Kia ora fellow trappers,

first time posting here, but have been enjoying reading others experiences from around the world!
If anyone is interested below are a few images of how we trap possums in New Zealand. These are the most commonly trapped animal. They're considered a pest due to their destructive nature to our native plants and animals (of which many are on the brink of extinction).

Cheers

This is a typical set.
#1 Bush Master leg hold with a flour/cinnamon mix as lure

Neat pictures. I would trade our grinners for yours.

a few more photos

typical set...

Thanks The Beav...yes they certainly are a nice animal!

Yeah our possums over here are ugly as sin yours are great looking.

Thank you for sharing a glimpse of what you have going on down there I also really enjoy seeing how others are dealing with .
Thankfully we don't have possums in Montana yet !
Keep up the good work and welcome to trapperman !
Allan

Thanks for posting, very neat looking critters!

Here is one of our north American possums for comparison.

Do you get paid to trap them? Trap them for food? Does the fur have value? Is it done primarily because and needs to be done?

Are foreigners allowed to trap in New Zealand? I remember reading a story about feral domestic dogs killing sheep there?

Is there any market for the fur?

.

Hey Danny, no I don't get paid to trap them. However I believe the government employees some trappers. The fur is worth $75 - $120 NZD per kilo, there isn't much of a market for the pelts. Harvesting fur from possums in NZ is probably a bit different to what is typically done around the world. Once the possum is trapped and dispatched the fur is then plucked from it, this must be done with a few minutes of it being dispatched otherwise it becomes near impossible to pluck!

From what I understand anyone is free to trap in NZ, no licence is required or anything. As with most places there are regulations in regards to trap sizes etc.

The possum fur market is worth about $120million per year here. The government has a goal to be predator free (this includes possums, mustelids, rats etc) by 2050. Which is fairly ambitious I'd say considering there is an estimated 30 million possums in NZ alone, of which only an estimated 1.2million are harvested each year!

What you say about dogs killing sheep is correct. Once a dog (feral or domestic) has a taste for sheep they cannot help themselves and go on a rampage worrying and killing sheep. Dogs that do this are usually put down as they cannot be trained out of it and are a huge risk to the livestock.

Question of plucking the fur. Is the whole critter plucked, or is there a difference between back and belly fur? What is it used for besides dubbing for fly tying?

They are quite different looking than what we get!! How big do these grow to?

Adults average around 10 lbs and are 2 to 2 1/2 feet long.

Yes the entire critter is plucked aside from the tail. There is often a colour difference between the back and belly fur (see image, these are couple I'm tanning myself) but fur buyers don't typically worry too much about this.

Its used alot for clothing and is often blended with merino (sheep) wool.

Interesting, similar size to what we get down here.

Thanks Allan. Sure is interesting to see how everyone else traps.

I've seen tanned NZ possum hides, I would say they go a shade bigger than ours on average but close to the same size. Ours probably average smaller house cat sized.

Is the plucking of fur for commercial use fairly new? Are some of the animals pelted like we pelt fur bearers here in the US?

I remember quite a few years ago seeing NZ possum pelts at a Hudson Bay (NAFA) Sale. The pelts were open (split up the belly), had the tails attached and were missing the front part of the head. I don’t remember what the price was.

Thanks

Wouldn't say its new, its probably more efficient/economical than pelting. There is definitely still a market for pelts but the majority would be plucked fur.

Hello guys n gals

Ran the traps again last night and checked them this morning with my younger brother.
Got another 2 possums, both had joeys.

Some pics below...

Cheers

I think when he mentions plucking he actually means skinning. Just a different terminology then ours.

G'day The Beav,

There is a difference between skinning and plucking...the video below may help explain it better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkclfYhei7k&has_verified=1


Cheers

Hey Beav, looks like pluck still means pluck in NZ!

I can't get Into those U tube sites. So I'll take your word for It.

Many years ago, I sent some snares to a New Zealand trapper after seeing the kind of material he was working with.
In return, I received some tanned pelts of those Bushy tailed 'possums.

Wow I was surprised to see how easily the fur was plucked.

about how many possums per kilo of fur?

Looks like Kansas City to Auckland is about 2300 U.S. round trip. At 60 bucks U.S. per kilo for possum fur might take a lot of possums. I didn't add in baggage cost of a 100 duke 1 1/2's. Might be hard to talk my wife into thinking its a good plan. Still havn't sold most of my fur from last year. It is all at furharvesters. She gets grouchy when trapping costs instead of earns. Wonder if I can get a new passport without her finding out? Are those things tasty or do I need to budget in food? Can you camp about anywhere you want?

I don’t think I could afford to fly, I guess I’d have to drive it. I’ll go with you if you Want to split gas and we can take your truck...

Winter time 12-15 per kilo
Summer 18+

Going there in the winter would be nice. Could miss all this miserably hot Kansas summer weather. Would need to keep it a secret from my neighbors though. They would think I had gone crazy if i traveled 6000 miles to trap 4 dollar possums. Doesn't matter that our possums are bringing a quarter if you get a little kid to sell them for you so the fur buyer will take them. They just don't understand trapper finance. I wonder if we could ship Virginia Opossum pelts to your buyers and get paid more? Maybe could just tip them off there are some real bargains to be had in possum pelts at North Bay?

Another 4 possums yesterday

Look forward to seeing you Danny haha! No need to budget in food, always plenty of deer, pigs and possums. Yes you can get a permit from DOC (Department of Conservation) for camping up in the bush...

Can certainly tip the fur buyers off about the North Bay possum pelt bargains

Looks like your enjoying yourself. This time of year in KS I fish at night but in the day time I try to stay air conditioned.

Always enjoyable in the forest!

What species of fish do you target?

My favorite is flathead catfish. They are a catfish but a predator. Won 't eat decayed or tainted stuff. Belly meat and the meat behind their eyes is the best tasting fish I ever ate.

caught this one a couple weeks ago. been doing other stuff and have not been fishing since.

Nice Danny, that's a solid fish!

Fresh water fish we get here are brown and rainbow trout and pacific salmon.
Also get a huge variety of salt water fish.

I'll see if i can dig up some photos if anyone is interested?

Bloat any dead animal and they'll all pluck fairly easy !!!

Here are photos of a few of the species we get over here...

Brown trout



Snapper



Butterfish (Greenbone) get these spearfishing



Flounder and herring, get these drag netting



Blue Moki another species we getting spearfishing

which is your favorite?

Eating would have to be butterfish or snapper.

Nothing quite like fooling a crafty brown trout though!

Butterfish from our last dive..

Those butterfish are a interesting looking fish . I helped out at the local Walleye's Unlimited Chapters Kids Fishing Day it's certainly a great time getting kid's thinking about something other then their cell phone or computer game.
For the brown trout are you fly fishing or casting lures ?
Allan

Hello Allan,

Yes butterfish are interesting looking, they feed solely on kelp and the dark colour of them helps them blend in.
100% agree on getting kids out and about, much more to life than games and cellphones!

For the brown trout mainly casting lures, but do a little bit of fly fishing. However, not that proficient at it yet

Little brother got another 5 possums last weekend, pretty good strike rate. Set 7 traps connected on 5.

That's quite a mixed lot of colors that he collected ! And a good catch rate also .

The kids fishing day went well everyone had a great time and caught fish , the next day I caught a 10+ lbs walleye after getting it to the boat took a couple pictures then released her so she could make more walleye's .
I'll see if I can post the picture later .

Thank you for sharing your trap line with us !
Allan

Thanks Allan.

Good to hear that the kids fishing day was a success, look forward to seeing a photo of your 10lb'er!

Got another 9 possums over the weekend from 14 traps

Some are starting to molt now so will likely pull the traps soon.

Few photos below...

Good catch!!! Thank you for sharing the pictures, keep posting them they as re interesting!!

I killed a few of those when I was in new Zealand, vastly different than our possums, one of the best things I have ever got to watch was in new Zealand, it was a possum toss. They would gather up a pile of dead possums and let the kids throw them, whoever threw them the farthest was the winner. The anti's here in America would have lost their feces.

Put the traps out again this weekend, Saturday morning had connected on 2 possums and Sunday morning 4 possums.

Photos below.

That's a good run for over the weekend on possums ! It's a good thing getting those youngen's out to help on the trap line !

Keep up the good work !
Allan

Great job NZ!!!!! Nice to see kids outside!!!

Awesome photos, thanks for sharing!! NZ, on my bucket list!

Great job on the opossum ! Oh and sorry about your little brother, he must be one ugly little bugger having to blur his picture and all . Lol !

But on a more serious note is the color difference due to age or sex or ?

haha yes he suffers from stage fright! Lol.

There's 2 different colours, browns and greys. The males general have more of a "rust" colour in them. I will try to remember to take some photos showing this next time I run the trap line.

Here's a few photos from the past weekend.
Took a couple of my little cousins out on Sunday morning, they're aged 3 and 5. Seemed to enjoy getting out in the elements which was epic!

Total of 9 possums over the weekend.

Very nicely done it warms my heart to see and know that kid's are out in the country experiencing nature first hand and learning about it at the same time . Keep up the good work !!!!!

Have you noticed that the kid's who are out playing in the mud and dirt or trapping or dealing with cow's, horse's or livestock in general that get dirty can eat a candy bar and lick melted chocolate off their fingers and don't get sick ha ha
And they pet a outside dog or cat that's the secret to a good long life and it builds their immunity to catching a flu bug.
On I'll get off my soap box and thank you for sharing and doing a good job with your cousins !
Allan

Thanks Allan, it is rewarding to see them finding enjoyment in the simple things in life.

I'm sure those two are a absolute fun time to have out in any situation I raised two daughter's by myself and you're pictures brings back some great memories that we can enjoy.
Just a thought a journal with pictures is the one thing I wish I'd of done for my daughter's so they could share them with my grandkids now .
Keep up the good work ! Hopefully it's not getting to warm yet down there we've dropped nearly 50 degrees here since last supper time with a chance of snow down to 6,000' in elevation .
Allan