[Man from Oz]

I was in NZ about 15 years ago. The locals took me hunting at night for these vermin. Their eyes shine like red candles. Had a heckuva good time!

MF

[dljordan]

“I was in NZ about 15 years ago. The locals took me hunting at night for these vermin. Their eyes shine like red candles. Had a heckuva good time!”

They are harmless and they can eat up to 5000 ticks a night. They also make great pets. They’re not vermin.

[dljordan]

My apologies, it’s 4000 ticks a week.

[katana]

Possums are harmless and helpful little creatures. Pick one up and they'll just hiss at you. They devour ticks by the bushell and are largely immune to poisonous snake bites. As such they're a potential source for life saving anti-venoms.

But having watched a fellow in a kayak shoot black swans on Lake Taupo with a rifle mounted on forward facing tripod (I was with a friend on his boat trolling for trout) I'm not surprised there are Kiwis who hunt possums. Not much sport, but neither was shooting big resting black swans on a beautiful caldera lake.