by Rob West
31. January 2010 03:39
here in New Zealand, and there are lots of signs for them - 'kiwicrossing,' 'kiwi habitat, keep dogs on lead' - there are few signs ofthe long-beaked wormeater themselves. We've seen one so far, stuffedand under glass in the Auckland Museum.
However, the kiwi aside,the real star of the New Zealand animal show is the possum, introducedby the British from Australian in 1837. With 30 million of them nowroaming the land - about 7 for every person - possums are the scourageof the country, chewing their way through native bush, including kiwihabitat, at a ferocious pace.
In some countries distances are ticked off by mile markers, however in New Zealand road distances are counted off by the bodies of fresh possums strewn across the highwaysand tufts of possum fur fused to the road from the passing cars. Up inthe north where we are right now, the possum roadkill is thick and fast with a fur blob or fresh carcass every hundred metres.
And running down a possum on the highway here is national pastime sandwiched somewhere between rugby and cricket in the sporting heirarchy. Indeed it borders on being a national duty to swerving across the oncoming lane to bag yourself a fur ball and to don possum gloves and hats in the winter. It's good eating for the birds of prey too.
