Predator-free Hamilton

The first in an occasional post on home trapping experiences at our suburban gully section.

I have been losing bait from rat traps without them being sprung. I set mousetraps in the rat trap tunnels but if one was sprung the other would invariably spring too, and Victors are a bit tough on mouse traps, so I have made some smaller trap tunnels and placed the rat and mouse tunnels side by side.

Comments?

And –  we have a visitor:

Time to re-bait and re-locate the Timms.

Regards

Kemble

 

At the new Waikato Environment Centre, corner of Kent and Commerce Streets, in the old Post Shop Building,             Tuesday 1 August, 5.15 to 7.30.

Program includes:
Why control predators
Predator species
Monitoring & identifying predators in your area
The right traps for your area and identified predators,
Setting up and maintaining traps
Recording results
What Predator-Free Hamilton can do for you.
Questions and discussion
See you there!

An interesting article by Chris Smuts-Kennedy in the Waikato Times of Friday 23 June. It’s a good summary of the ecological place of cats. See the pdf file:  CATS_0001

Professor Bruce Clarkson is currently delivering the Charles Fleming Memorial Lecture Series – see http://royalsociety.org.nz/whats-happening/our-events/urban-ecological-restoration-the-new-frontier/ for the programme. He has also been interviewed by Jesse Mulligan on National Radio:  http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/201842483/how-to-bring-nature-back-to-cities

It’s an excellent overview and puts our predator control efforts in context. Meanwhile if you would like to know more about rats in particular, here’s an interview with Predator-Free Hamilton member and Landcare Research scientist John Innes:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/summer-days/audio/201829629/everybody-has-rats

Happy trapping!