Thread: Possums!!!
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Old 11-04-2013, 07:47 AM posted to aus.gardens
David Hare-Scott[_2_] David Hare-Scott[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Sep 2008
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Default Possums!!!

Jeßus wrote:
On Mon, 1 Apr 2013 09:42:57 +1100, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:

Jeßus wrote:
Yes, those damned possums... a never-ending battle here.
My poor fruit trees and silver birches in particular have taken a
hammering this year.

One thing I have found effective is a mixture of lard and kero - I
wiped some around my young silver birches trunks (and any nearby
posts) and 6 months later, no further damage thus far.
But I can't do that to every tree, of course.

Anyway, what I really want to find out is - how high can a possum
jump from ground level? I reckon the only way I can keep my fruit
orchard possum free is to build a corrugated iron fence around the
whole orchard, then a large frame over the lot and cover with bird
netting - this should keep all birds and possums out. The fence
will have other benefits, too, such as keeping the wind out and
providing a new pen for poultry.

The only question is how high to build the fence, anyone have any
ideas on that?

Thanks.


Do you mean these

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possum

or these?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppossum


LOL. I'm an Aussie, posting on an Aussie group.
So, the former


The possum of Oz is fearsome opponent, the sight of a net will make it want
to chew holes and the sight of a fence will make it want to climb. They do
both very well. Unless your fence is smooth metal that has no grip for
strong little claws I would be running an electric wire on standoffs to
deter it. If they get to the bird net they will get in. In a tree they can
jump quite a distance, a metre or more I guess, whether they would jump from
ground to mesh over a gal iron fence I have no idea.

D