OPOSSUMS

Evening Star, Issue 19290, 1 July 1926, Page 8

OPOSSUMS

exemption from protection Tho protection given by the law to the opossum, which is a valuable furbearing animal, can bo lifted in cases where opossums are damaging orchards. In that case opossums can bo killed within a radius of half a milo of a registered orchard. It is suspected that in some cases registered orchardists who arc taking opossums are influenced more by a desire to sell fur than to protect fruit. A gathering of Otago fruitgrowers in Dunedin on June 4 considered a remit from the Rangiora Fruitgrowers’ Association to tho effect that the protection of opossums should bo lifted for at least a distance of three miles from any orchard area. The remit, after discussion, stood over till tlfo conference of the New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation meets in Wellington in a few days’ time. Tho Assistant Director of Horticulture, Mr W. T. Goodwin, took part in the discussion. Ho slates that ho told tho gathering that the opossum regulations wore administered by tho Internal Affairs Department, and a fear had been expressed in communications from that department that tho privileges of registered orchardists with regard to opossums were being used by people who did not want to grow fruit, but to take opossums. As a matter of fact, it was quite possible, under the regulations, for an orchard to be registered from which a single case of fruit was never packed, such registration only being used for the purpose of illicit trapping. His remarks on the subject were not necessarily his own view, but tho view of acclimatisation societies put forward through the Internal Affairs Department; and in this connection confined to isolated, non-eoinmcrcia,l orchards, and not applicable to growers within commercial fruit areas.

In a report of the proceedings in the ‘Evening Star’ Mr Goodwin was represented as saying that “ the movers of the proposal to lift the protection were probably registered orchardists who did not pack a case of fruit, and wanted an opportunity to carry out trapping.” This suggestion of motive to the movers (the Rangiora Association) is resented. Mr Goodwin states that he did not make the statement as it was reported; he had no intention of casting any reflection on members of the Rangiora Fruitgrowers’ Association, or any other bona fide commercial fruitgrower; and tho ‘Star’ accepts his assurance concerning the purport of his remarks.