Pest control in your backyard

The next ‘predator pulse’, when residents throughout Titirangi conduct a coordinated assault on animal pests, is due to take place at the end of this month. DAVID BLAKE provides the following background to backyard pest control.

There are many benefits to putting a trap on your property. As the Department of Conservation (DOC) points out, when pests and predators were introduced to New Zealand they took a serious toll on the survival of our native plants, birds, reptiles and invertebrates. Pests such as possums, rats and stoats compete with our native birdlife for food and habitat. They also eat the eggs and young and attack the adults.

Building or buying a trap or bait station could greatly increase the number of birds, lizards, weta and many more native animals on your section. It could also be a really valuable learning experience for your kids who often love checking traps each morning to see if anything was caught.

DOC provides a number of resources to help get your backyard trapping started, including advice on building your own trapping tunnels. See the links below. Traps can also be purchased online at https://shop.predatorfreenz.org/products/victor-professional-rat-traptunnel.

Another approach to pest control is to use bait stations. These are plastic boxes that contain bait for rats and mice. The main benefit of bait stations is that they are a lot less work than traps as they don’t

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Season. advertisers. advertisers and our community. have to be checked as often and you don’t have to dispose of the dead rodents. Generally they will go off into the bush somewhere to die. (However, they will, on occasion, die in the walls and/or ceiling of your house.)

Bait stations are safe around kids and non-target species but they are not suitable for properties where dogs are present as there is a slight chance a dog will eat a poisoned rat. The South Titirangi Neighbourhood Network (STNN) uses a toxin called Ditrac which has low toxicity to pets. It breaks down very quickly in the rodent and there is also an antidote available should it be needed.

Whichever route you take the placement of your trap or bait station is important. Rats and mice like to run along borders such as fences and the edge of the bush, the side of a stream or the edge of a house.

If you are not having any bait taken or your trap is not being triggered, then simply move it to a different location. It’s not really known why, but rodents can be quite fussy about the enclosures they enter. Simply moving your trap or bait station five to 10 metres can produce markedly different results.

Trapping and setting bait stations is made more effective if, as a community, we record who is catching or killing pest animals and how many. To do this STNN uses the EcoTrack app which can be downloaded (for both Android phones and iPhones) at https://ecotrack.nz/. Using this app you can set up checkpoints where you have your traps or bait stations and enter in catch data when you check them.

This helps groups like STNN obtain funding from Council as it shows that there are lots of people involved and that any supplies the group is given would be well used. It also helps monitor how many people are doing pest control and in which areas which helps identify areas which may not be covered. The app also helps to measure progress in reducing the numbers of predators.

Bruce Inwood (left) and David Blake with the most common types of traps and bait stations: traps from left Timms Possum trap, DOC 200 and Ambush bait station which can hold bait or a Trex rat trap

For more information visit: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/animal-pests/ https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/conservation-activities/ backyard-trapping/ https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/conservation-activities/builda-backyard-trapping-tunnel https://www.southtitirangi.org.nz/ (Visit the Connect page on this site to find your local coordinator.) STNN can supply Trex traps for $7, bait stations for $25 and Ditrac bait at $5 per 10 blocks. A block is enough to kill one rat. The group might also be able to help source

In the November issue of The Fringe we will continue our build up towards Summer and the Festive

Yep, it’s that time of year again and after the disruption of the last six months, our many thousands of readers will be eager to start thinking about happier times, Christmas shopping and festive dining options. Special rates and complimentary editorial space will be available to participating

The Fringe is well aware of the problems being faced by local businesses as a result of Covid-19 and the associated lockdowns and we are committed to supporting our local businesses and community organisations. We will continue to run our keeping it local section to support our other traps and tunnels.