Kerre Woodham: Possums - a money trap

If ever there's a slow night on talkback, I can guarantee callers will come if I drop 1080 on them.

A lot of people, especially the hunters, have very strong views on the use of this poison to control pests. They absolutely hate it.

They say you can always tell when there's been a 1080 drop because the forest is deathly quiet. There's no bird song and they say it takes some time before the bird population builds back up.

Their dogs are poisoned if they eat animals who've ingested 1080 and hunters say poison leaching into the forest floor and rivers and its entry into the food chain makes a nonsense of New Zealand's clean, green reputation.

No other country in the world uses 1080 for pest control, critics say; why are we flying in the face of public opinion?

DoC says, and the Environmental Risk Management Agency supports them, that the regeneration of native flora and fauna is "greatly assisted" through 1080 aerial drops and that the poison is safe provided all the instructions are followed.

The sound of silence, they claim, is due to the possums having wiped out the bird population in the forest area.

After a poison drop, DoC claims the bird population bounces back. 1080 is used because unlike other countries we don't have native ground mammals that would be susceptible to poisoning and it's also one of the few cost-effective poisons that can be spread from the air, making it ideal for many parts of New Zealand that are remote and inaccessible by land.

And, says DoC, it's a biodegradable compound, which means, contrary to the hunters' opinion, it breaks down in the soil and water. They say the science is in their favour and that anecdotal evidence from hunters who have a vested interest in keeping enough possums, pigs and deer around to give them sport simply doesn't stack up.

I don't hunt and it's years since I've been in the bush so I can't offer any eyewitness accounts of my experience with 1080. DoC's arguments seem to make sense - yet there's something so 1970s and Apocalypse Now about spraying poison all over our forests. I'm no fan of rats and possums but surely there has to be a better way.

This week, the Maori Party called for the Government to undertake large-scale trapping operations, to provide employment and make the most of the possums rather than leaving them to rot.

Tariana Turia says there's strong overseas demand for possum fur and with a queen-sized possum fur bed throw going for around $3500, you'd have to say that there's money in them thar hills.