Quote:
Originally Posted by Baddad
Several places hired out cage traps for possums. This was not legal.
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The reason for the law is that possums are territorial and will die prematurely when relocated. Although I had evidence to contradict this.
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Hi Marty, Alex,
Further to this and rather than it just being a matter that possums are territorial is
that in the wild, tree hollows are a very scarce resource.
If a possum is denied a hollow within its ranging territory, it will almost certainly die.
It has deeper ramifications than this when one considers that more than 300 Australian
native species, including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians use tree hollows.
Relocating a possum to a new territory may mean it ends up finding a new hollow,
but perhaps kicking out some other possum or some other species. Some of the
species that occupy hollows are in decline and some are threatened.
Possums are a protected species in NSW.
If a possum has to be evicted from a roof cavity, the humane approach is to
construct a nesting box for it which should be placed in a tree within its roaming
territory.
The advice Marty provided to screen the trees you want to protect is the best
advice.
Best Regards
Gary Kopff
Mt Kuring-Gai NSW