat is practically adjacent to the I ll'gesi forest reserve there, indeed ihe forest extends into the orchard itself, and the occupier hears the aiiimtils climbing over the roof all night, yet T believe ho has never known of a single pear being devoured. A tenant of mine who lives on the outskirts of one of the reserves fells me that lie often watches the opossums coming out to feed in the evening, and that ihe plant they attack most greedily is , ' THE DOCK. Tt seems th;it if docks are available they will touch nothing else. The opossum only produces one of its young in a I .Year, and therefore cannot multiply fast, and I have urged the Minister to stop its indiscriminate slaughter until the animal gets a fair hold on the least accessible bush Innd towards the lararuas, and then allow the trapping of them, under proper regulations, during (lit 1 three winter^months. The tree which the animal climbs is easily distinguished by the scratches on the bark, the tawa being its |a\ ouriie. .Lhe trapper simply leans a small board against the bottom of each tree, places si ti;ap there, and the opossum walks right into it. Thus if is possible to absolutely" exterminate the animal in aiiy piece of bush of a moderate area I understand that ihe influences "'lnch have been brought to bear on the subject down south have been to some extent interesting, if being said ihaT one piime mover inthc prompting of the proclamation received a CHEQl T E EOR £:!80 <ts the plunder resulting to him from the iirst trapping operations. Mr Tripp, President of

the Wellington Acclimatisation Society, is taking a great interest in this subject and collecting all the information lie can with a view to guiding the Government, settlers, and orchardists alike, as to the best course to follow. Of the magnitude of the industry, as likely to result from due protection of the opossum, I may mention that I am told (it), 000 skins were obtained in one area of bush m the South Island this year. ' It would, of course, seriously injure the industry if trapping were allowed all the year round, as a large proportion of the skins exported would then be of inferior quality. For liuman- * itarian reasons, too, the present system of trapping should be abolished. It is at this time of the year that the mother is carrying the young in her pouch. The OPDINAPY GIN TPAP is used, and the animal is usually found by the trapper with a broken legs, or legs, after having endured many hours, possibly days, of agony. The trapper simply knocks the animal on the head, and I am informed that some do not even kill the young animal found in the mother's pouch, but simply throw it aside, to die of starvation. Altogether the whole matter wants to be carefully considered, and the trapping of the animal strictly regulated. Tt is possible, T understand, to secure them in traps which cause them 110 injury, and in this case the female opossums i carrying young should be liberated. Tt is not many years since the Tasmaiuan opossum was placed in the bush at Paraparaumu, and notwithstanding the slow rate of increase above mentioned, if has spread some miles into the bush. It thrives in this country well, and produces a magnificent skin. You can readily understand from what 1 have said I 1 -m enormous industry might be built Hi) by liberating the animal in the bush at the back of Levin and protecting it for a period of years. All this can be done, ; iii my opinion, without in any I wav menacing a SINGLE FPCIT ORCHARD. | I am determined to protect not j only the opossums, but our Native birds, in my reserves at W aikanae, and with that view have appointed Mr J. M. O'Connor, late of Shannon, caretaker of such reserves. I have ! protected the bush in these 1 areas for upwards of twenty years, have paid land tax and local rates thereon, and have been put to great expense in fencing, and other maintenance. Notwithstanding this, Natives and others have helped themselves to timber and firewood, and practically exterminated the tnis and olier birds winch originally abounded in my bush. Recently they set to work to M(' RDER THE OPOSSI'MS, and succeeded in securing large n umbel's bet ore I discovered them. I have resolved that this trespass shall not be perpetuated if 1 can help it, and I hope that those interested in bush land near Levin, as well as the Fruitgrowers' Association and the public generally, will take a similar course, or at least that they will not; take action to destroy or prevent flu l spread of the opossum without first possessing themselves of the fullest information on the subject."