I recently moved from a possum free area, to one with lots of the cute
furry little vandals. They even scare the cats!

My once beautiful roses and camellias barely have a leaf, so was wondering
as to how I can make them unpalatable to the nocturnal noxious critters.

All suggestions gratefully accepted... no gun remedies tho ;-)

Cheers,
J

g'day j,

yup the gun would bring heaps of problems with the EPA officers.

you can call your local environment office and arrange for a trap and
relocate program.

quassia chips are also supposed to be a good deterent, think you can
get the chips from an orchard supply agency.

another is to make a paste of the hottest chilly available and dolop
this around where they are active, they get the stuff on their paws
and then wipe their faces the chilly agrivates their sensative skin
bits so they are supposed to keep away from where they get the
problem.

there are also ways of building possum proof gardens with fencing
mesh. try setting up a feeding station for them well away from the
gardens, set some food for them nightly this may satisfy their hunger
needs, pieces of fruit bread with jam or honey on it, they eat it all.

have fun

len

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 12:04:53 +1000, "JWSM"
wrote:

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/

Thanks for the ideas... the chilli might be the go. Relocating them is not
an option... I've seen the effects of this, after a friend's neighbour
complained to council [after council removal they mostly died].

snip

Fill some pantyhose with Dynamic Lifter and lay it next to your plants.
Possums do not like the smell.
"JWSM" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the ideas... the chilli might be the go. Relocating them is
not
an option... I've seen the effects of this, after a friend's neighbour
complained to council [after council removal they mostly died].

snip

Len,
You cannot relocate possums, they are territorial and will kill strangers
(possum sp.) in their 'hood.
I also have to disagree with the food you mention. Any native fauna must
only be fed basic unprocessed foods (mainly fruits) and Jam & honey are not
recommended at all. If you want to feed them, go the apples, bananas, pears
or any of that sort of thing - I guess vegies?? but avoid sugary, sticky
stuff as this is not anything they would eat in the bush and like the
rainbow lorikeets fed honey, will not grow tail feathers :|
Jock (a 10 year veteran of possum feeding & tolerating)

"len brauer" wrote in message
...
g'day j,

yup the gun would bring heaps of problems with the EPA officers.

you can call your local environment office and arrange for a trap and
relocate program.

quassia chips are also supposed to be a good deterent, think you can
get the chips from an orchard supply agency.

another is to make a paste of the hottest chilly available and dolop
this around where they are active, they get the stuff on their paws
and then wipe their faces the chilly agrivates their sensative skin
bits so they are supposed to keep away from where they get the
problem.

there are also ways of building possum proof gardens with fencing
mesh. try setting up a feeding station for them well away from the
gardens, set some food for them nightly this may satisfy their hunger
needs, pieces of fruit bread with jam or honey on it, they eat it all.

have fun

len

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 12:04:53 +1000, "JWSM"
wrote:

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/

"JWSM" writes:
My once beautiful roses and camellias barely have a leaf, so was wondering
as to how I can make them unpalatable to the nocturnal noxious critters.

All suggestions gratefully accepted... no gun remedies tho ;-)

Suggestions? Well, I have many. Here's one:

I wonder how things would go if you were to spray his favourite rose
blooms with a dilution of Ipacec Syrup??!! You probably wouldn't need
to administer many repeats of this prescription!
--
John Savage (news reply email invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)

"JWSM" writes:
My once beautiful roses and camellias barely have a leaf, so was wondering
as to how I can make them unpalatable to the nocturnal noxious critters.

All suggestions gratefully accepted... no gun remedies tho ;-)

Suggestions? As I said, I have many. Here's another:

I don't know whether anyone has tried the suggestion using teddy bears,
but it has been reported that possums, being territorial, mistake the
presence of a teddy bear in a tree as indicating that a rival possum has
already taken possession and the latecomer should go elsewhere. I posted
this idea a year or more back when I first heard it, but no one has yet
reported back any results. Someone in this street threw out a 4 foot high
teddy bear last week in the kerbside cleanup, if I knew you had a need
for it I would have saved it for you!
--
John Savage (news reply email invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)

Thanks John... don't know about the teddy bear, but would probably wake to
find fluff everywhere. Is sure to be a one sided battle that one. I know
they are territorial, but I think you would need some essence of "stranger
possum" to get any reaction.

"John Savage" wrote in message
om..

snip

"JWSM" writes:
Thanks John... don't know about the teddy bear, but would probably wake to
find fluff everywhere. Is sure to be a one sided battle that one.

Didn't I mention the concealed detonator? :-)

Recall that the main predator of possums is the powerful owl--a very
large native owl. Well, an owl sitting in a tree does look very "wooden"
doesn't it? And as we learnt on Burkes Backyard last Friday, one can
purchase a large wooden owl in any good chandlery (boating store) where
such owls are sold to yacht owners to deter the seagulls from roosting
aloft. Might work. $60 I think they said, but the frugal way would be
to carve your own (download a pic from the net, and when you are finished
the carving glue on some feathers from a roadkill). I noticed just such a
kill last week here in a suburban street; twas an owl, towooooo.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)

"JWSM" writes:
Thanks John... don't know about the teddy bear, but would probably wake to
find fluff everywhere. Is sure to be a one sided battle that one.

Didn't I mention the concealed detonator? :-)

Recall that the main predator of possums is the powerful owl--a very
large native owl. Well, an owl sitting in a tree does look very "wooden"
doesn't it? And as we learnt on Burkes Backyard last Friday, one can
purchase a large wooden owl in any good chandlery (boating store) where
such owls are sold to yacht owners to deter the seagulls from roosting
aloft. Might work. $60 I think they said, but the frugal way would be
to carve your own (download a pic from the net, and when you are finished
the carving glue on some feathers from a roadkill). I noticed just such a
kill last week here in a suburban street; twas an owl, towooooo.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)

g'day john,

yep a decoy should do it probabaly best to keep repositioning it.

just gotta be careful using feathers from native birds dead or
otherwise, the protection offices have laws that enable them to
prosecute if they are found in your possession.

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/

g'day john,

yep a decoy should do it probabaly best to keep repositioning it.

just gotta be careful using feathers from native birds dead or
otherwise, the protection offices have laws that enable them to
prosecute if they are found in your possession.

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/

g'day john,

yep a decoy should do it probabaly best to keep repositioning it.

just gotta be careful using feathers from native birds dead or
otherwise, the protection offices have laws that enable them to
prosecute if they are found in your possession.

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/

g'day john,

yep a decoy should do it probabaly best to keep repositioning it.

just gotta be careful using feathers from native birds dead or
otherwise, the protection offices have laws that enable them to
prosecute if they are found in your possession.

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/