Possums

I wrote a while ago about the native animals of New Zealand.  Here's one that was introduced: the possum.

Kind of cute, aren't they?

Don't be fooled.  They're bad news.

These aren't the same thing as our creepy North American opossums; they were originally brought over from Australia as a fur source.  They're as soft as mink, but fluffier.

As introduced species without predators often tend to do, their populations exploded and they now pose a huge threat to the native ecosystem.  They kill trees by stripping off their leaves and bark --entire islands have been denuded by these pests.  They harm bird populations both by destroying their habitat and also by eating their eggs.  They also carry tuberculosis and have been responsible for infecting numerous cattle and sheep farms.

There are a LOT of possums here; 70 million by some estimates, and they live for ten years. 

Unless, of course, New Zealanders have anything to do about it.  People really want these animals GONE.  There is a government department whose sole focus is possum eradication.  There are various poison-bait and trapping programs that apparently do a brisk business, with rats and weasels as collateral, but also welcomed, damage.  There's still a possum fur trade (it's so luxurious when mixed with merino wool); because they aren't farmed, every clothing item equals a wild possum killed and wearing possum socks becomes a patriotic act. 

And then there are the 'common-man' tactics for possum population control.   Ranchers pick them off with shotguns.  Drivers make it a point of pride to swerve to hit them on the roads.  There are even quite a few recipes online for the little marsupials, described by one reviewer as, 'tender and similar to duck when young.'