Thread: Bird Predator Control

We continue to feed feral cats on our trap lines – they drag rats out of trap boxes and it is now rare to find a rat body in a box – often an empty trap is jammed into the opening in the mesh - sometimes just a head in the trap kill bar - often the box is dragged down a bank – it must be a large animal to do this. We seem to have attracted a new predator into our environment – feral cats are seen on a regular basis in varying sizes – even a mother cat with kittens recently. Feral cats are difficult to manage without suitable traps - the Steve Allen trap works well but is not suitable to use where people could touch them – so we are trailing the Possum Master set on a natural log ramp - it seems to be very effective. A couple of blocks of Connovation rabbit jerky is a long lasting lure when tied on the bait holder. The large Tom cat below was a well fed example of a feral cat – possibly the most destructive animal in our native bush environment.

That's a big bastard

We have many forum members working on predator control – working in back yards, community reserves, special areas, DOC grounds to name a few – sadly – there seems to be no end to predator control - but every pest that is removed allows some part of the environment to flourish – birds, animals or plants.
A few of us flick stories and pictures to each other – one picture that I am going to share with you is from Sore Head Stoat (hope you don't mind Mate)– he was counting a pile of stoat and weasel tails that were heading off to H&F and the Swamp Comp – 152 tails – amazing work on your Canterbury trap lines – one in the cold high country – well done @sore head stoat.
I am sure there are many other success stories that we would love to see.

That's awesome
Well done that man

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

Awesome @sore head stoat hope your name is near the top of the prize board although that’s not why we do it it’s still a commitment.

Dog put this up a tree in the garden last night. I've never seen one with a tail colour like this before!!!!

Estuary line checks this morning, 5 Stoats and a rat won’t be seeing in the new year.

I'll post a couple of pictures here one already posted on the peste post.
Couple of days to do something different. But the baiting continues. For good reason.
KH

Swamp comp prizes are drawn and on the H&F website for any one who put tails in good luck

No bird food for this one either.
KH

Sometimes you just get lucky...

Last winter i had quite a few caught stoats eaten in the traps [mainly 150s and a couple of 200s] and of course it is the back half that is eaten including the tail, ggrrr.

Today i was clearing a trap that had caught a stoat a few days ago and there lying beside the trap was a complete stoat tail. I thought you silly old bugger, you cut the tail off last weeks stoat and forgot to bag it... imagine my surprise when i opened the trap lid there is a stoat head and shoulders only.. what ever had eaten the trapped stoat had chewed off the tail and left it !!!

Nice work on the stoats Guys
I have given up trying to get cats to put their head in a Timms or Possum Master – I have reverted to cages – got three cats that were decimating our Quail flocks in a couple of garden areas - shiny new steel or rusty old steel – they still work well – still catching a few rats, amazing how they like to scramble up the same old ponga trunk – just 16 on the spreadsheet so far this year
@BillyXmas546 has been telling me for some time to use a de-hooking gripper when handling rotten animals from traps – I had thought that a good quality pair of gloves would keep me safe
I recently got a serious skin infection on my inner thigh – likely from gloves rubbing on my trousers – always washed my gloves but did not always wash my trousers - it required a some serious antibiotic treatment – both internal and external
So I have bought a set of Burnsco hook grippers – and it does feel a lot safer – I will also start using disinfectant on my hands when I use my phone
Pic of a possum I found in a trap yesterday – a week in a trap is a long time at this time of the year – YUK – I removed the colour so it didn’t put you off your breakfast
Stay safe Guys - H&S 101

Nice work on the cats. I figure any cat that doesn't have a collar is feral��

I remember when this report came out:
https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz...-grey-warbler/

Every week we have pieces of bread turning up in our property. One of our immediate neighbours is putting it out.
The Riroriro - along with the Shining Cuckoo - are favourites here. Considering a 50% reduction in terms of the effect of conventional predators, does anyone here then keep the introduced bird population in check, or at least do nothing to encourage them?

That sort of thing would not be popular though:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-...EZGPOQGRQZOHA/
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/...nd-distressing
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/690...ed-in-auckland

I suspect that in time Predator Free 2050 will need to extend to include a reduction in introduced birds - beyond the Mynas, Magpies etc.
I wonder how accepting the suburban environmental warriors will be of that ?

Well Puffin
Only light shines in darkness.
I know there's agenda benders happening! What was once right is now spoken against.
Still some just keep doing what's right in the first place. Remember Puffin! the first banana out of the box is the one they skin.

KH