Anti-1080 ecoterrorists

[Coldrider]

fuck - you ok man??????

No, but the thought of a crimplene suit from welly convincing to coaster army suplus camouflage wearers about poisioning their own back yard doesn't quite cut it, not down at Revys anyway.

[Paul in NZ]

Somewhat alarmist,perhaps?

After all, the possum was introduced in 1837 , 1080 not until 1954. Blossom the possum had 117 years to destroy the West Coast untrammelled. The fact that the Coast and its bush survived as a natural wilderness is a fairly good reason to suppose that Blossom is unlikely to wreak the havoc you fear. Were she able to, the bush would have been gone before we were born.

I beg to disagree..

As a younger man I spent a lot of time in the south island bush, walking, relaxing and killing things. Possums are vile things that HAVE already decimated the bush and wildlife (birds). It can take a long time for the whole forest to die as the possums start on the trees they like first. Whole areas are devoid of Rata etc now. I spent a week with a possum trapper in the wildest wild place (learnt to like eating em) and even he admitted that he was just a drop in the bucket.

I'm sorry - I'm with Hitcher. Show me a viable alternative to 1080.... There just isnt any.

[rwh]

I'm one of those who doesn't like the idea of 1080, but sees it's probably the best option we have for mass destruction.

A couple of other things spring to mind, though. I'm not a hunter, but I'm guessing that if you were to shoot a possum, the bullet would probably go straight through, right? So a campaign of shooting them would result in a lot of lead left lying around in the bush, which can't be particularly good either. I was wondering whether taking up archery would be an alternative - arrows would be easier to recover and hopefully re-use.

Then the other thought is that possums are nocturnal, which makes hunting them difficult due to the darkness, with more risk of shooting other hunters. But they must sleep in the daytime. Anyone know where? Are they sleeping somewhere convenient for people to go and massacre them in their beds? Not very sporting, but then neither is 1080 ...

Richard

[spacemonkey]

Crossbow would be more effective than a normal bow as far as a hit rate goes.
As far as possums at night goes, their eyes reflect like road markers when you hit them with the spotlight and they tend to freeze staring at the beam for maybe 10 seconds or so, makes them pretty easy targets.

[Paul in NZ]

No and no... Arrows go right through - bolts do to and since you shoot em at night you never find the the bloody things. Which gets very expensive. Tying a string onto em dont work neither....

Trapping is miles easier and a much more effective method. Shooting em requires a light etc and you need to walk into places that a goat would have trouble reaching. I think you would be amazed the country that holds these things. Maybe 3 days walk?

Back in the day - people had mobile huts flown in by chopper with all the kit and it can be done but oh the cost now....

[Pixie]

Stupid hippies deserve everything they wish for and the consequences

[Pixie]

I think its a case of those who live in the regions you mention having a say. Isn't this what MMP is all about ?

Local body elections are FPP with a few exceptions

[Pixie]

Somewhat alarmist,perhaps?

After all, the possum was introduced in 1837 , 1080 not until 1954. Blossom the possum had 117 years to destroy the West Coast untrammelled. The fact that the Coast and its bush survived as a natural wilderness is a fairly good reason to suppose that Blossom is unlikely to wreak the havoc you fear. Were she able to, the bush would have been gone before we were born.

And the first 2 rabbits in the country didn't obliterate entire sheep stations

[Pixie]

I stand corrected, thank you. I thought it was longer at the time but it seems it was only closed for a couple of months. I remember reading the artical in the local paper, and how low the level of the twin lakes was getting as a result...


"Upper Hutt: 1080 drop closes Water Supply

Wellington Regional Council has stopped taking water from a catchment area north of Upper Hutt because of a 1080 poison drop.
Helicopters dropped the baits on Friday in parts of the Kaitoke Regional Park and the Akatarawa saddle area to control possums.
Half the water supply for the Wellington urban area comes from the Hutt Water Collection Area, drawn at the Kaitoke weir.
Water for Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt, Wellington and Porirua cities is now being drawn from the water storage lakes at Kaitoke.
Taking water from the Hutt water collection area will resume when the Medical Officer of Health gives the all clear."

Still, I will continue to have my 2 views on this one... Might do some more reserch on it myself. Always good to know the facts huh before blabbering on about a topic being full of hot air

Choose your doggies freedom - they probably won't even miss the bush

[Pussy]

It really does strike me that LOTS of people just don't appreciate the huge problem that possums are in NZ

[Kickaha]

It really does strike me that LOTS of people just don't appreciate the huge problem that possums are in NZ

They have been a problem pretty much since they were introduced (why were they introduced?), they used to be a good source of pocket money though, used to do a trapline daily after school and clear them in the morning

[Paul in NZ]

They have been a problem pretty much since they were introduced (why were they introduced?), they used to be a good source of pocket money though, used to do a trapline daily after school and clear them in the morning

While thats great stuff (did the same sort of thing) - its a bid of a walk say to the upper Whitcombe valley after school....

[SPman]

I am in two minds about councils using 1080. I live in Upper Hutt City and our council use 1080 happily and frequently. I also live in a rural area surrounded by native bush and farm land. The 1080 operations that they have done out our way have been incredibly successful and the possum population is quickly being controlled more as the years go on. They are about to start their first operation out here for the year. So the farmers as (generally) happy, and the results are very good for the wildlife and native bush.

However, I am also a dog owner which is where my other opinion about it comes into play. They have in the past done aerial drops of the pallets, on neighboring council land, and also private farms and properties that owners have given permission for. Last year the park only minutes up the road from me was covered in the stuff. So sure, don't take the dogs there. But them the river behind our house became too dangerous for the dogs, and we were then told that we couldn't walk them on our road at all. We could see the pallets everywhere. And there have been quite a few deaths of dogs in upper hutt parks and river beds as pallets and carcases have been washed down that was with heavy rains.

So, for 6 months of the year, my dogs are locked in my property, with very little chance to get out in our beautiful surrounding area. There is also a huge concern with the next aerial drop that our own property might be affected. They have been known for "dropping"outside of their proposed areas, and it was only last year I believe that the Kaitoke water catchment plant got contaminated by 1080 and was unsafe to use for over 6 months. I would have to check my facts on that, but it was something along those lines.

Still in two minds - I know it works brilliantly for controlling the possum populations and that is just something that we HAVE to continue to try and control, but as a dog owner, it sucks! I guess there are always pros and cons to most situations.

What! They're dropping pallets now!
Now that IS dangerous!

[Swoop]

I suppose if the government did encourage people to shoot possums,

Councils used to offer a bounty, with payment made in ammunition. A good plan that would be far too unworkable nowadays.

Local body elections are FPP with a few exceptions

Thought they were STV? My local one is.

[Hitcher]

Thought they were STV? My local one is.

There are exceptions. Councils can determine the basis of voting that is used for themselves. Many are STV, some are still FPP. That confusion leads to a lot of invalid votes in the FPP ballots from people who assume that of the organisations on their voting papers are using STV. Read the instructions carefully at each step or you may disenfranchise yourself.