Thread: Decades of 1080….before and after

Originally Posted by Woody

In other words aerially poisoning enhances rats food supply. Very clever eh. (Then they breed to higher numbers than pre poison drop ay

No mast years enhance the food supply, then the rats breed like buggery.

They drop lots of poison on masting afeas ay--

Originally Posted by sore head stoat

No mast years enhance the food supply, then the rats breed like buggery.

It's a little more complicated than that, as different species 'mast' at different times. The 'mega mast' events they keep going on about I am told come about through multiple species going to seed one after the other. Knocking competition out of the running helps the rats, but also multiple litters throughout a year with warm temps and ample food just explodes things more. Rats are capable of reproducting at around the 10-weeks mark, gestation of 3 weeks and rinse and repeat. Efficient...

Originally Posted by No.3

It's a little more complicated than that, as different species 'mast' at different times. The 'mega mast' events they keep going on about I am told come about through multiple species going to seed one after the other. Knocking competition out of the running helps the rats, but also multiple litters throughout a year with warm temps and ample food just explodes things more. Rats are capable of reproducting at around the 10-weeks mark, gestation of 3 weeks and rinse and repeat. Efficient...

It may be a "little" more complicated than that but it is basically that.. rats breed like buggery when there is truck loads of feed.

Originally Posted by HG Man

I grew up on a farm in the middle of the King Country, surrounded by bush, it would be nothing to shoot 100 possums in a night spot lighting driving down the road. And every farm was TB positive. A few deer around, but not many. I was 19 before I saw a northern rata flower.

Then when I was about 15 they started carpet bombing the surrounding bush with 1080. My old man talked about the green rain, it was everywhere. I'd love to know how many tonnes they dropped.

Now, its been at least a decade since a TB reactor. Prob been that long since I've seen a possum, even in the fruit trees. More deer, goats and pigs than you can shoot, I counted a mob of 13 last time I was out there.

People talk about trapping it, I've walked that bush probably more than any man ever. Its thick, dense, wet. Its also full of birds, weta, eels, kiwi, bats. Its as close to NZ before man got here as I can imagine. I'd love to take a 'trap instead of 1080' person into it and see what they think. You couldnt even put tracks through most of it.

I don't like 1080 and I'd love if there as some other solution. But there isn't. And it works.

Yup exactly same thing for me in the king country..
Seeing a wood pigeon was a rarity but now we see mobs of up to 25.
Unfortunately for me it's a necessary evil. It's not the poison it's the application however I don't see any other viable options.

I must say thats a very sad report that @Tahr posted.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/...native-species
Read it twice.
Just sad that all the hard work of the 90's that those guys put in has gone to waste.

Reality check. Te Urewera is no longer part of NZ in terms of governance. Time to move on.

It really is unfortunate that that Nth Urewera project which concentrated on permanent trap lines and pest species specific trapping to be very successful without using aerial poisons has been neglected. It was the most promising viable alternative management concept avoiding the use of 1080 poison. It should have set the path for Tuhoe future environmental management of the Te Urewera. The political tenderfooting since is pitiful.
Same for the rest of NZ too

I wonder what the DOCs budget for the trap work that was carried out in that area at the time of hand over was?
Add inflation and what it would have been now, would this equal the 2m more that there asking for on top of what they already get??

Originally Posted by Tahr

....I'm a supporter of 1080, and hate it....

Couldn't have put it better myself. If there was anything else that was effective I would support that instead.

Little interest piece - there was a project to make a virus that would make the TB vectors (possums/stoats etc) infertile but funding was cut.

Source - I used to work for the Animal Health Board, over a decade ago now - it's now Ospri.

To expand on the TB thing, as far as I know we are the only country in the world that has TB infected herds and cattle and deer and is still allowed to export meat. Australia and America had it but managed to eradicate it.

Reading through this thread, it would seem there’s to much money in 1080?

Originally Posted by HarryMax

Little interest piece - there was a project to make a virus that would make the TB vectors (possums/stoats etc) infertile but funding was cut.

That there is the nail in the coffin and the only way forward for full pest eradication as far as I'm concerned.

The actual costs averave over $60 per hectare. If they offered that for gridded trapping the ques for the career would be very long; and they know it. The cost would be paid out per three to four years so employees working over ratational areas would still achieve a substantial income.

Originally Posted by Woody

The actual costs averave over $60 per hectare. If they offered that for gridded trapping the ques for the career would be very long; and they know it. The cost would be paid out per three to four years so employees working over ratational areas would still achieve a substantial income.

The actual costs average over $60 per ha... is this one 1080 operation ? What does the $60 include ?

Lets talk all species, how many hectares do you think one trapper [using traps only] can control and get all pests down to the level a 1080 operation will achieve ? cost of traps per ha ?

One operation. Includes rc ad.in poison aircraft and manpower. The AHB audit reported $57 per ha way back in 2012 and up to $85 in remote areas.