After trying unsuccessfully to possum proof several trees, I wonder if anybody
has any information on the athletic abilities of possums? For example, how far
can they jump horizontally, or vertically, can they climb vertical brick walls,
how far can they reach, and so on?


Roger Riordan AM

don't know if i can help roger but here goes,

usualy when you put a possom collar around a tree it needs to cover
from about 1.5meters from the bottom of the collar, usually collars
are made from falt sheet tin app' 18 to 20"s wide.

using there tails as another arm they can reach about the length of
their bodies at that point. don't know if they can climb brick walls
but wouldn't doubt that they can not much stands in their way.

when you collar a tree yo must make sure that there is no other trees
or high fences anywhere near the branches of that tree or the collar
won't work they will use the other route.

len


snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the environment
http://hub.dataline.net.au/~gardnlen/

Yes, they can climb brick walls.
Alwynne

"Roger Riordan" wrote in message
...
After trying unsuccessfully to possum proof several trees, I wonder if
anybody
has any information on the athletic abilities of possums? For example,
how far
can they jump horizontally, or vertically, can they climb vertical brick
walls,
how far can they reach, and so on?


Roger Riordan AM

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

"Roger Riordan" wrote in message
...
After trying unsuccessfully to possum proof several trees, I wonder if
anybody
has any information on the athletic abilities of possums? For example,
how far
can they jump horizontally, or vertically, can they climb vertical brick
walls,
how far can they reach, and so on?


Roger Riordan AM

"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

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