Keeping possums off the plants

Need a hand with a home project, how to fix that bloody roof leak, hang a door etc...
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Vilante
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Keeping possums off the plants

Post by Vilante »

Fucking possum is eating my chilli's and herbs, destroying them. Well I assume it's a possum, I thought it might be a rat and put a trap out but it goes off and the cheese leaves and nothing. It's also doing heaps of damage each night.

No idea how he's eating the chilli's, they're seriously hot, he must have an ARSE made of cast iron.
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by macca »

A piece of lead just behind the ear will do the trick, the fuckers are in a part of my roof space & have chewed through some electrical cabling, we have had to lift the roofing sheets to fix the damage.

It is a requirement these days to be all cuddly & humane, provide a hutch in ur yard or trap & release along way away.
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by EzyRider »

Naphthalene flakes, or camphor balls (moth balls) work wonders, they absolutely HATE the smell of it. Small wonder, not really a fan myself. We use it in roof voids to deter possums out of there.
Throw a few around the base of the plants, that should slow them down.
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Keeping possums off the plants

Post by w00dsy »

I had a feeling that young looking fella would have an answer.
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by Vilante »

Thanks guys, much appreciated!!
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by macca »

EzyRider wrote:Naphthalene flakes, or camphor balls (moth balls) work wonders, they absolutely HATE the smell of it. Small wonder, not really a fan myself. We use it in roof voids to deter possums out of there.
Throw a few around the base of the plants, that should slow them down.
Excellent, I'll give that a go :yes:
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by EzyRider »

I know this is not "PC" or "politically correct", but I'm going there anyway.. bear with me whilst I rant.

Possums now outnumber Melbournians by 20 to 1. They are now unofficially a pest, but the greenies power on with the statement that "possums are a protected species". Now, that being said, not all breeds of possums are a pest. Ringtail possums are shy, retiring, and rarely will enter roof spaces or become a nuisance pest to humans. Brushtail possums, however, the boot switches to the other foot. They are noisy, messy, stinky, damaging, and just fucking downright annoying. You can always tell when a possum is camping in your roof space just by sticking your head in the man hole.. the musky odour is phenomenal.

Now.. we currently have a cull status on kangaroos, a native marsupial species, specific to Australia. Puckapunyal is a classic example for this next statement. We have license to cull roo's to the tune of 30,000 every year, due to their damaging nature to crops, fencing, and their ability to allegedly eat the grass that cows/sheep should be eating. They are in numbers that the powers that be are motivated to class them as a pest, thereby allowing hunters to legally bag out on them every night of the hunting season.

Now, here's a stretch of the imagination; what if kangaroos and possums were put in the same league? (In my books, they are, but I won't pad this out with my sentiments.) Possums in your roof are not only annoying, they are damaging to your roof, they are damaging to your plaster walls (due to their ability to crawl into the tightest spaces to feel comfort and safety), and they are damaging to your electrical wiring. In addition to that, if you cannot remove them from the roof void yourself, you are looking at a minimum here in Melbourne of a cost of no less than $330 for them to be removed safely, and all holes to be blocked. That.. hurts. Especially if you have more than one possum in there.

Here comes the answer. Why not list possums as a pest just for the breeding season, set a bag limit of how many, then harvest them for their pelts, their meat (which by the way is delicious), thereby creating an economy out of a problem? We can do it with kangaroo's, so why not possums? Is it because they don't delve into the governmental wallets the way roo's do, re; farming?

Farm the possums, make it an equitable solution, the same as we do kangaroo's, and limit the problem down to a dull roar. More than 20% of Melbournians suffer from possum invasions into the roof, and some 100 or so a year will actually get into a house, and in a blind panic, destroy everything in their path.

They are a pest, and they need to be controlled in a large way.

Here endeth the rant.

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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by norbs »

I consider myself on the greener side of things, but I am with you there. If they are a pest, cull the bastards. If they are good eating, all the better. I dont think I have tried them yet, but we eat kangaroo a couple of times a month here. Emu is tasty as well. And croc is fucking delicious if cooked properly.

Chef, bring me a fucking possum!
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by Bauer »

I looked at the thread title and just knew that Ezysauce would know the answer :up:
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by ysu »

It really depends on the actual total numbers, I reckon, if they can be just culled or not.

Having said that how about an alternative solution; make the bloody lazy builders here to build proper houses?

It'd be good in a million ways to plug holes, NOT leave the walls empty, but put some insulating and flame-retardant material in between, need I go on?
Yeah it'd not help the old houses, but at least the future would be neater.
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by macca »

I totally agree with Ezy, fucking disease ridden, house munching little carnts. I can hear the fuckers crawling around my roof space now.

My place was built in the 1860's, the original part at least, it's the new extension that was done back in the 30's-40's that's the problem. Even to get to them I either have to lift the roof sheets or cut access panels in to the ceiling.

I have started cutting back the overhanging branches to make it harder for the fuckers to get on to the roof, partly successful so far, plus I am going to re roof sometime in the near future, so that will be my best opportunity to get them out & block up access points.

As I said before, the only good solution is a bit of lead to the head.

I wouldn't eat the filthy fuckers :p
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by bengatta »

In about 1 week, the greens control the senate... Vil, get rid of them now before you will be required by law to provide a cosy box for them to snuggle up in during the day and add extra plants just in case they start to run out of food at your place, you should feel honoured that they chose you to live with... :)
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by EzyRider »

Worst case scenario.. lock all dogs up for a week so they can't eat them, and drop some blocks of rat bait containing brodifacoum around the base of the plants.. they'll eat them, and whammo.. instant fertiliser for the plants :D
(You may need to send them through a tree mulcher first.)
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by w00dsy »

once upon a time almost all threads would be derailed and we'd end up talking about boobs or something equally juvenile, now we seem to end up talking about politics. Some call it maturity, i call it the JD effect.
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by bengatta »

or is it "the loss of the schu" effect... :)
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by w00dsy »

we were able to talk about boobies long before Schuey, but he certainly did take it up a notch.
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by EzyRider »

Image
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by bengatta »

w00dsy wrote:we were able to talk about boobies long before Schuey, but he certainly did take it up a notch.
yes, but they sort of went out of fashion when he took it up that notch, considering he had never laid hands on any... :)

Well done Ezy, situation normal restored :) and even more so, are they legal??? :)
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by kwijibo »

I think I just heard what must be a possum running riot in the roof. Time to buy some moth balls I guess!
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by ysu »

kwijibo wrote:I think I just heard what must be a possum running riot in the roof. Time to buy some moth balls I guess!
we are having rats...time to put a gutter cover on.
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Re: Keeping possums off the plants

Post by kwijibo »

Could be a rat or rats I guess. Had quite a few mice out the back
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