A POSSUM population in Geelong’s Johnstone Park appears to be dwindling amid complaints of a trained hunting dog harassing the legally-protected marsupials.
Geelong’s Chris Argent told The Independent she had approached a man hunting possums with his dog twice in recent months.
The possums, a regular sight in the park’s grounds, had dropped in numbers from a dozen or more to virtually none, Ms Argent said.
She had warned the man the animals were protected but feared that his dog was savaging the animals.
Geelong naturalist Trevor Pescott said possums were powerful animals but at risk to larger dogs.
“There would be quite a few brushtail possums there (Johnstone Park),” he said.
“They’re protected legally and it’s a good environment. They spend a lot of time on the ground where they pick up sandwich crusts, that sort of thing, scavenging, they’ll feed on anything people leave behind.”
Ms Argent said the man claimed he was “just playing’’ with his dog and the possums.
“But he had a chain he threw up the trees to scare the possums out and then set the dog on them,” she said.
“First time I saw him was maybe a year ago, the dog was only a pup. I watched him and his mate using the chain to scare possums, to get them down.
“Then last Saturday night I found same guy again with his dog off leash.
“I got stuck into him. I told him to take his dog home or I’d tell the police but I couldn’t bluff him this time.
“We only saw one possum in the park but you often see 10 of them. The creepy thing was he made the dog stay while he came over to us 100 metres away.”
Ms Argent said the dog was “really well-trained”.
She was uncertain of its breed but described it as having a “squat body with really pointy upright ears”.
