OPOSSUMS. 17 



apple-trees ; but the opossum does not bark a tree. It might scratch 

 the bark with its teeth, but it does not strip it off." 



Colonel Boscawen, of Auckland, who is a most reliable autho- 

 rity, tells me that as long as there is plenty of green stuff available 

 opossums do not interfere with fruit, but that the damage they 

 are often charged with is the work of rats presumably black rats. 

 On the other hand, at Kawau, Motutapu, Hawera, and other places 

 they are stated to be destructive in orchards, eating the shoots of 

 apple and plum trees in the spring-time and the fruit in the 

 autumn. 



The number of opossums in this country now is enormous. In 

 1912 it was estimated that over sixty thousand skins were taken in 

 the Catlin's district alone. Some acclimatization societies try to 

 protect these animals, while fruitgrowers seek to destroy them. The 

 law is rather complex on the subject, and few laymen know whether 

 or not it is legal to destroy them. Meanwhile a large number are 

 killed annually; but their skins are often declared as rabbit-skins, 

 though, as a matter of fact, they are worth four or five times as 

 much. 



