OPOSSUM SEASON

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 42, 17 August 1929, Page 11

OPOSSUM SEASON

TRAPPERS AT WORK

AN INTERESTING ANIMAL

RECORD IN LICENCES

. The opossum season, which opened a few weeks ago, extends

until the end of the present month,

The "Wellington district easily heads the list in the number of , licenses' issued, and this year there

are about 500 trappers at work.

One, reason for the big increase in the number of licenses issued is to be found in the number of unemployed who have chosen opossum trapping as a possible means of making a giving during the winter months. But opossum trapping, like many another calling, requires skill and experience- if a go6d thing is to be mado out of it. Some trappeTS will doubtless finish the season with substantial cheques in .their pockets. But others will not, for the aroaß chosen by them for trapping ,'and the methods employed are often such as would not be countenanced for a moment by old hands. But the seasou as. a whole gives promise of being a- success. The skins seem to be .in good condition, and prices, although not as high as they have sometimes been, are higti enough to make'the traping worth' while. ■

' Strictly, speaking tho little fur-bear-ing animal known in New Zealand as the-opossum has no real right to that name. The name opossum is an Indian one, belonging rightly to the North American animal. In Australia in the early days was found a family of marsupials . bearing a resemblance to, although, by no means closely related to, the North American animal. These Phalangers,\Triehosurus Vulpeeula, to give them their correct name, were dubbed opossums, and opossums they presumably always will be except to scientific Zoologists. The first co-called opossumß to be brought to New-Zealand from Australia were liberated at Eiver--ton in. Southland, in 1858. In 1893 the Wellington Acclimatisation Society purchased from the South Acclimatisation Society 19 ' Tasmanian "black" or "blue" opossums and released them ■in-tlie:game park at Paraparaumu. The next year two consignments were purchased at the rate of 22s 4d a pair, the charges ■ being for catching and incidental expenses. Ten of this lot were liberated at Wainuiomata and ten on Kapiti. Island. The imported opossums 'found New Zealand a congenial homo, and have. thrived and 'multiplied, largely, "no doubt owing to the absence of natural enemies, man with his traps and guns being the only foes against which they have to contend, but that,, if the law is observed, for only a few ■weeks in the- year.

Opossums certainly keep the rangers busy, before, during, and after the season. Not that the opossum itself needs watching; but the trappers. Before the Beaßon Opens many of the trappers seem to become infected with the bacillus of suspicion, innocent neighbours are accused of poisoning and other malpractices, and the ranger must needs be both übiquitous and tactful if the peace is to be kept. Then there are the trappers who in their impatience cannot wait for the lawful season. They, when caught by the ranger, increase the country's revenue.

IS THE OPOSSJNt A PEST?

There are some .vho cannot speak of the opossum w'diout . using violent language abou* imported pests in gen.eral. No'ono denies that the opossum is capable ri doing a certain amount of . -damage, but it probably does not do as much as its - opponents maintain, and -"probably the value of its skin is an : asset which more than counterbalances ~ 'the damage. The opossum certainly -damages plantations, eating succulent -young shoots, but other importations 'like deer and pigs do far more. Opoa-.-xsuma at times rob ,nests, taking eggs ■". or young nestlings for a meal, but t'er- ,"•' rets, stoats, .weasels, or rats do much 'more damage of this kind than opos- ■• 'Bums. . .. . ', . ' Many of the charges laid against the : opossum have never been proved, or '• Save "been grossly exaggerated, and in .this respect the opossum and the kea w can sympathise with each'other. ■ The 1 trouble.with the opossums is their ex- . „ sessive curiosity: anything strange .it i - always wants to investigate closely. It .- is the opossum's insatiable curiosty that makes it one of the easiest of animals to catch in a trap. Opossums, too, • vary, in virtue like human beings, and some: may be more inclined to do mis- ::. chief and damage than others. The dam- ■ age that an opossum does is not always intentional or because it is hungry, but it would seem as if the animal derives a certain amount of enjoyment from its escapades. This, of course, does not excuse its conduct in eyes of the \ . orchardist, who invariably gives the ,:. opossum a bad name. But the orchard.ist has his compensations, for he may • shoot 'the/ marauding visitor, and it does not take, many opossum skins to make up the value of a case of fruit. That opossums will ever become so . numerous as to be a serious pest is hardly likely, for, unlike a rabbit, an opoßSum .seldom has a family of more than one- each year. In the absence of natural enemies, ; the trapper sees to it that they do not multiply too quick- : ly. What is needed, if the opossum industry is to continue to mean thousands a year, to New Zealanders, is something to. ensure that fit opossums shall be ,left to carry on the race and produce .... first-class skins. It may be that opossunr stud farms will be created' in the future, only the best animals being used for. stocking suitable areas well '"laway from orchards and plantations. A SURVIVAL FROM THE PAST. ■-"Playing Opossum" is a common ■ ■■ phrase originating from North America, -the home of the real opossum. It refers to ■'■•■■ the habit that tho animal has of feign^ ing death when all other methods of ■ escape seem useless. Even if New Zealand's opossum is not really an opossum, it is none the ■less a remarkably interesting survival from prehistoric ■ times. "When reptiles held sway in what geologists call the later secondary age, marsupials (mammals with" pouches as cradles for the young) made no great showing, but for all that they spread to many parts of the earth. During the- following geological ages marsupials disappeared except from the continents of America ■•• and Australia. These v comparatively primitive forms of life took possession of Australia.and developed along lines '.that in other.lands were taken by later and more highly developed mammals. -Thus there were terestial marsupials, arboreal marsupials, .burrowing marsupials, and even a marsupial mole; there were fruit-eaters, grass-eaters, insecteaters, and carniverous forms. "Thus do men specialise in communities 'in which there is nothing to keep them in check,", says Professor Kirk, a champion of the opossum. "We liave •useful, men who are tho producers of ■ what ■ the race needs, and predatory ■ classes, as plumbers, lawyers, doctors; even schools for the predatory where they may learn their trade, and, in the schools, teachers, known as professors. And all'this man has learnt to do in-a triflo.of time compared to that taken by the opossum and his friends in achieving their1 specialised control of Australia. But man is a despicable modern compared with the opossum,"