Thread: Tell 'em they're dreaming . . . Govt announces new policy, predator free by 2050

Originally Posted by EeeBees

@WallyR, re hedgehogs...they especially like canned cat food according to one person I know...they also eat ground laying birds' eggs...scabby mongrels...

In the "old days" when the rabbits were in plague numbers, my father shot thousands of them, and also poisoned them with phosphorus laced jam...can you imagine that happening today...?? they were that thick that cabbage trees were completely debarked up as high as a rabbit could get its teeth...

Talking to a young lad the other day about the possums when they were big in numbers...my brother and I shot 80 out of one big old kanuka tree...the boy stated he thought that was a mistake...I said, well, you had to be there, I guess...

Ta mate - have been 'conversing' with an interested party on another FB post (no credits for the other site), and did say that 'hogs eat eggs, ground nesting bird chicks, lizards etc.. It appears that ol' Hedgy has quite a bit of support in the supposedly 'educated' halls of DOC. Go figure.

@timattalon
Funny that eh. Although possum are mainly vegan, others have posted elsewhere that they're not above adding the odd egg or two to their diet.

A thought for us all.
When the Moa disappeared, there were no multi-level leaf browsers about, until the introduction of deer and the release of possum to the wild after failed fur industry breeders.
Native trees had adapted to being browsed as part of the tree's development - encouraging rapid growth during the early months/years, to take the leaves above Moa feeding height.
So perhaps not including possum (who leaf browse higher than Moa could reach), is an oversight - or not, as 1080 poison has been 'blanket bombed' to these two target leaf browsers (deer and possum), but conveniently for the manufacturers, gets altered to mice, rats and other ground dwellers (tahr, chamois, goats and deer), who are then targeted for 1080 drops. Not sure if DOC have done definitive studies on secondary and tertiary poisoning of wildlife that ingests insects and parts of poisoned carcasses, such as carrion eaters and omnivores. Most predators prefer their meat fresh, so 1080 is missing rats, stoat, ferret and weasel.
Just a 'bee in my bonnet' I have about poisoning in such an uncontrolled manner - my other 'bee in my bonnet' is about our supposedly 'pristine, wild bush', flooded with 1080 from the air and the expected 'life' of airdropped poison being active for 10-14 days.
Enough to have kill rates on other species for which the drop was not targeted - native birds and small animals for example.
Stopping here before I get really started.