Thread: TB In Hawkes Bay

the two legged spreader is pretty bad too...the dark of night trailer load n unloads havent done anyone any favours.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

the two legged spreader is pretty bad too...the dark of night trailer load n unloads havent done anyone any favours.

Yes. That's dumb. But won't have much of a detrimental effect once the 'possums reach a certain low level.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Yes. That's dumb. But won't have much of a detrimental effect once the 'possums reach a certain low level.

You would think so. But where a large percentage of the Tb popped up in Hawkes Bay the possum numbers are extremely low. Nearly 20 years of control some of it had had and through a lot of that time 1% no line over 1 was the rtc rate. A fair chunk had been rolled out of the Tb Free program as it was declared free of Tb and a large portion of the remaining area in the program was due to be rolled out of the program the year the big outbreak happened.
One of the farms that has got it twice, records show not a single possum has been caught off that property for several years.
No doubt possums have a major role to play in the spread of Tb but also keep in mind that if farmed deer can contract Tb then farms with mobs of 20 plus deer most certainly could too, especially considering a deer will often not seccumb to Tb so can harbor it for a decade or more.

Originally Posted by TLB

You would think so. But where a large percentage of the Tb popped up in Hawkes Bay the possum numbers are extremely low. Nearly 20 years of control some of it had had and through a lot of that time 1% no line over 1 was the rtc rate. A fair chunk had been rolled out of the Tb Free program as it was declared free of Tb and a large portion of the remaining area in the program was due to be rolled out of the program the year the big outbreak happened.
One of the farms that has got it twice, records show not a single possum has been caught off that property for several years.
No doubt possums have a major role to play in the spread of Tb but also keep in mind that if farmed deer can contract Tb then farms with mobs of 20 plus deer most certainly could too, especially considering a deer will often not seccumb to Tb so can harbor it for a decade or more.

Yes. It is the wild deer population that cant maintain a critical level of TB to be regarded as an important vector. Non 'possum related spread ((animal to animal) is not difficult to stamp out once identified. If 'possum numbers are low in new infection areas it is a blessing.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Yes. It is the wild deer population that cant maintain a critical level of TB to be regarded as an important vector. Non 'possum related spread ((animal to animal) is not difficult to stamp out once identified. If 'possum numbers are low in new infection areas it is a blessing.

Yup..... 'elephant in the room' is what will happen when TB is eradicated from possums in an area, OSPRI work ceases, and possum numbers start to rebuild? There will be the biodiversity issues, and the potential for TB transmission from undetected infections in stock back into the possum population?

So if that occurs then presumably OSPRI will return, but if TB is kept out the biodiversity challenges remain....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

the two legged spreader is pretty bad too...the dark of night trailer load n unloads havent done anyone any favours.

Definitely, but it is almost impossible to move cattle from an infected farm like that these days im sure in the past it happened.

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when I was a teen living in Kaitieke ,any night time trip to Taumarunui was good for running over half a dozen possums,heck I used to get them with motorbike by putting out stiff leg. I shot 11 in small empty hay barn at one time...11 shots with single shot .22 three escaped. poisoned 300 on one squirt line and helped mate skin 600....... 2 years ago were back up there...saw 2 possums in a week with lots of night driving,the green rain bombardments and follow up have blitzed them but he deer n pigs still abound. to say I was shocked is understatement.

Possum numbers are on the rise in HB. I was out on a rabbit job on a small lifestyle block tonight, was packing up my gear to head home and heard "claws on roof iron" so I looked up and found 3 Possums in one tree! Land owner had no idea there were any on his property. Sorted them out and then on the way home my car decided it was still on duty and nailed one that ran out in front of me! Caught that on the dash cam. Had a call out a few weeks ago from a different client who had a couple living in his shed too, and I even found one at my house barking at me from my silver birch recently! Before this little burst of possum activity I hadn't seen one around here for years!

The new repellent certainly killed a fair few in Molesworth from anecdotal accounts but seems to have not killed the majority. A big step forward from the previous operation.

Originally Posted by Puddleduk

The new repellent certainly killed a fair few in Molesworth from anecdotal accounts but seems to have not killed the majority. A big step forward from the previous operation.

@Puddleduk .... was this subsequent operation monitored and reported ?

Originally Posted by Puddleduk

The new repellent certainly killed a fair few in Molesworth from anecdotal accounts but seems to have not killed the majority. A big step forward from the previous operation.

Look at this.

https://www.ospri.co.nz/assets/Resou...eport-2021.pdf

Results
• Deer. Only 39 deer were recorded as alive and present in the standard broadcast area just before 1080 baiting. Of these, two died on the day of the 1080 baiting operation, indicating an estimated incidental 1080-by-kill of 5.1% (95% CI 0.9–18.7%). There were 358 incidental sightings of non-radio-collared live and dead deer (351 live, 7 dead) in the baited area after the 1080 baiting which would equate to a by-kill of 2.0%. Most sightings were from the helicopter (98.9%). The relative sighting rate of live and dead deer seen from the helicopter (excluding radio-collared deer) was 10.7 and 0.2 deer per flying hour, respectively.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Look at this.

https://www.ospri.co.nz/assets/Resou...eport-2021.pdf

Results
• Deer. Only 39 deer were recorded as alive and present in the standard broadcast area just before 1080 baiting. Of these, two died on the day of the 1080 baiting operation, indicating an estimated incidental 1080-by-kill of 5.1% (95% CI 0.9–18.7%). There were 358 incidental sightings of non-radio-collared live and dead deer (351 live, 7 dead) in the baited area after the 1080 baiting which would equate to a by-kill of 2.0%. Most sightings were from the helicopter (98.9%). The relative sighting rate of live and dead deer seen from the helicopter (excluding radio-collared deer) was 10.7 and 0.2 deer per flying hour, respectively.

Thanks @Tahr. Good read, and good outcome.

I must be catching some of the Wellington disorder ( or maybe I just need a holiday) but I must admit when I saw the title page of that report " High Effectiveness of deer-repellant Prodeer.........." I almost had one of those "fucking bought science" moment. If the 'High' had been deleted I'd have been happier.......

Yep that's the one, hopefully it's accurate. Chalk and cheese compared to the 2017 debacle.

Just came out of Makahu this evenings, prob counted 30 possums on the road....hmmm

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Lepto is doing the rounds too