Since its introduction to New Zealand in 1837 the Australian Brush Tailed Possum has found an amazing place to live. In its natural environment most of the plants had evolved toxins to limit the amount a possum could browse while predators lurked looking for a meal. New Zealand is unique in that there were never land mammals here. 80 million years of isolation has meant a land of succulent plants and tasty birds abounded the perfect place for a small tree dwelling marsupial to be placed. Here the lack of predators and an abundant food source means today they have colonized most of NZ and wreak havoc on our forests and wildlife.

Possums are having a major effect on NZ by over browsing our forests killing the most palatable species and also predating on insects birds and other creatures. You would be surprised just where a possum will appear I have had them on my front lawn in the middle of Rotorua city. There are many ways to control possums and we at Rotorua Canopy Tours have chosen to use the Sentinel possum kill trap as it has passed the humane tests and has one of the best ratings for a possum trap.

Here is one of ours well used note the markings on the side and top which are from possums biting the corflute housing. The cover is white which draws an inquisitive possum in closer the cover will keep animals from landing on or touching the trap leaving the only access from below here is a possums eye view.

By setting the trap high enough off the ground the possum will have to hold on with all four limbs ensuring only its head is entering the trap by pulling on the bite block which is baited with peanut butter they really love it the trap is triggered causing a kill bar to spring down arresting the carotid artery which means a quick death.

This type of trap is the most effective trap for our purpose as we do not check these traps every day. Leg hold traps are often used for possums but by law must be checked daily to ensure no undue suffering on a trapped animal. They must always be set up off the ground as you never know where a Kiwi may turn up and certain death waits for the one unlucky enough to step on a leg hold trap.

This photo shows typical possum markings caused by one chewing strips from a tree which is a way of them marking their territorys. If you see this type of damage you can be sure there are possums about.

With your traps set and maintained you could look at removing numbers of possums such as this.

This is one night of trapping in our trial block of 50 hectares just think how many are really out there. So get some traps set them responsibly and start to see more birds returning to your area.