BK9 Trapper's Companion Passes the Brushtail Possum Test

C

coote

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Apr 3, 2006
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If I had a long dedicated line of possum traps, I'd carry a club for despatching. But when I have just one or two traps out.... or when I'm not targeting possums.... it is a nuisance to carry a club.

Today there was a buck brushtail possum in a spring leg snare I'd set for pigs. I found that the '9 served well as a substitute club for the job. Getting at the possum to administer the blow was difficult as it was part way up a tree in some fairly thick scrub. Also the landowner's dog (who seems to find my company interesting) kept jumping enthusiastically at the possum. After some stern words to the dog, she hung back long enough for the job to be done.

I already assumed that the '9 would be up to the task, it was good to have an opportunity to confirm it. I think the BK9 is a great multi-purpose blade.

As I type this, the possum is boiling in a big pot.

BK9possum1_zpsopiz4yhe.jpg
 
I love the nines !

This possum won't end up as a pie. It was one of the hardest possums to skin that I've experienced... it is likely to be very tough. I will cut the meat off the bones for the dog.
 
your possums are a lot different from our naked tailed marsupial possum.

ours always reminds me of what rats could look like post nuclear scenarios
 
Brad "the butcher";16266688 said:
your possums are a lot different from our naked tailed marsupial possum.

ours always reminds me of what rats could look like post nuclear scenarios
Click to expand...

I hear that. This is what ours look like:

opossum-001jpg-4bf067921e2f2ce4.jpg
 
Yup, possums in the states look like demon rats. Don't think I'd care to eat one.

HBcQBI9WDDRx4c2AfphSuYRRQ782-s1C8As_G6OOmwo.jpg


How'd you put that down coote? Can't see a wound unless it's in the middle of back there.

Most people I know use a .22 cal to put down smaller trapped animals. Strict gun laws?
 
I reckon your possums look really interesting.

Ulf... the possum was put down using the BK9 like a club. I gave it a swift blow to the base of the skull using the back of the blade. It is perfectly legal to me to use firearms, and I often have one with me. But we aren't allowed pistols, and I find that a rifle can be a bit of a nuisance.... especially seeing that I like to take good care of my firearms. I don't like taking them out in the rain, and they are just another thing to carry. If I have a load of meat and I have to travel down a steep hillside, I'd rather not have the worry of protecting my rifle as I slide around using both hands to steady myself.

Here's another photo of a local possum:

Possum2.jpg
 
Here's a picture of a reliable, safe trap line rifle. It is a Gecado 'Plinker' single-shot .22LR. My dad had this sent to NZ from Germany around 1960 when he was on a business trip there. He actually sent two of them. One had a rounded knob on the bolt, and the one pictured had a flat bolt handle. I use Winchester subsonic ammo and have had very good results with it. I wouldn't normally recommend a .22 for goats, but this was the gun in my hand when the opportunity presented itself.

GoatPlinkerBobBarbs_zps7lxulvvm.jpg
 
coote - thanks for sharing your stories and photos from NZ, I'm glad you own two or three (?) BK-9's because you sure are getting plenty of use out of yours and will eventually need a new one. ;)

Is your possum a marsupial like our opossum here in the U.S.? Do they "play dead" when they get really stressed out? Ours do; every time my dog chases one they just flop over and pretend that they are dead, really funny survival trait of the critter.
 
I see you're not allowing any rust to form on your 9, Coote.

I don't know if you have Black-legged ticks in NZ or not, nor if your possums work the same as ours, but here in North America, we shouldn't be killing possums but rather encouraging their distribution. Apparently they are helping in our war against Lyme disease. See HERE.

Doc
 
I've got 2 BK9s, which should be plenty considering how strong they are and how much 'meat' there is in the blade. However there are a few things that are almost impossible to have too many of, and these little beauties are in that category.

Yep, the possums we have here are marsupials; and no, they don't play dead. They are just one type of Australian possum - and just one of maybe 200 different marsupial species living in Australia. Except for a few bats, all our land mammals here have been introduced, and there are no large predators here to control the population. So possums can build up to big numbers.

I really like the look of those North American possums. They remind me of two things... the Australian Tasmanian Devil, and a little dog I used to have. We don't have Black-legged Ticks here and I don't think we have a Lyme Disease problem either, but it is great that those little possums are into killing ticks.

Below is a photo from a few years back when I was really into catching possums. I would pluck the fur and sell it, and I would select the best meat for my freezer. I also saved a few of the better pelts, but when I sold them I was told that I'd stretched them incorrectly so they had very little value. That is a khukuri I have on my belt. A big heavy, curved thing. It was a good bit of steel, and it could certainly chop, but it was not as useful as I'm finding the '9 to be. I gave that khukuri to my son-in-law.

Harvest1007.jpg
 
Opossums her don't have pelts worth a damn. And they are the only marsupials in North America, so far as I know. Funny critters....though not any kind of problem or nuisance animal. NZ/Aussie possums look to have really nice pelts. Glad to see you'reing the hell out of those 9's. I don't think I know of a single one stateside that receives that kind of use. You are really doing justice to that blade, IMO.
 
I've used my nine to chop off the heads of a few rattlesnakes AFTER I had them pinned down with a boot or board, but those don't hold a candle to whacking a possum in a trap. A rattler neck isn't a moving target once I get my 200+ pounds standing on its head. A possum in a leg snare is gonna be jumping all over the place and wiggling like hell.
 
Heh. I sure do like the BK9s. Two will have to do for now though :)

I think I'll stick to whacking possums instead of rattlesnakes. If a possum bites me I might bleed a bit, but I'd be fairly certain of surviving. This particular possum had got the snare cord tangled in the shrubbery and it was clinging to a tree trunk. So it wasn't jumping. But it was at a difficult angle, and the dog I had with me kept trying to help.

Reminds me of a story I heard..... Down here a lot of possums have been shot at night using a .22 and a spotlight. Some guys were hunting possums at night, and the shooter was on the back of a small truck. When they shot possums, they'd simply throw them on the back of the truck and carry on. One possum wasn't dead though. When it regained consciousness it climbed up the shooter's leg. I didn't see it, but heck I reckon he'd have pulled some great dance moves.

The '9 is handy indeed, and I intend using it a lot more. Although it is nonsense thinking that one knife might do everything, I reckon a '9 and something with a small pointed blade would suffice for the vast majority of everything I might do with a knife. Here's a small knife I made when I was going through a youthful khukuri-karda phase. This little karda has been very handy. I need to have something to dig out splinters with.

BK9karda_zpswsxxonvv.jpg


Our possum pelts have been quite a source of revenue for some guys. I haven't researched what the pelt market has been doing lately, but good skins were getting maybe fifteen bucks at one stage. Not every possum has a prime skin, but in places hunters have been able to get a lot of possums which can be sorted through. In recent years there has been demand for the possum fiber. It is reputed to have very good insulating qualities, and it can be argued that it is a 'green' fiber because it is taken from a species labelled as a pest. At one stage we were being offered NZ $105 per kilo. It would take the fur from say 12 to 18 possums to get a kilo. The fur plucks easily from a freshly killed possum. Here is a dried pelt:

possumskin.jpg


Some skins drying:

TackedSkins.jpg


An acquaintance who catches a lot of possums:

possumhaul_zpsapk78iyx.jpg
 
Wow, quite the variation in their coloration.

As repulsive as the North American possums are as adults I trapped one in a live trap that had a bevy of little ones climbing all over her. The babies were cute as buttons.
 
Yes, there is a bit of color variation. The two broad color classes that I see are brown and silver-grey.

Dunno if I'd use the word repulsive for your possums. The word that springs to mind for me is 'cool'. I'd love to watch them going about their business. Many animals amuse me, and your possums look really interesting.

Below are a couple of pictures of young brushtailed possums. I've posted these several times before on the 'net, so forgive me if you've already seen them. The smaller one would normally be in its mother's pouch. Some folks have kept possums as pets. I never have. The toilet etiquette of the pet possum I've seen left much to be desired. I prefer dogs as they generally don't climb up on your shoulder and pee all over your neck.

Joey1.jpg


BabyPossumEmail.jpg
 
Aw Coote, don't you like the possums we sent over to you from Aus? How ungrateful. I believe they were a gift. After one of the times you won the Rugby World Cup. Again. Well, we don't want them back, we've got enough of the bloody things over here. I had a ceiling full of the blighters having all sorts of orgies each night. They're protected over here but be damned of you don't see a squished one on the road every 2 or 300 hundred feet..

One thing you American guys can't get an idea of is their territorial call. Low, gutteral grunting. They kinda look cute but they sure as hell don't sound it..

We used to have a mumma possum that lived in our yard (and in our ceiling in winter) that we used to feed. She'd bring her baby down to meet us each mating season. She'd climb onto your shoulder and eat vegies from your hand. She had the manners to never piss on me though. She was a good possum..

Anyway, glad your making some use of our 'gift' Coote, sorry about that. I guess :D
 
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