Acerca de
Pest Control
Our Objective
Want to help?
Quick Facts
What a Catch
Trapping for a Better Harbour
Pest and predator control is an important factor in protecting and restoring our harbour's wildlife. Wouldn't it be great for your kids' kids to see greater numbers of Banded Rail, native Fernbirds, or rare migratory birds, than what we see today in our harbour? It is all possible. With just a little help.
Our Objective
The aim of pest control, is simple. It's to trap predator animals, so that the harbour birds and insects have the best chance of survival in and around the harbour, as well as protecting the habitat they live in.
Unfortunately, our resources don't include rabbits! Please contact Council for rabbit control!
The Challenges We Face
While, we are really getting some great success stories, there is still a lot of work to do. And it requires a community!
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More volunteers - trapping is very active and can be physically demanding. If you enjoy getting out and about - join up!
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Keep dogs and cats under control - this is to keep them safe from bait and traps, not destroy bird habitat, and/or eat our native wildlife.
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Funding! A community group is always in need of $$$! Maybe you can donate? Get in contact with our Treasurer or Chairperson, for more information.
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Education - how our traps and bait stations contribute to a better harbour, and what the community can do.
The Team
15 volunteers run 15 bait lines, in and around our harbour.
The Mahi
Trap clearing, and lure setting occurs every
10-days - fortnightly.
DATA +
Each volunteer monitors how many pests they've trapped, the bait they've used, and this all gets recorded for Council & DOC requirements.
Please Sir,
We're always needing more volunteers to trap more land. We also need landowners to trap their backyard too.
Trapping Data (since September 2020 - July 2022).
RATS
30 rats on average
per month!
POSSUMS
Nearly 8 possums on average per month!
HEDGEHOGS
7 spiky hedgehogs on average per month!
STOATS/WEASELS
2 mustelid on average per month!
The Trap line's are a big job, which is why bait stations are an effective tool to use for predator control too. And, why we encourage all landowners to have traps in their backyard. If we can reduce the population in and around our town and harbour, there will be less predators hunting out a nest of eggs.
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CONTACT US
Manage a trap line, or get trap information.
A Short History
More info?
A few years back, a group of distinguished men, including volunteer extraordinaire, Ian Feasey, saw the need to assist the harbour wildlife, by setting baits and traps on Council-owned parks and reserve. This was established with Council - and in recent years, has seen a sizeable shift in efforts, to meet the Council's strict Health & Safety policies, in order to maintain the bait and trap stations.
Roselle Gould & Dave Beatty, now head up this side of things, with a comprehensive outlay of tasks, in order to meet all the Health & Safety conditions. As you can imagine, every piece of land - whether it's owned by TCDC or by Department of Conservation, requires different rules and regulations.
Now, the trapping team consists of 15 Bait and Trap runners - who provide such an invaluable resource to our community. Thank you to each and everyone of you.
If running a trap line interests you, please join, using the form above.
Support & Funding
We have 5 main avenues for support or funding:
TCDC Community Grants - to reduce predators on Parks and Reserves managed by TCDC that are surrounding the Whangamata Harbour and the mouth of the Otahu Estuary.
Waikato Regional Council - with Doc 200 traps and advice. We report back to WRC with predator numbers trapped on land managed by WRC including the Tairua Bypass road.
Private - We also receive donations and support from private landowners to manage predator numbers on private properties and the Titoki Golf Course.
Predator Free NZ - endless support and advice, from the leaders of pest control in NZ.
Department of Conservation - we recently secured a trap line on DOC land, on the northern side of the harbour - which can only be accessed by boat. Read the article here.
This pic needs to be updated, but thanks to our volunteers - current and old!
A big Thumbs Up to our Volunteers!
Types of Traps We Use
Have you seen our traps around? Careful consideration goes into what type of trap we use and where. We have to be mindful of not only predators, but the public, domestic cats and dogs, and other native wildlife. If you are interested in setting up a trap in your backyard, please reach out to Roselle or Dave, using the form above.
