Thread: Plagues of Rats and Mice

Saw 5/6 mice while hunting during the day in western southland last week not something I have seen before so definitly a few about I would think.

Originally Posted by JoshC

Funnily enough we saw hundreds of native birds, including many many young ones. And a huge range of species, I counted over 11 different species of native bird in one evening sitting on a beach waiting for deer.

It's what happens when the food on the ground thins out, rats turn to birds. I've seen 3 of the kōkako nests I've found and monitoring raided by rats so far this season, and it's early days yet...

I was down of Stewart Island the weekend prior to this one, and saw heaps of rats during the day on the wee track around Dead Mans Beach/Horse shoe point.

Wallabies too. They are causing some serious damage to the tussock lands and spreading in leaps and bounds

Shooting can seem to hold the numbers to target population levels but not the spread. Night vision is a wonderful new tool.

I think the warming of the seasons is having a definite impact. More seed and more food more often and milder conditions means more pests and greater survival of their young to breed again too. And more extreme population events. One of the better documented impacts of ship rats was a small island in the southern ocean. Rats arrived there in the sixties and within five years had exploded and some bird species extinct there within that time frame and all birds heavily depleted. Scary stuff. Rodents leave no stone unturned when it comes to the quest for food. From underground to the tree tops. And kill out of all proportion to their size. Remember recently the reports of mice killing petrel chicks in their burrows? I kept mice as a kid. Gestation of three weeks, litter size around ten and sexually mature at a month old. Do the maths on that!! Compare that to a gecko that has one to two young per year and is sexually mature at four years old. A big rodent event can take many many years to recover from. And that is without mentioning female stoats that can carry sperm from when they were mated as a kitten then release it as soon as rodent numbers go up. New Zealand has some huge challenges in front of them. I wish DOC and hunters could work better together for pest control projects. DOC is really missing out there. There is plenty of money in the hunting industry but hunters are way too wary of being used and abused. There can be such a win win in my opinion.

I’ve seen a lot more weasels on the river beds this year. Regularly see one per trip this year. Lots of rabbit kittens around so I guess this is the driver for higher predator numbers.

Iv been trapping our 10ha place for a few years now, rural with some forestry boundaries. Rat numbers are low here now, maybe 1-2 per week, have caught 1 ferret and a dozen stoats.

What traps do you use? Have you tried those Good Nature ones?

Doc 150s in a tunnel box. We have 7-8 good nature 24s. They work but I’m not overly impressed with their lures. Tried a few but peanut butter and/or chicken necks seem to catch better. The counters are a must. Before them we had no idea what was going on as the carcasses would be snapped up by Hawkes, wekas or other rats etc.
Had 2for a while back

I use the Goodnature trap here in the USA as I had issues with mice getting into my range building and the barn/garage and was tired of the usual mousetraps. The chocolate lure worked ok but peanut butter and similar things work good too. I found the Goodnature trap effective and it was killing mice faster than they could reproduce. Also ended a blend of bait blocks around the buildings and it keeps mice/chipmunk/squirrel activity to a minimum or nonexistent. Especially at the range building the family of foxes living on the mountain, stop and grab the dead mice carcasses on their daily patrol.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Wallabies too. They are causing some serious damage to the tussock lands and spreading in leaps and bounds

Shooting can seem to hold the numbers to target population levels but not the spread. Night vision is a wonderful new tool.

unfortunately the lock up of private property is a problem with containment,,i for one want lots and lots of wallys running around,plenty of rough country around the lewis area for reintroduction and what about Marlborough

yes the locked up private land will always be a problem when trying to control a population.....

Has anyone noticed that every year is a mast year now? Well at least every year is a DOC press release claiming its a mast year so they need more 1080. I remember when mast years were every seven years or so...

Originally Posted by hokonui

Saw 5/6 mice while hunting during the day in western southland last week not something I have seen before so definitly a few about I would think.

Last weekend I was surprised to see around half a dozen mice during the day while hunting in North Canterbury. Also two dead ones, which looked fairly plump and healthy so I'm not sure what killed them.

A mate has been catching trout jam-packed with mice. Some interesting thermal scope footage on the Complete Angler Facebook page showing a heap of mice too in a typical bush scene.

@JoshC. Worst one Ive seen in over 30 yrs of living on the island. And most likely in its history of rat occupation. The lady trapping round the bay is my partner and we have a small business catching rats, cats and possums. Her work stories take some beating Would bet my left boot there will be a decline in bird no;s for a while. Also the flow on effect of cats will have big implications going forward.