Note for all Kiwis in aussie

[85 county]

you will be arrested for skinning a couple of possums

apparently Australians like the tree rat

and growing fruit trees is solely for there benifit

[Gumnut]

Note 2. You will also be arrested for doing unnatural things to sheep. They are there for eating and shearing ( not sharing)......

[sheerluck]

Note 2. You will also be arrested for doing unnatural things to sheep. They are there for eating and shearing ( not sharing)......

Comes naturally to the sheep.

If you'll pardon the phrase.

[85 county]

Note 2. You will also be arrested for doing unnatural things to sheep. They are there for eating and shearing ( not sharing)......

Dickhead!!!

[bob10]

Dickhead!!!


:D:D:D:D

Oh, What a feeling,! Bob

[disco man]

you will be arrested for skinning a couple of possums

apparently Australians like the tree rat

and growing fruit trees is solely for there benifit

Yep no good trying to be a possum trapper over here,don't think the aussie government gives you money for skins.

[85 county]

Yep no good trying to be a possum trapper over here,don't think the aussie government gives you money for skins.

so true, i got my first motorbike RV90 from 2 weeks of tramping 1 school holidays

[disco man]

so true, i got my first motorbike RV90 from 2 weeks of tramping 1 school holidays

That's how my uncle down in Optiki got his first chev impala,i went down to his beach bach last year and little bastards were everywhere.

[85 county]

That's how my uncle down in Optiki got his first chev impala,i went down to his beach bach last year and little bastards were everywhere.

Optiki, cool keeps the WEED down.

when out with a chick from there worked for ASB Back in Rotorua

and did my block courses with a couple of guys from there

even biked, 10 speed, around the coast from to there.

hit the bridge there.

drove over a cops bike there CB500

[disco man]

Optiki, cool keeps the WEED down.

when out with a chick from there worked for ASB Back in Rotorua

and did my block courses with a couple of guys from there

even biked, 10 speed, around the coast from to there.

hit the bridge there.

drove over a cops bike there CB500

Awesome little town,getting a bit rough these days.Some good growers down there. My phano is spread out from Tauranga, Tepuke, Gisborne,Whakatane, and a few cousins causing trouble in the Mount and Hamilton.

[windsock]

:D:D:D:D

Oh, What a feeling,! Bob



Now that is just too weird Bob, when someone says "dickhead", I don't think your response was the best one to make here fella, for multiple reasons, innuendo can be a bitch, just like karma!

[windsock]

That's how my uncle down in Optiki got his first chev impala,i went down to his beach bach last year and little bastards were everywhere.


Optiki, cool keeps the WEED down.

when out with a chick from there worked for ASB Back in Rotorua

and did my block courses with a couple of guys from there

even biked, 10 speed, around the coast from to there.

hit the bridge there.

drove over a cops bike there CB500




Awesome little town,getting a bit rough these days.Some good growers down there. My phano is spread out from Tauranga, Tepuke, Gisborne,Whakatane, and a few cousins causing trouble in the Mount and Hamilton.


Hah! Sounds like you guys know very familiar territory. Hail from a rough old timber town a few dozen clicks from Rotorua, grew up out on the coast between Opotiki and Whakatane. Was a possumer for 8 or so years in late 80s to late 90s winter-skinning aussie pests for damn good money (if the o/heads were low) in the Urewera bush (FIFO work NZ style - Robinson R22, wool fadge swinging below stocked with food for a month!) and out of Opotiki. A great wee town. The Stag and Boar bar on skin-buying day :eek: :D I think Opotiki had the highest number of people named C Ash on skin-buying day. The bar and the take-away counter did a roaring trade cashing all those cheques. :)

[AndyG]

That's how my uncle down in Optiki got his first chev impala,i went down to his beach bach last year and little bastards were everywhere.

Kiwis? :wasntme:

[AndyG]

We can probably spare a few salties, cane toads, snakes & spiders, if you would like a bit more ecological diversity.

[windsock]

Nah, we'll take a pass on them Andy. Should also mention wallabies are a pest over here too. The hopping variety not the Hooper variety. :angel:


Occasional redback seen in amongst shipping containers etc. Had a fruit fly scare a few months back. The ex-brother in law could easily qualify as an unwanted aussie pest too :D.

[uninformed]

Not another k1w1 having a whinge about things being different here or why things are better back in NZ...

I just cant figure out why 85% of them are here???

[Redback]

Apparently Kiwi taste like chicken, can I trap Kiwis(the bird BTW) and eat them if I go over for a holiday to meet some relos eh??

Baz.

[85 county]

Not another k1w1 having a whinge about things being different here or why things are better back in NZ...

I just cant figure out why 85% of them are here???

the only whinger on here seen to be an aussie ----- you

[85 county]

Apparently Kiwi taste like chicken, can I trap Kiwis(the bird BTW) and eat them if I go over for a holiday to meet some relos eh??

Baz.

sure, but you would probably be done for breaking and entering, since the only Kiwi you could fined would be in a ZOO.

No my post started because i have gotten myself in a bit of poo

Opossum in the roof, so a kiwis natural reaction was to deal with the problem.

apparently this is not the way things are done here.
with out thinking, i assumed what is a pest there is a pest here.

would not have been a problem if i did not skin them

[85 county]

Awesome little town,getting a bit rough these days.Some good growers down there. My phano is spread out from Tauranga, Tepuke, Gisborne,Whakatane, and a few cousins causing trouble in the Mount and Hamilton.


and a green disco. you do not now live in AK do you captain sir

[disco man]

and a green disco. you do not now live in AK do you captain sir

I spread my time between Townsville and Papamoa these days.

[85 county]

I spread my time between Townsville and Papamoa these days.

ok so your not him LOL

[uninformed]

sure, but you would probably be done for breaking and entering, since the only Kiwi you could fined would be in a ZOO.

No my post started because i have gotten myself in a bit of poo

Opossum in the roof, so a kiwis natural reaction was to deal with the problem.

apparently this is not the way things are done here.
with out thinking, i assumed what is a pest there is a pest here.

would not have been a problem if i did not skin them

You know what they say about assumptions....

And its a similar attitude that has introduced some of the exotic pests into this country.

I also think it a bloody travesty that possums were introduced to NZ

[Redback]

sure, but you would probably be done for breaking and entering, since the only Kiwi you could fined would be in a ZOO.

No my post started because i have gotten myself in a bit of poo

Opossum in the roof, so a kiwis natural reaction was to deal with the problem.

apparently this is not the way things are done here.
with out thinking, i assumed what is a pest there is a pest here.

would not have been a problem if i did not skin them

Australia doesn't have Opossums, we have Possums, brush tail and ringtail be the most popular, but there are 27 different species of Possums, all marsupials;)

Yes they can be a pain, we have a resident Ringtail and Brushtail at our place, the trick is to block access to inside your roof, that way it cuts down the noise they make to running across your roof.

Wanna live near the bush or a leafy suburb, it's a price you pay.

They are a bigger pest in NZ, must like the climate over there.

Baz.

[Bigbjorn]

I also think it a bloody travesty that possums were introduced to NZ

Possibly also the introduction of Kiwis to Australia. Unwanted pests.

[Redback]

Possibly also the introduction of Kiwis to Australia. Unwanted pests.

Just New South Welshman coming home Brian:cool:

[85 county]

Possibly also the introduction of Kiwis to Australia. Unwanted pests.

no worries Brian. 16000 kiwis going home a year atm, unfortunately 22000 Australians are following.

so when you are all alone, you will have to feed yourself. well not unless you can get a pommy cop or a taxi driver to do it for you

[bob10]

Now that is just too weird Bob, when someone says "dickhead", I don't think your response was the best one to make here fella, for multiple reasons, innuendo can be a bitch, just like karma!


Suck it up cousin, my Mother taught me, if you can't say something nice, bull**** a bit, at least try to sound intelligent. Bob

[Naviguesser]

Don't go disturbing the Kiwi love-in Bob. They were getting all moist eyed there for a bit.

[bob10]

Don't go disturbing the Kiwi love-in Bob. They were getting all moist eyed there for a bit.


I have some very good Kiwi mates, from way back. I regard them as mates. And they me. Annoying princesses, don't make the cut. Bob.

[windsock]

Note 2. You will also be arrested for doing unnatural things to sheep. They are there for eating and shearing ( not sharing)......
85county was sharing his experience with the law and skinning possums in Aust. From your post it appears you too are also sharing your experience with a law in Aust.

[windsock]

Suck it up cousin, my Mother taught me, if you can't say something nice, bull**** a bit, at least try to sound intelligent. Bob

Bob, it appears you mum was wise and you clearly did not understand me. That's fine, I'll move the dots a bit closer and put numbers on them for you... :D



Dickhead!!!
:D:D:D:D

Oh, What a feeling,! Bob

The innuendo you clearly missed in my post Bob was if you like the feeling of something like that, this thread was not really a place to post about it.

[Sue]

sure, but you would probably be done for breaking and entering, since the only Kiwi you could fined would be in a ZOO.

No my post started because i have gotten myself in a bit of poo

Opossum in the roof, so a kiwis natural reaction was to deal with the problem.

apparently this is not the way things are done here.
with out thinking, i assumed what is a pest there is a pest here.

would not have been a problem if i did not skin them

I'm fairly certain that as a Kiwi living in Australia you probably knew darn well it was illegal to kill and skin the native wildlife, and yes it still would have been a problem had you not skinned it - it just would have been slightly harder to prove.

I get that possums are a pest in NZ and am not against the culling that is done there because that is what you need to do to protect your own native wildlife... just as here in Australia we protect ours - usually by not killing and skinning them. I understand that you have grown in a country that hates possums and see's them as pests, but over here they are not causing the damage they are causing there because they fit into our ecosystem.

PS my other half is a Kiwi that has also spent many baiting and skinning possums but it's not his 'natural reaction' to kill ones that we come across here in Australia.

[JamesB71]

We have laws here. As a guest in our country You dont have to like or understand them. Just follow them.

[bob10]

Bob, it appears you mum was wise and you clearly did not understand me. That's fine, I'll move the dots a bit closer and put numbers on them for you... :D



The innuendo you clearly missed in my post Bob was if you like the feeling of something like that, this thread was not really a place to post about it.


I think it is time we stopped this childish tit for tat , and agreed to disagree. I would rather talk to members here with humour , than not. I don't know how to shake hands on the internet , but cousin, you are ok by me. And, I love your country. Bob

[85 county]

I'm fairly certain that as a Kiwi living in Australia you probably knew darn well it was illegal to kill and skin the native wildlife, .

WHAT, and that is the point of my original post is to point out to other Kiwis, ( not winging aussies) that in Australia a possum is a native and not to assume without thinking like i did.


and yes it still would have been a problem had you not skinned it - it just would have been slightly harder to prove. .

no one had to prove anything, i said of course what’s the big deal? why haven't you said thankyou?? then it was pointed out that a possum was a native, OHH click
but the officers tried the stew and liked it.

Now you do not know me i do not know you, and as such your assumption that i would surly know is bollocks, inflammatory and just plain out of order not to mention wrong, so what sort of person does that make you???


I get that possums are a pest in NZ and am not against the culling that is done there because that is what you need to do to protect your own native wildlife... just as here in Australia we protect ours - usually by not killing and skinning them. I understand that you have grown in a country that hates possums and see's them as pests, but over here they are not causing the damage they are causing there because they fit into our ecosystem.

PS my other half is a Kiwi that has also spent many baiting and skinning possums but it's not his 'natural reaction' to kill ones that we come across here in Australia.

Well if your husband spent time Baiting, then he would not be skinning, since the bounty came off at about the same time as traps ( gin, jaw types) were banned. also at the same time as the police made it known that it was no long OK for a 10 year old kid to tab though the bush with a .22 in his fathers ( or family members) name.

But having said that I am sure your Kiwi man is able to post for himself, well unless Karhore Mana !! Taihoa

[85 county]

We have laws here. As a guest in our country You dont have to like or understand them. Just follow them.

i sagest you read the beginning of this thread rather than trying to jump on the , pull yourself bandwagon OK

[85 county]

I think it is time we stopped this childish tit for tat , and agreed to disagree. I would rather talk to members here with humour , than not. I don't know how to shake hands on the internet , but cousin, you are ok by me. And, I love your country. Bob


BOB mate, but it was not funny!

[bob10]

BOB mate, but it was not funny!



Ok, explain what was not funny about it. Or is it you do not have a sense of humour. Remind me, Bob

[85 county]

Ok, explain what was not funny about it. Or is it you do not have a sense of humour. Remind me, Bob

either or, besides the point, your out voted,

but I know your intent was ok, just didn’t come off that way. No biggie your bob10. my 8 year old thinks you have lighting bolts flying from your balls to destroy monsters, CHING CHING

[Brett1066]

Oh people. Really. Here I was thinking this was a landrover forum, but this and a few other threads lately seem to turn into ****ing competions at best, and downright insulting to others at worst. Old saying - opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one.
I see where 85 county is coming from- jeez, lots of things I used to do in the pilbara that I can't do in Perth. He was giving a heads up to his compatriots.
Being an aussie, I see the other side too - we have laws protecting our fauna.
But really, does it have to be us v them? I work with lots of kiwis, and they are great, love teasing them about their accent:) and their cricket team:) and accept the banter they give back.

Sent from my GT-I9295 using AULRO mobile app

[Mick_Marsh]

Lighten up everyone or you might spend time in the naughty corner.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/08/117.jpg

[windsock]

I think it is time we stopped this childish tit for tat , and agreed to disagree. I would rather talk to members here with humour , than not. I don't know how to shake hands on the internet , but cousin, you are ok by me. And, I love your country. Bob

Yep, OK Bob. So long as the humour (from anyone on this forum) is on-topic and actually funny, no worries, I enjoy a damn good laugh. However, it may be worth pointing out, I have said nothing on this forum I would not be prepared to say in person. Which incidentally, at time, in person, has not been without black eyes all around on occasion. But we still got up and had a quiet beer together afterwards. <- Important recovery method :D.


Certainly agree to a virtual handshake Bob, no problems at all with the concept and an actual brew or two (and smoked trout too if I am catching) if you are ever over this way. I did invite you to visit the NZ rugby museum here in the Manawatu some time ago. Offer still stands.

[windsock]

Not for the squeamish or sensitive: Sort of returning back to topic the topic of possums and to perhaps put some perspective on our possum problem here in NZ, and how we can make a living from it.

There are still two key buyers of possum products in the North Island (not sure about the South Island). I say products because these days you can sell both skins with fur intact; or just fur, pulled out of the dead animal. Fur pulled from a fresh kill is worth NZD105 per kilo but has been as high as NZD125. I have not sold ‘just’ fur but I am told 15-20 dead possums for a kilo of fur. Skins can get a premium price these days if there are euro buyers but at the moment no-one is buying in Europe so no-one is buying here. The money game still changes very quickly in the game now as it did back when I did it. The skin and fur from our pest is still used in euro clothing and when it is bought it displaces farm-raised furs from there. If there are buyers from china, this too raises some good prices I am told, however, when I was skinning ‘jacko’s’ (colloquial term easier to say than possums or Trichosurus vulpecula) the only money was from the Scandinavian fur buying auction floor. Our buyers sold into this market and we (trappers) were price takers.

Over the duration I was actively hunting jacko’s I would be getting anywhere from NZD9-15 per skin, dried and cleaned. A base camp would be set up in the bush several hours walk from the road-end and from this I would trap out over around 300-500 hectares. I was running victor No-1 or No-1.5 double coil spring smooth round-jaw traps, not the now illegal gin traps, as victors were lighter and quicker to the leg and being double coil and round jaw with a centralised chain link, did not break legs. I also used a lot of cyanide to kill out areas quickly after pre-feeding and luring.

A good trap line would comprise around 100-150 traps and would take a good solid eight hours to clear, reset, skin the previous days kill and leave. A possum caught in a trap was stunned (estwing hammer handle), let out of the trap and killed by knife to bleed out. If it was deemed good for the skin it was hung by a hind leg somewhere in the vicinity of the trap to set the fur overnight. Possums hanging like this ‘set’ and were easy to skin.On a good day, with 100-150 traps, you might get a 50-75% catch rate.Of these you might skin anywhere from 20-50 jacko. Each wet skin was around a pound in weight so as the day went on you ended up carrying a large pack. Once back at camp, the fire was rekindled, food was prepared and placed over the fire to simmer and you then started cleaning the fat off the skins and pinning them to dry. This could take several more hours depending on the condition of the skin, fat was scrapped off and flicked into the fire – purple flames – or at the dog – happy chap!

The way it usually worked was when moving into an area, the hungry and desperate possums were the usual first caught as their suspicion of the trap was easiest to overcome with the new smell of the trap and the lure. After a few days or up to a week, the money skins would begin as suspicion levels amongst the population decreased and the scent of the lure took hold of the bush. Apple oil worked well for my lines. A trap line would remain so long as this flow of money kept up with or was better than the overheads. A percentage of around 30% was a line often taken as time to move on. No money flow, move the traps. This took a few days or up to a week of hard slog through bush not often travelled, if at all. Often track cutting was required if the deer tracks went elsewhere and not to the intended trap line ridge.

I previously said, on a good day. On a bad day, after bad weather, the capture rate was poor. You still had to walk the trap line, luring and clearing. Poor weather meant the jacko stayed home and didn’t come out to play. The money would flow again after bad weather when hungry jacko came out to eat. After about three to four weeks of trapping and cleaning and drying skins, you began to ready to either fly out or walk out. If walking out, skins were compressed into bundles and tried to a frame pack fort the long walk out. Flying out was by arrangement.

Once out and back at the land rover, it was time to clean up. A few weeks of hunting jacko from a bush camp left a lingering presence. Skin buying day was a biggie for all concerned. Blokes and blokettes from all around would have come out of the bush with their work. Notes compared, bull**** shared, laughter had. After the selling, the behavior started. Food cooked by others was eaten in large quantities and washed down by various brews. Sometimes this carried on until broke. For others it was a case of stocking up and heading back out again. Another trapline to run, another payday to look forward to.

Each winter, an area was trapped out. Subsequent winters would see another area trapped. Eventually I would return to an area previously trapped to run more traps. Some things would be very noticeable. Jacko was often fewer, but always fatter with bigger thicker glossier fur (ka ching! $). Less jackos meant more food and better habitat. The other beautiful thing; the forest was noisier, wonderfully noisier. More birds had survived and more bird song was heard. The birds had returned.

Jackos are a pest in NZ to be swerved at on the road, trapped under the fruit trees and shot from the roof. Deliberate actions, ingrained into some kiwis psyche over a generation. Here, a dead jacko is a good jacko.

[JamesB71]

Group hug?

[windsock]

Ok, explain what was not funny about it. Or is it you do not have a sense of humour. Remind me, Bob

Bob, and others. Not digging at anyone here, just answering your question above about unfunny. Just as a way of perhaps clarifying this and explaining the unfunny. When someone cracks an original joke people laugh. Automatically. Often out loud, in recognition of humour. Jokes happen at parties, pubs pretty much everywhere. There is funny **** pretty much everywhere if you look and like originality. The way I see it, the amount of humour is proportional to originality. I think you will find this most everywhere. If you go to the same comedians show telling the same jokes in the same manner night after night... well, funniness wanes rather quickly and instead is replaced by pity, derision, and other reactions. The same thing happens in internet forum threads. Same joke different thread.

Original joke x 1 = laughter to proportion of funny.

same joke x 2 = less laughter.

same joke x 3 = even less laughter.

same joke x 4 = far less laughter + pity for the person telling.

same joke x 5 = feelings less charitable.

same joke, person after person = a derisory response worthy of the stupidity of the repetition.

This goes for anything repeated time and again. Sheep jokes and Aussies telling them follow this pattern. Same joke different day different aussie time after time. :yawn: It is treated with all due derision by me, online and in person. It is an oft heard repeated unfunny and when heard or read represents a clear and present target to me and others. Sometimes it can be unfair as a person repeating often does not have wit to present any worthy comeback. Sometimes it appears the witless repetition was an anomaly and the person can actually think funny.

When someone and someone else engages in funny and original, that is banter... and is a wholesome level of fun. :)

[windsock]

Group hug?


Better wait for the others to arrive and agree otherwise it is going to look odd ;)

[disco man]

Not for the squeamish or sensitive: Sort of returning back to topic the topic of possums and to perhaps put some perspective on our possum problem here in NZ, and how we can make a living from it.

There are still two key buyers of possum products in the North Island (not sure about the South Island). I say products because these days you can sell both skins with fur intact; or just fur, pulled out of the dead animal. Fur pulled from a fresh kill is worth NZD105 per kilo but has been as high as NZD125. I have not sold ‘just’ fur but I am told 15-20 dead possums for a kilo of fur. Skins can get a premium price these days if there are euro buyers but at the moment no-one is buying in Europe so no-one is buying here. The money game still changes very quickly in the game now as it did back when I did it. The skin and fur from our pest is still used in euro clothing and when it is bought it displaces farm-raised furs from there. If there are buyers from china, this too raises some good prices I am told, however, when I was skinning ‘jacko’s’ (colloquial term easier to say than possums or Trichosurus vulpecula) the only money was from the Scandinavian fur buying auction floor. Our buyers sold into this market and we (trappers) were price takers.

Over the duration I was actively hunting jacko’s I would be getting anywhere from NZD9-15 per skin, dried and cleaned. A base camp would be set up in the bush several hours walk from the road-end and from this I would trap out over around 300-500 hectares. I was running victor No-1 or No-1.5 double coil spring smooth round-jaw traps, not the now illegal gin traps, as victors were lighter and quicker to the leg and being double coil and round jaw with a centralised chain link, did not break legs. I also used a lot of cyanide to kill out areas quickly after pre-feeding and luring.

A good trap line would comprise around 100-150 traps and would take a good solid eight hours to clear, reset, skin the previous days kill and leave. A possum caught in a trap was stunned (estwing hammer handle), let out of the trap and killed by knife to bleed out. If it was deemed good for the skin it was hung by a hind leg somewhere in the vicinity of the trap to set the fur overnight. Possums hanging like this ‘set’ and were easy to skin.On a good day, with 100-150 traps, you might get a 50-75% catch rate.Of these you might skin anywhere from 20-50 jacko. Each wet skin was around a pound in weight so as the day went on you ended up carrying a large pack. Once back at camp, the fire was rekindled, food was prepared and placed over the fire to simmer and you then started cleaning the fat off the skins and pinning them to dry. This could take several more hours depending on the condition of the skin, fat was scrapped off and flicked into the fire – purple flames – or at the dog – happy chap!

The way it usually worked was when moving into an area, the hungry and desperate possums were the usual first caught as their suspicion of the trap was easiest to overcome with the new smell of the trap and the lure. After a few days or up to a week, the money skins would begin as suspicion levels amongst the population decreased and the scent of the lure took hold of the bush. Apple oil worked well for my lines. A trap line would remain so long as this flow of money kept up with or was better than the overheads. A percentage of around 30% was a line often taken as time to move on. No money flow, move the traps. This took a few days or up to a week of hard slog through bush not often travelled, if at all. Often track cutting was required if the deer tracks went elsewhere and not to the intended trap line ridge.

I previously said, on a good day. On a bad day, after bad weather, the capture rate was poor. You still had to walk the trap line, luring and clearing. Poor weather meant the jacko stayed home and didn’t come out to play. The money would flow again after bad weather when hungry jacko came out to eat. After about three to four weeks of trapping and cleaning and drying skins, you began to ready to either fly out or walk out. If walking out, skins were compressed into bundles and tried to a frame pack fort the long walk out. Flying out was by arrangement.

Once out and back at the land rover, it was time to clean up. A few weeks of hunting jacko from a bush camp left a lingering presence. Skin buying day was a biggie for all concerned. Blokes and blokettes from all around would have come out of the bush with their work. Notes compared, bull**** shared, laughter had. After the selling, the behavior started. Food cooked by others was eaten in large quantities and washed down by various brews. Sometimes this carried on until broke. For others it was a case of stocking up and heading back out again. Another trapline to run, another payday to look forward to.

Each winter, an area was trapped out. Subsequent winters would see another area trapped. Eventually I would return to an area previously trapped to run more traps. Some things would be very noticeable. Jacko was often fewer, but always fatter with bigger thicker glossier fur (ka ching! $). Less jackos meant more food and better habitat. The other beautiful thing; the forest was noisier, wonderfully noisier. More birds had survived and more bird song was heard. The birds had returned.

Jackos are a pest in NZ to be swerved at on the road, trapped under the fruit trees and shot from the roof. Deliberate actions, ingrained into some kiwis psyche over a generation. Here, a dead jacko is a good jacko.

I used to hate winter trapping with my uncle on school holidays,if i wasn't moving fast enough i would get a swift kick up the ass!!!!

If we went alright he would let me have a bit of a spend down at the dairy.But the things he taught my about the forest it's animals,bird life,how to read the signs, what i could eat, the forest had a much more special place for me as i got older.

[AndyG]

Windsock,
Can you trap anywhere, or are you allocated an area.

Incidentally, given our penchant for killing natives esp roo & emu, and previously crocs, I wonder why possums are off the menu, we seem to have enough?

[windsock]

I used to hate winter trapping with my uncle on school holidays,if i wasn't moving fast enough i would get a swift kick up the ass!!!!

If we went alright he would let me have a bit of a spend down at the dairy.But the things he taught my about the forest it's animals,bird life,how to read the signs, what i could eat, the forest had a much more special place for me as i got older.



Yes, I agree with uncle I am afraid, slow gets the kick ;) Time was money and it takes more energy to slow or break a stride than it does to stride when carrying a pack.


The NZ bush is a great place and I really enjoyed my time in it as a trapper. Food was there for the taking. I encountered many deer on my trap line wanderings and would on occasion have to get help culling wild pigs in the area as they would follow the trap line killing my possums and I did not have enough dogs to do it myself. One dog was overhead enough.


Winter trapping was a great experience.

[windsock]

Windsock,
Can you trap anywhere, or are you allocated an area.

Incidentally, given our penchant for killing natives esp roo & emu, and previously crocs, I wonder why possums are off the menu, we seem to have enough?



When I trapped, poaching was rife and competition for easy country fierce. I usually went the 'official' way and applied to our department of conservation for a permitted area of several hundred hectares in the middle of no where. This 'officially' gave me an area to trap in and providing I followed some simple rules I was mostly welcomed. I say mostly because the trapper was seen by the department as something akin to a farmer. I alluded to the point in my previous post where I would go to an area a few years after trapping and get bigger glossier jacko's. This was standard practice, to kill to a certain level such that on return to the area, the return on your time was bigger through bigger jacko. This was considered by some as 'farming' and not eradication or control by the department.


The further towards a town you got the more hassles you had. Sometimes approaching a land owner for private access to trap behind his farm yielded handy exclusive money. If you went to a road end and trapped from there one expected issues. From other trappers but also dope growers and other forest users. I had a few such hassles. I soon learnt the weed boys didn't like walking too far. If I walked or flew beyond that 'line' I was left to my own space.

[AndyG]

Why am I hearing the Davy Crockett theme in my head. Remember how those hats were a must have 50 years ago.;)

[windsock]

yep, sure. At 5 and 4 years old, my little brother and I had one each and wore them while we rode our tricycles up and down the street. Dad was a carpenter and we had awesome wooden guns to clash with too.

[disco man]

A bit off topic,but i used to really enjoy chasing eel and mussel's and some water cress.Chuck in some flounder and whitebait!!!!.

I have tried getting the kids into big pork bone boil-up's they just don't like it:(

[Hogarthde]

G day windsock, I can hear my old dad talking whilst reading your stories....he managed an almighty broken farm at Te Rua Moa before the war , and after the war. You may be the next Fred dagg! ....keep them coming. My own meager hunting was after goats in the Coromandels... Good fun until our girlfriends wanted to come , then the hunting deteriorated remarkably mind.this was 1966 and I was a raw stripling



Dave q

[windsock]

A bit off topic,but i used to really enjoy chasing eel and mussel's and some water cress.Chuck in some flounder and whitebait!!!!.

I have tried getting the kids into big pork bone boil-up's they just don't like it:(
Used to fish for bush eels now and then in there. A bit of old dead possum on a hook. Good food. Messy to prepare but good tucker. I live inland now but out on the coast as a young fella white bait, flounder and mussels... yum. Used to drag the net for yellow-eyed mullet in the waves and set the net for kahawai too. Wild food huh. We have as a society lost something.


When I stalk trout in the local rivers here in the late evening, I often see large eels out and about. Sometimes if I stand still long enough they'll come around my ankles for a sniff and wander off again. Not so bad when wearing waders but when in summer I wade wet, it can be a bit worrying :)


Nothing like a good boil-up. Pork bones and water cress! Moved the fat right down to the ankles a friend used to say.

[disco man]

Used to fish for bush eels now and then in there. A bit of old dead possum on a hook. Good food. Messy to prepare but good tucker. I live inland now but out on the coast as a young fella white bait, flounder and mussels... yum. Used to drag the net for yellow-eyed mullet in the waves and set the net for kahawai too. Wild food huh. We have as a society lost something.


When I stalk trout in the local rivers here in the late evening, I often see large eels out and about. Sometimes if I stand still long enough they'll come around my ankles for a sniff and wander off again. Not so bad when wearing waders but when in summer I wade wet, it can be a bit worrying :)


Nothing like a good boil-up. Pork bones and water cress! Moved the fat right down to the ankles a friend used to say.

Spot on well said all round,When i take the kids to the beach i think back to when i was kid going to the beach.The first thing we had to do was fill up the sack full of pipi's,then it was play time.

We had very little money growing up so family outings were about getting some kai with a bit of fun thrown in.A special outing for us was a drive out to Makatu for a pie then a wander down to the beach for some oysters.

[frantic]

Gotta say thanks!:D
It was a funny story and a good warning with some edumacation thrown in!
I didn't know that Oz possums where in N.Z let alone a pest, that had a market for their skins.
A Kiwi ex pat making a home caught stew is almost as funny as the Russian immigrant living in a unit who took a cow home, milk and a cheap heater and whose emissions flowed through the roof of the unit below> or there are occasionally complaints from unit and home owners of open fires in backyards where certain groups cook meals every night. One of my friends neighbours did this and had to repair the fence several times before he moved out.
Lighten up.


P.S filling up a sack with pipi's is now illegal as well. To many started to do it and they have been almost wiped out.

[460cixy]

Mate wop in to em bloody brush tail is a pain in the arse crapping and ****ing everywhere and that bloody noise they make I trap the bastards like no tomorrow and re locate them a looooong way away mums place had a serious infestation in the shed and did a heap of damage hate em with a passion.

[85 county]

I used to hate winter trapping with my uncle on school holidays,if i wasn't moving fast enough i would get a swift kick up the ass!!!!

If we went alright he would let me have a bit of a spend down at the dairy.But the things he taught my about the forest it's animals,bird life,how to read the signs, what i could eat, the forest had a much more special place for me as i got older.

sounds like me.

school holidays, O kiwi bay to french pass. trapped, gill nets, long lines. and 303 shooting of sharks

got the odd rat and stoat in the traps. never had problems with pigs but a stoat can make a mess of a possum

and quite correct about the birds. no possums = lots of birds

[bob10]

Yep, OK Bob. So long as the humour (from anyone on this forum) is on-topic and actually funny, no worries, I enjoy a damn good laugh. However, it may be worth pointing out, I have said nothing on this forum I would not be prepared to say in person. Which incidentally, at time, in person, has not been without black eyes all around on occasion. But we still got up and had a quiet beer together afterwards. <- Important recovery method :D.


Certainly agree to a virtual handshake Bob, no problems at all with the concept and an actual brew or two (and smoked trout too if I am catching) if you are ever over this way. I did invite you to visit the NZ rugby museum here in the Manawatu some time ago. Offer still stands.


You have my attention, it's amazing the passion rugby can create, and black eyes are just as black this side of the Tasman. ;) However, white bait fritters and paua would be a good side dish to the trout. Moreton bay bugs, sand crabs, & prawns are on offer here. Possums are the NZ version of cane toads. Except you can't eat cane toads. I have one piece of advice. As a person who has aboriginal heritage, all be it a way back, maintain your sense of humour. Ignore distractions. Bob

[AndyG]

I was told last night by a Kiwi that possums carry TB and pass it on cattle, which causes dairy farmers a lot of problems.

The things you learn over a beer.

[windsock]

Yep, bovine TB is endemic in possums and they are perfect little vectors for spreading it out over a large geographical area pretty quickly. Dairy, beef and deer stock are valuable and so the PR war against possums has ready material right there. It is a major issue virtually anywhere in areas where bushland borders farmland. Isolated islands of bush within farmland can be controlled readily but where bushland bounds a farm, there is a constant flow of infection potential. Sick possums also do crazy things like wander around in the day time. Curious stock are attracted to something odd wandering in their paddock and so zoom in for a sniff. Cough, snort, one infected herd. However, it works both ways, one infected cow, can easily become many infected possums.

TB in farming areas is largely controlled using bait stations in the surrounding bush but because of the flow of possums from heavily populated areas into areas killed out, the flow of vector animals never ceases in these types of areas.

We have stock movement control regulations here. If you are in a TB infected area, your movement of stock is very closely monitored or controlled by different regulatory folk.

The call of "TB in the hills" also gives weight to mass poisoning of our countryside by the conservation department and others. A poison (Sodium fluoroacetate or 1080) that causes a slow painful death is spread by helicopter in baited pellets. Rats, mice, possums, stoats, weasels die as intended. However, anything that eats the dead animal and ensuing fly strike maggots is also prone to death by secondary poisoning. This mass poisoning is not good either especially with the 1080 poison they use.

Yep, no matter which way you look at it, possums are a real and present problem in NZ and to NZers, as in the damage they do to our orchards and food, flora and fauna, and in the methods deployed to control.

[85 county]

a possum tree

Tabing though the bush you come across a hole in the canopy. bright light shining in seems unnatural.
in the middle will be a large but dead tree, no bark and covered in scratch marks.
there will be no birds, in fact it will be admiringly silent.

i would always put 2-3 traps around this.

the numbers of possums in that one tree killed it and the surrounding trees and every thing else as well
compete with birds for food, and even eat the birds eggs, chicks, well every thing realy

[windsock]

a possum tree

Tabing though the bush you come across a hole in the canopy. bright light shining in seems unnatural.
in the middle will be a large but dead tree, no bark and covered in scratch marks.
there will be no birds, in fact it will be admiringly silent.

i would always put 2-3 traps around this.

the numbers of possums in that one tree killed it and the surrounding trees and every thing else as well
compete with birds for food, and even eat the birds eggs, chicks, well every thing realy

Hey mate, yeah, the party tree I called it. I found they were quite a spaghetti junction as trails led off them like a cart wheel. Possums are really quite social. They eat for the first few hours of the night, gossip, fight, root and party till dawn and eat their way home to their hole. Spotlighting over the years has shown up the pattern. Early in the evening, singular eating jacko, later on multiples of jacko, then later, cautious fed but catching a snack jacko. The pile of dead jacko around the party tree was up to three times higher around the vicinity of these tress than anywhere else on the trapline. Piles of dead jacko didn't deter them either as the live ones come out looking for uncles, aunties and their mates, smell them in the pile, and... snap! :( :D

[TerryO]

I have one piece of advice. .......... Ignore distractions. Bob

Hi Bob ...how is that ignoring distractions advice going? ... ;)

[85 county]

Hi Bob ...how is that ignoring distractions advice going? ... ;)

that post is a bit off

[85 county]

Hey mate, yeah, the party tree I called it. I found they were quite a spaghetti junction as trails led off them like a cart wheel. Possums are really quite social. They eat for the first few hours of the night, gossip, fight, root and party till dawn and eat their way home to their hole. Spotlighting over the years has shown up the pattern. Early in the evening, singular eating jacko, later on multiples of jacko, then later, cautious fed but catching a snack jacko. The pile of dead jacko around the party tree was up to three times higher around the vicinity of these tress than anywhere else on the trapline. Piles of dead jacko didn't deter them either as the live ones come out looking for uncles, aunties and their mates, smell them in the pile, and... snap! :( :D

a bit like culling in queensland
drop some brumbies, then sit back and Wait for the pigs and fox. and never tell the owner that you didn't drop all the brumbies, need to leave a few for next time.

Mate Pig hunting over here is a laugh, shot guns walk around knocking them off like rabbits in the 70s. the natives will not eat them because they think they are full of worm, bleed and dress and its not a problem

[disco man]

a bit like culling in queensland
drop some brumbies, then sit back and Wait for the pigs and fox. and never tell the owner that you didn't drop all the brumbies, need to leave a few for next time.

Mate Pig hunting over here is a laugh, shot guns walk around knocking them off like rabbits in the 70s. the natives will not eat them because they think they are full of worm, bleed and dress and its not a problem

My Aussie mates think i am mad for eating wild boar.I love the taste of it!!!! They don't get that a hunt back home was a chance to fill up the freezer,there used to be a butcher in Tepuke that would do ham and bacon up for you and bloody nice sausages.

Me and my two dogs with a knife,not much skill to pull a trigger.

[85 county]

My Aussie mates think i am mad for eating wild boar.I love the taste of it!!!! They don't get that a hunt back home was a chance to fill up the freezer,there used to be a butcher in Tepuke that would do ham and bacon up for you and bloody nice sausages.

Me and my two dogs with a knife,not much skill to pull a trigger.


So true, i am in SA so the bush is not bush its more like tall scrub. harder for a dog to bail. and faster for the pig

any way, got a cage and relocated as i was advised to do, all legal like.

now i have blood trails at the back door, something new for me, so rang the ranger, seems he confirmed my assumptions. and me being the possum guy he was a bit more forthcoming, interesting conversation on the habits of the fox in urban areas. i have some ideas may give them a go.
Ma exsplane why the boys Hamsters sometimes do not wake up in the morning

[disco man]

So true, i am in SA so the bush is not bush its more like tall scrub. harder for a dog to bail. and faster for the pig

any way, got a cage and relocated as i was advised to do, all legal like.

now i have blood trails at the back door, something new for me, so rang the ranger, seems he confirmed my assumptions. and me being the possum guy he was a bit more forthcoming, interesting conversation on the habits of the fox in urban areas. i have some ideas may give them a go.
Ma exsplane why the boys Hamsters sometimes do not wake up in the morning

What measures can you take with bastard foxs in SA?

[85 county]

What measures can you take with bastard foxs in SA?

no rules. but then there is things like, discharging a firearm in a built up area, or the Australian equivalent. humanly dispatch etc

my first though was stack a snare, over a couple of weeks plus bating until my smell was gone and then set it. but apparently that's a no no because its not a kill

that means a cage, and i believe fox's are to smart for a cage

[AndyG]

I heard on the radio once about someone trying to catch some smart foxes, they would not take dead bait. So he loaded up some chooks with Valium, foxes ate the chooks , slowed down, & whack.

Obviously some logistics involved.

[85 county]

I heard on the radio once about someone trying to catch some smart foxes, they would not take dead bait. So he loaded up some chooks with Valium, foxes ate the chooks , slowed down, & whack.

Obviously some logistics involved.

and illegal,
Live bate, poor chickens.
drudging an animal, SPCA would be all over you on that.
misuse of drugs, Valium is not a chook medication.
inhuman kill , whacking a fox is not a human dispatch.- poor fox must have suffered

etc etc, this is Australia

[disco man]

and illegal,
Live bate, poor chickens.
drudging an animal, SPCA would be all over you on that.
misuse of drugs, Valium is not a chook medication.
inhuman kill , whacking a fox is not a human dispatch.- poor fox must have suffered

etc etc, this is Australia

RSPCA will charge you for hitting a cane toad with a 9 iron or a cricket bat,what your meant to do is put them in a plastic bag then put them in your freezer.**** that!!! hit them bastards as hard as you can,get into them:)

[disco man]

no rules. but then there is things like, discharging a firearm in a built up area, or the Australian equivalent. humanly dispatch etc

my first though was stack a snare, over a couple of weeks plus bating until my smell was gone and then set it. but apparently that's a no no because its not a kill

that means a cage, and i believe fox's are to smart for a cage

Spot on way to smart for a cage.Can you use 1080 in SA?

[85 county]

Spot on way to smart for a cage.Can you use 1080 in SA?

i do not know. but the ranger was telling me that Fox hide food. and in a built up area, you Bate poison, the fox takes it, hides it. and the neigbours dog / cat gets into it

[disco man]

i do not know. but the ranger was telling me that Fox hide food. and in a built up area, you Bate poison, the fox takes it, hides it. and the neigbours dog / cat gets into it

From what i have been told about foxes it pays to have a plan b,c,all the to plan z till you nail the little bastards.

Good luck with it hope you get them!!

[85 county]

well plan A is out

i was going to feed it, easy food get used to my smell.

but apparantly thats illegal as well

[disco man]

well plan A is out

i was going to feed it, easy food get used to my smell.

but apparantly thats illegal as well

Why is that? the government should be encouraging people to wipe these piece of **** animals right out before any more native species become endangered.

Australia is right up there when it comes to animals being added to the endangered list.More need's to be done,but the bleeding hearts **** things right up.

[85 county]

Why is that? the government should be encouraging people to wipe these piece of **** animals right out before any more native species become endangered.

Australia is right up there when it comes to animals being added to the endangered list.More need's to be done,but the bleeding hearts **** things right up.

umm not supposed to feed fox’s, apparently it keeps them hanging around. which ironically is what I want to do.

Talking to the ranger, he said they had a cage that went into a bag, where they could introduce co2 to put a fox to sleep.

Sounds good
but before he can use it they have to have an ethics policy,--- OK

To produce an ethics policy they have to go to Magill UNI
Magill UNI has to run some experiment to confirm it is a humane way to dispatch a fox ---- OK

Magill university has to apply to there ethics committee before they can run an experiment on a fox.

Get the picture === 1 unused cage and bag with accompanying Co2 bottle

[disco man]

umm not supposed to feed fox’s, apparently it keeps them hanging around. which ironically is what I want to do.

Talking to the ranger, he said they had a cage that went into a bag, where they could introduce co2 to put a fox to sleep.

Sounds good
but before he can use it they have to have an ethics policy,--- OK

To produce an ethics policy they have to go to Magill UNI
Magill UNI has to run some experiment to confirm it is a humane way to dispatch a fox ---- OK

Magill university has to apply to there ethics committee before they can run an experiment on a fox.

Get the picture === 1 unused cage and bag with accompanying Co2 bottle

Bloody hell mate,not making it easier for you!!!! But that sort of bull**** is what i am talking about.While the brains trust waste time and money on this crap the fox is still rooting itself senseless and making more little bastard foxes.

[85 county]

Bloody hell mate,not making it easier for you!!!! But that sort of bull**** is what i am talking about.While the brains trust waste time and money on this crap the fox is still rooting itself senseless and making more little bastard foxes.

sort of makes you want to dash out and buy the bloody thing a fea collor and a chewie

[460cixy]

I recon a bow would be just the ticket to wop your fox

[85 county]

I recon a bow would be just the ticket to wop your fox
well a bow will not kill, unless its a head shot and even then.

I was talking to a roo culler about an hour ago, he’s going to toss it all in, something about picking up a large fine because he took in 1 roo with a shot to the neck, IE not a clean first kill shot

[460cixy]

No way they flatten deer and pigs ok fox no problem