Recce at Cross Creek/Rimutakas

Today I headed up the Rimutaka Railway Incline, hoping to find some good surrounding areas to check out if there was any goat sign. After about 10min of walking, I realised this probably wasn't the best spot as it's very well used by trampers! This place looks like it could get pretty busy in the warmer months. I had no idea that it was so established or that this was even an old railway line (I just let my fingers do the walking on google earth and thought Cross Creek would be a nice easy entry to the forest park).

Anyway I figured it'd be a good walk for me and the boy. By the time it was a bit too late I saw a sign warning that there had been a 1080 drop late in May and that it probably wasn't safe for my dog. We continued anyway and stuck to the track. The surrounding bush was a real mix - it was super cool to see the more water loving plants like pungas and flax growing on the eastern side of the hills with a mix of broom, pine and matagari growing on the drier sides. This variation in flora made it interesting to me as there were some other familiar looking plants I couldn't put a name to and some others that I have never seen before!

If you have not heard of the Incline, I should let you know that (as I learned today!) it includes a few pretty sweet tunnels, one of which is nearly 600m long. I was glad to have the boy and man with me then as it was actually pretty bloody creepy wandering in with no torch (I had one in the pack but was feeling brave at the start so figured it could stay there) as there are some bends, bumps and holes.

We made it to the summit with only a few sightings of poo that I was not sure if they came from sheep or goats. I had pretty much come to terms with not seeing anything on this trip. We broke off north of the main track on a cockies farm trail and continued around the bottom of a large feature. This track looped back around to meet the main rail. Along a short, uphill stretch on the return journey, a couple of Tui's followed and teased us. I love Tui's and Kea's (do you get many Kea's in the north?) how they tag along to see what you're up to in the bush. Jet got to gawk at a large Kereru a bit further up the trail too.

We caught up to some tourists going for a stroll and just as we came around a sweeping bend to motor past them, WOW there were nine goats just wandering on the track!! Jet took off before I could call him back and he managed to split the group in half. He followed the lead nanny down a very steep bank through matagari. After about 90 seconds I could hear him wayyyy down the gully crying and squeeling. I was praying that he hadn't hurt himself and equally hadn't got himself one of the smaller goats. I'm not sure I could manage trucking down there to find that I had to slit the throat of a chewed up billy. Luckily though after a few whistles he clambered back up and appeared on the bank up ahead, all smiles with blood all around his mouth. With a quick wipe and a poke around it turns out the mutt probably just ripped his lip on some scrub and that's what was bleeding. "Phew!!" says his mum!!

We wandered back down to the car, Jet feeling a bit sorry for himself for being a stupid git and me looking forward to taking the boots off. We ended up doing just over 20km and the chocolate bar left in the car was happily gobbled down.

All in all a pretty great day - it started pissing down as soon as I turned the key in the car. I probably wouldn't return here for a hunt but enjoyed the walk.

Me and the boy - around about where the goats were, but on the way up.
http://i467.photobucket.com/albums/r...704_091549.jpg

That was a good read.

Gorse + Gully = Goats

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Originally Posted by Rushy

Gorse + Gully = Goats

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Cheers! I honestly didn't really know what I was looking for.

Oh also - this sharp eyed young spark spyed a $20 bill up in the bush when we broke track. Petrol money sorted!

no kea in the north island,only found in the south island

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Originally Posted by petree

no kea in the north island,only found in the south island

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Closest would be probably the Kakapo or the kaka

looks like goat country to me. Plenty of shit for pigs to hide in too

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Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Good read but one bit of advice. Don't take your dog anywhere that has had 1080 in the previous 6-8 months.

I doubt you would find a kakapo anywhere outside of an enclosure on either the north or south island.

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Cheers, I was a little confused as to how dangerous it is/why this sign was so far up? Can dogs be hurt just by being in the vacinity of 1080? That sucks man.. if so, I can see why people are so against it.

And to clear up some confusion - I only had a Tui following and teasing me, it just reminded me of tramping in the south where Kea's do the same. Once I went out for three days with the same curious Kea following the party. It was pretty cool.

1080 has to be eaten to kill unless it is absorbed through the skin. Your dog can come across a carcess and eat that and there will be enough poison left to kill him though. Dogs are the most susceptable to poison

I probably could google this but I'd rather hear it from people in the know.. Summit, does 1080 just kill stoats, possum, that sort of stuff? Why do they (DOC?) use it? What happens to small game, is it just a no-go after the place has been bombed by 1080?

I feel a bit better about taking Jet then, he stayed at my side the whole time apart from his great chase with those billies. Hermm.

This will probably upset a few people haha. 1080 is used by doc because its easy. It is a really good poison in the way that it kills everything. This is the problem. Since DOC class introduced species as pests they dont care if they drop it in areas with deer or pigs because if they get killed as well as possums, rats and mustelids thats just a bonus to them. All the animals have different tolerances to the amount of 1080 they can ingest before they die but normally its not hard for them to come across a few baits at once. The amount needed to kill a possum is a lot less than the amount they put in a single bait. Rats are also quite smart with poison and seem to know how to avoid it. They can eat the lure all around cyanide and not get poisoned. 1080 can last a long time in good conditions to which is why animals such as deer and pigs can come across it. It will also last a long time in a carcass hence the reason peoples dogs are poison in the bush.
Its been tested that after a rabbit was killed with 1080 and the head and guts removed it was then fine for a dog to eat it. I wouldnt be trying it with my dog tho(if i had one)

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Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Good read but one bit of advice. Don't take your dog anywhere that has had 1080 in the previous 6-8 months.

I doubt you would find a kakapo anywhere outside of an enclosure on either the north or south island.

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Yes I agree. It is estimated that there are only 150 left, the majority of which inhabit Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) and Anchor Island.

So 1080 is an edible poison?

What about birds - are 1080 drops not conducted in areas where protected birds are known to live or is it just the same attitude as the game living there, 'eff em?

I hope my Tui's and Kereru's don't die up at Cross Creek :(

They should be putting measures in place to ensure no native bird species are killed but we all saw what happened a couple of years ago when all those keas were found dead after a 1080 drop. Apparently it wasnt poison according to doc. The forests definately go quiet after a 1080 operation tho :(

Dougie the simple facts are that 1080 will kill anything that ingests enough of the stuff so the smaller the creature the less that is required in order for it to be fatal. When there is an aerial drop it is a very indiscriminate killer and putting it very bluntly DoC and the others that apply 1080 in the name of conservation don't give a fat cat's arse what gets killed and delude themselve's into thinking that it is for the greater good.

That's pretty sad, who decided this was a good idea?

As many others on here have said, a good day out in the bush is still time well spent when you live in NZ - even if the freezer is still empty at the end of the day. I reckon our birds are up there for providing such a awesome, unique outdoor experience.

It is worse than sad, it is bloody criminal! The whole subject of 1080 is very political as it is quite counter intuitive for a country that trades off of its clean green image to be the worlds biggest user of this poison and therfore it polarises people into the respective for and against camps. I sit fairly and squarely in the anti camp because I have witnessed the silence of the forest that is left after its application. If you want to learn more about this there are others on here that are far more well informed than I and by reading through some of the posts on here you will easily find who they are. Wait long enough and some may even chime in on this thread.