Possums

Many people don’t know what possums do, or that they are a pest. They kill trees by eating the foliage, causing the trees to die, and they also eat grass, which can make you run out if you are a farmer. All the possums together in New Zealand eat roughly twenty-one rugby fields of foliage or grass every night. That’s why possum hunting was started. Once you start you and others (including dogs) may become addicted.
 * POSSUMS **

To go opossum hunting you can go either by day or by night. If by night you need a bright spotlight, a shotgun or .22, an onion sack, at least two people and at least one of those must have a gun license. If by day then you need a good dog that has a good nose (most terriers would do and some other types of breeds are good as well), and all of the above EXCEPT a spotlight. You don’t need a special possum hunting license. The onion sack is for fur. You pull the fur off just after the possum dies, if the fur is reasonably dry. You pluck it off the sides and back because the rest is too short. You may have to wrestle the dog for the possum at first but the dog should soon learn. You may have to shoot the possums when the dog finds them. The dog will bark at the base of the tree if there is a possum there. The possum will normally run to the top of a tree, it may move to several different trees, or it may not come out at all. It may take the dog a while to find the tree and some times it may never find the possum. If the possum comes out then you can shoot it. It should fall to the ground and then the dog may grab it and run off with it. You may hold onto the dog while your mate shoots and plucks the possum but let it have the possum afterwards or the dog will be discouraged. While you are plucking the possum you can check if it’s a female or male. If it’s a female you can check in the pouch for a baby Joey. If there is one then you should pull it out and kill it.

Once you have 1kg of fur you can sell it for $105 when the price is good. Hunting causes the possum population not to rise as fast. It is good exercise for you and your dog.