INTRODUCING OPOSSUMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16337, 18 September 1916, Page 7

INTRODUCING OPOSSUMS

FRUITGROWERS ANXIOUS.

EXPERIENCES AT ALBANY.

DAMAGE TO ORCHARDS.

The proposal for the introduction to the Auckland district of the black opossum of Australia, which was favourably considered at last week's meeting of the council of the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, has caused some anxiety amongst the fruitgrowers of the district, lest the importation of the fur-yielding creature should prore prejudicial to the interests of their industry. Evidence as to the experience of Australian crchardists seems to suggest that at least full inquiry should be made before the experiment is entered upon. The subject is by no means new to Auckland people, for tho little marsupial is already to be found in the Albany district, and the settlers there seem to be not at all enamoured of its habits. At a meeting of the Albany Fruitgrowers' Associatian held last week the proposal of the Acclimatisation Society came under Discussion. Several members stated their experience of the raids made upon orchards by opossums, and stated that the creature was increasing amazingly in number* in Albany and surrounding districts. One settler had trapped 17 during the last two or three weeks, after immense damage had been done to his newly-planted orchard by the breaking down of young limbs. Opossums which had been shot when apple-trees were in bloom had been found to be full of apple blossoms. Later, when the fruit was set, they ate the leaves, leaving only the middle rib. Other fruitgrowers stated that they had known peach, apple, and pear trees to be stripped of fruit by these animals, and that one person who planted a number of lemons a few weeks ago had lost the lot, the opossums eating both foliage and wood. FRUIT EXPERT'S VIEW.

TASMANUN OBSERVATIONS. [ NEED FOR GREAT CAUTION. Some light was thrown upon the habits of the opossum in Australia by Mr. R. J. Terry, for 16 years an officer of the Department of Agriculture in Tasmania, in conversation with a Herald representative. " While lam in every way friendly to the Acclimatisation Society," said Mr. Terry, " and more anxious to assist in its admirable work than to offer hostile criticism, I would strongly advise it to pause before giving its oonntcnanco to the introduction to this district of a creature so destructive as the opossum. In my opinion it would be a very unwise proceeding, and if the society is anxious to make an experiment in the matter it should certainly confine that experiment to an island, where any predacious habits of the animal would bo limited in their effects, and where it could be ascertained, before the opossum was given a wider range, whether the natural bush of New Zealand will furnish it with foods suitable to its taste, and so restrain it from satisfying its appetite upon the , farmer's crops." Question ol Food Supplies. The natural food of the opossum in Australia, said Mr. Terry, consists of grass and the leaves of the eucalyptus, and it is especially fond of the " old man " giant fern. The main question for the New Zealand farmer is whether any correspondingly satisfying food can be found in the New Zealand forests. If not, then no shyness on the part of the marsupial will prevent it from raiding the farmers' fields, for it has no fear of dwellinghouses, and has even been known to make a playground of the roof of a house 100 yds from the edge of the bush. The fondness of the opossum for the tender shoots of fruit trees seems to be beyond doubt. Mr. Terry said that in the orchard districts on the Tamar River, in Tasmania, he had seen instances where the opossum had climbed up apple trees, and not only eaten the young shoots, but shown nice discrimination as to the kind of apple most agreeable to its taste. Cox's orange pippin appeared, to be especially grateful to its palate, and he saw places where, out of, say, 30 rows of apples of various kinds, the opossum had made its meal upon the Cox's orange, and disposed I of all the young growth on this variety before touching any other kind of apple. Difficulty in Checking Increase. The commercial demand for the skin of the opossum, and the consequent energy ! shown in the trapping industry, has had < a good deal of effect in keeping the pest i in check in Australia Mr. Terry fears, however, that this restraint upon its depredations would be much more difficult to apply in New Zealand. In Tasmania, the principal habitat of the opossum is the hi eh branches of the eucalyptus. There it can readily bo detected by the snarer, or gunman, against the white bark of the trees, or traced to its aerial sleep-ing-places from the marks of its claws upon the bark of the trunk, and snares arc set accordingly, or the .animal makes an excellent mark for powder and shot. In the New Zealand bush the trapper, or gunman, would have no such advantago over his quarry, and the natural increase would, therefore, probably be much more rapid than is the experience in Australia. Commercial Value of Skins. " It is folly," said Mr. Terry, " to deny that the opossum is a largo consumer of grass. Whether the farmer would welcome it as a competitor with his stock for his well-prepared pasture is a matter for him to consider. As a pet in confinement, there is much to bo said in favour of the opossum. But as regards the commercial uses of its skin, it lias to be remembered that all opossum furs are not valuable. Only when they live in a comparatively cooi climate have they a mercantile value. Further, onlv those skins that are quite black—free from rusty colour sought after. Sometimes the skins of animals snared or shot are found to be much depreciated in value through their being what is termed 'Joey-ridden,' in other words through the fur being damaged on account of the habit of the parent of carrying its young on its back. From my experience of the animal I should strongly advise the society to go into the matter carefully, and take the fullest precautions against the miscarriage of its experiment before it gives the opossum the free run of the Auckland bush."

PROTECTION IN WELLINGTON. QUESTION OF DISTRIBUTION. For three years the Wellington Acclimatisation Society has been endeavouring to secure protection for opossums in the Wellington district, with the result that tho Government has gazetted the protection of these animals throughout the province, saj's a Southern paper. The Government is going into the question of distributing opossums throughout the Dominion, and is seeking information from the society as to the distribution of these animals.