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Animal pest control has burgeoned on the Hibiscus Coast in recent years.
Inspired by the sanctuary at Shakespear, the local Forest & Bird and others have sought to support that project and, as much as possible, bring the same benefits for native wildlife, to the rest of the Coast. More than 750 traps and bait stations are being monitored. Many hands make light work. As people from all sorts of backgrounds have set their minds to the task, methods are being improved and innovative ideas bear fruit. What works and what doesn’t – that is the question. The basic principles are to kill humanely, to use methods that are effective and affordable, and to measure results.
The tried and true method to kill possums is the ground-placed Timms trap. It’s hard to beat. Each user has their favourite fruit or vegetable to use as a lure. Challenging the Timms are automatic re-set traps, powered by a gas canister. They are expensive, but the idea is great, as refreshing the lure monthly is the only task required until the gas canister runs out. The carcass falls out of the trap and will break down or be scavenged by predators between visits if you are lucky. One technical advance can be challenged by another though. Newly affordable video cameras can be set up opposite a trap to monitor animal responses. Remote downloading of the video file can follow. Our results have shown that the lure for the auto-trap, in the form of a paste, can be licked off the trigger by a possum without setting off the trap. (To see for yourself, visit pestfree.wixsite.com/volunteers) The Timms has not been knocked off its perch as the number one possum killer just yet.
Rats are being targeted in Hibiscus Coast projects primarily by poisoned cereal-based baits containing Bromadiolone. The bait is encased in small plastic boxes with rat-sized entry holes (referred to as sidekicks in reference to these entry points). These can be safely distributed widely as a key is required to open them. The bait is in the form of blocks placed on fixed spikes. This encourages the rat to eat a lethal dose rather than carry it back to a den for storage, as it might prefer. Sidekicks are easy to service as the rats go elsewhere to die. They can get messy if snails, beetles or other insects find their way in: they can eat the bait and don’t seem to be poisoned by it. A modification is to place the sidekick on stilts – nails or bolts – to make it difficult for these critters to enter, while it is still easy for a rat.
Stoats are difficult to deal with as they require an animal-based lure and have large territories, making the chances of one investigating a particular trap low. One consolation is that their taste for meat will lead them to devour the carcasses of poisoned rats, resulting one hopes in them receiving secondary poisoning. The standard stoat trap is a DoC 200, a substantial steel trap placed in a stout wooden box with mesh ends. An egg is the attractant, which the creature never reaches as stepping on the plate between it and the egg sets of the trap. As with the Timms, lots of other attractants can be placed to entice entry. One clever idea is to place some grass and twigs around the egg to mimic a bird’s nest. In practice these traps often catch rats or hedgehogs (which are also pests).
There is nothing like sharing each other’s experiences, as pest control is as much an art as a science.
