I found that Charlie Carp worked in the same way. Because it's a bit oily,
it doesn't wash off with the first drop of rain - if we ever have any. We
only have ringtails, so I don't know if it works on brushtails.
Cheers
Alwynne

"J & A Haig" wrote in message
u...
Roger,

I have successfully protected young trees by spraying with Thiram
fungicide
after seeing a Qld DPI leaflet on protection of young trees on farms from
hares, wallabies, possums, etc. Not easy to get, usually need to go to a
agricultural or horticultural supply company as nurseries didn't seem to
stock it. After a few nibbles the possums went elsewhere for something
more
palatable. Strange, it didn't seem to have a strong odour or anything,
they
just didn't like it. It is a fungicide for fruit trees so it seems to be
fairly safe.

Good luck, Jim

"Roger Riordan" wrote in message
...
"J & A Haig" wrote:

Roger,

ours consistently jump 2-3m, and those that play football on our iron
roof
like a running jump and my guess is they would do up to 5m. They tend
to
climb walls at corners where they can grasp either side of the corner
and
it
seesm to be no trouble.

jim

Thank you for all for your suggestions. While I was pondering your
answers, I
thought I would apply a little physics to the problem, and then I
realized
that
possums were controlled by the same laws of physics as schoolboys, and
that in
the dim and distant past, when I was at high school, I was expected to
be
able
to clear something like 14 feet in the broad jump, and four feet in the
high
jump. I was no athlete, but over short distances I could run at 15 mph,
or
about 7m per second.

If we assume that a possum can run at 5m per second (on a roof, for
example),
and can jump at the optimum angle, it should be able to clear about 2.5m
horizontally, or jump 1.2m vertically. If it jumped from the roof to
something
2m below, it should be able to clear 3.2m, if it jumped horizontally, or
nearly
4m if it jumped at the optimum angle.

Unfortunately both the trees I want to protect have conveniently placed
launching pads nearby, and have complex branch structures which make it
extremely difficult to fit guards above this level, so even if these
calculations are very optimistic, I fear I'll have to resort to other
measures.



Roger Riordan AM