Monday, October 20, 2014

Possum magic


Well, here's hoping. The latest weapon in the battle to stop possums eating my fruit trees this year is two of these 'Animal Away' devices. They emit a high pitched noise and flashing light when the motion sensors are tripped. It's unpleasant enough for humans, let alone sensitive animal ears. We have installed one at each end of the little orchard in the hope of deterring the possums. And anyone else who decides to enter the fenced area, including the naughty dog who ate the only apples produced so far by these trees... I will also net the little apricot tree that stands fenced on its own inside our yard. David has installed plastic protectors on all of our non-fruit trees. Poss Off spray is too difficult (and very expensive) when you have a lot of trees to protect.

We haven't seen any possums in the yard so far this spring. Last summer they managed to break the top branches off all our silver birches and a small oak as well as all the apple trees. They don't like pear leaves it seems, as they left those alone. As a result, our espaliered pears are now much larger and healthier than the poor little apples. I really want them to grow healthy and strong this year, so we may one day even enjoy some fruit for our efforts. If these devices work, I will report back. If you've tried them, please let me know!

5 comments:

  1. We haven't tried these devices but a 'floppy fence' has worked for us so far to keep the possums out.

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    1. Yes... if these things don't work, we might have to re-wire the gate and avoid having to put wire/net over the whole area as it would be expensive and a lot of work!

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    2. We have a similae device. Anxious to hear if works. As we too lost all the tops of silver birches. All of our trees now are duct taped together.

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  2. Just wondering if you think these devices work. I have terrible problems with possums destroying my trees.

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  3. You know Denis I am not so sure. While a few new young trees I wanted to protect (cherry, peach, plum) have not been eaten, some of the apples have been. Little buggers... they have again eaten the silver birches and all the leaves off my raspberries.

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