Global trade and local possums
I've been thinking about the graphs in a recent Against the Current post for a few days. I think the post (and the article which the graphs come from) are well worth reading, but the biggest message is that comparisons of 1929-30 and 2008-9 show that global trade and stock market value have both dropped faster since April 2008 than in the comparative period (immediately after the peak in the stock market and in trade) in 1929.
Which seems a pretty powerful piece of information to me.
This afternoon, over biscuits and tea, after much admiration of Brighid's biscuit dunking skills and of the clothes I dropped round for the great grandchildren, my cousin Mary (aged 82) and I were discussing this graph. We talked about the 1930s depression which she remembers but which her late husband Lou, eight years older than her, remembered even more vividly. Mary said she never went hungry and her Dad was in work throughout the lean times, so they were very lucky. Lou's family had not been so lucky. His father was out of work for much of the depression and he did remember going hungry. They, like many families, lived off the land and his father would kill native wood pigeons to feed the family. Wild blackberries were much loved.
Which got me thinking about living on the Coast and living off the land.
Which got me thinking about 1080, which in the name of possum eradication, is poison entering our waterways and our wildlife and leaching into our soil for generations to come. Occasionally we still hear that this is a DOC native fauna protection project, but here we're pretty used to the reality that it is targeted at possum control for the benefit of our dairy farmers. The link being that possums carry bovine tuberculosis which is a significant feature of dairy herds on the West Coast.
So as a time approaches where many would benefit (read: survive) from shooting wild animals in the bush, we are poisoning that bush?
I'm further mystified given the premium price which knitting wool which has possum blended in it attracts.
So we are poisoning possums which would otherwise be edible and their pelts usable through poison which is a low labour means of predator control at a time when intensive labour projects offer dignity and meaning to many people otherwise out of work?
Go on, tell me what I've missed. Which dots have connected incorrectly? Because the way I see it, bad crazy decisions abound.
Which seems a pretty powerful piece of information to me.
This afternoon, over biscuits and tea, after much admiration of Brighid's biscuit dunking skills and of the clothes I dropped round for the great grandchildren, my cousin Mary (aged 82) and I were discussing this graph. We talked about the 1930s depression which she remembers but which her late husband Lou, eight years older than her, remembered even more vividly. Mary said she never went hungry and her Dad was in work throughout the lean times, so they were very lucky. Lou's family had not been so lucky. His father was out of work for much of the depression and he did remember going hungry. They, like many families, lived off the land and his father would kill native wood pigeons to feed the family. Wild blackberries were much loved.
Which got me thinking about living on the Coast and living off the land.
Which got me thinking about 1080, which in the name of possum eradication, is poison entering our waterways and our wildlife and leaching into our soil for generations to come. Occasionally we still hear that this is a DOC native fauna protection project, but here we're pretty used to the reality that it is targeted at possum control for the benefit of our dairy farmers. The link being that possums carry bovine tuberculosis which is a significant feature of dairy herds on the West Coast.
So as a time approaches where many would benefit (read: survive) from shooting wild animals in the bush, we are poisoning that bush?
I'm further mystified given the premium price which knitting wool which has possum blended in it attracts.
So we are poisoning possums which would otherwise be edible and their pelts usable through poison which is a low labour means of predator control at a time when intensive labour projects offer dignity and meaning to many people otherwise out of work?
Go on, tell me what I've missed. Which dots have connected incorrectly? Because the way I see it, bad crazy decisions abound.
Comments
My brother gets such good money for possum wool that he won't even spare me some to spin.
i prefer a trap & ship to australia program myself ;)
Gill how does your brother catch the possums to keep the pelt in good condition?
Nova, I understand your concerns about safety with a rifle. Hunting is a popular and well established sport here on the Coast and so the transition to hunting possum for meat and fur could be a lot safer and more seamless here than in a city context.
Many in DoC argue that it is a matter of having possums, or valued native flora and fauna, but not both. I haven't reviewed their evidence for some time, but when I last did, it was fairly convincing.
I'm still hoping for some breakthroughs in immunocontraception, which seem to be taking their time!
Now if we can just breed enough of those tasty wood pigeons....