PREDATOR PULSE NOW ON - A REMINDER TO CHECK AND SET YOUR TRAPS!
Backyard Trapping
You may be new to the area, or only just now have the time to attend to backyard predators.
No matter what your situation NOW is a great time to start protecting native biodiversity on your property.
Building or buying a trap or bait station can help increase the number of birds, lizards, wetas and other living creatures living in your backyard. We can help you set things up!
About trapping
There is a huge amount of info on the DOC website about trapping, types of traps, bait, and techniques. This includes info about making your own traps. If you'd prefer to buy one, contact your neighbourhood coordinator and they will be able to set you up with everything you need
Predator Free NZ. ​
This is an excellent source of information about choosing between bait stations and traps.
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Bait Stations
The other way to go is to use a bait station. These are plastic boxes that contain bait for rats and mice. The main benefit of bait stations is that they are a lot less work than traps as they don’t have to be checked as often and you don’t have to dispose of the dead rodents. Generally they will go off into the bush somewhere to die. However on occasion they will die in the walls and/or ceiling of your house.
Bait stations are safe around kids and non-target species. They are not suitable for properties where dogs are present, as there is a slight chance a dog will eat a poisoned rat. Here at STNN we use a toxin called Ditrac which has many benefits including low toxicity to pets (it breaks down very quickly in the rodent and there is also an antidote available should it be needed).
STNN can supply bait stations for $25 each and Ditrac bait at $5 per 10 blocks. A block is enough to kill one rat. Ask your Neighbourhood Co-ordinator for details.
Where to put your trap or bait station
Whether you go the trap or bait station route, placement of your device can be quite important. Rats and mice like to run along borders such as fences and the edge of the bush, or the edge of a stream or the edge of a house.
The other thing to note, is that if you are not having any bait taken, or your trap is not being triggered, then try moving it to a different location. It’s not really known why, but rodents can be quite fussy about which enclosures they enter. Simply moving your trap or bait station 5 to 10 metres away can produce markedly different results.
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Collecting data about trapping in South Titriangi
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It is really valuable for us as a community to record who is catching pest animals and how many.
Please log your catches!
To do this we use the TrapNZ app which can be used on both Android phones and iPhones.
(You can download the app at trap.nz)
Set up checkpoints where you have your traps or bait stations and enter in catch data each time you check your traps..
Information logged on TrapNZ is invaluable to the STNN for several reasons.
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When we apply for funding, our data shows the number of households involved and how we use our resources.
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Full information also gives an accurate picture of pest control across our neighbourhood and can help us identify areas which may not yet be covered.
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Critically it also tells us how we are progressing in our goals of predator reduction.
For further information, contact your Neighbourhood Coordinator via the Connect page on this website.