WATCH: “Helping our Native Bat Species Thrive” – Ben Paris, New Zealand’s Batman

Pestival Webinar Replay:

“Even though the New Zealand Long Tail Bat won Bird of the Year in 2021, the profile of our New Zealand native bats is, really, really low compared to our native bird species. The biggest challenge is trying to just get people to be more aware of our bats.”

New Zealand used to have three native bat species, but the Greater Short Tail Bat went extinct in the 1960s due to a huge rat plague, which is really sad. It’s a story that we don’t want to repeat for our other native bat species, so we really need to look after them as much as possible.

Learn from New Zealand’s own Batman, Ben Paris, about our two remaining bat species, their habits and habitats, and what we can do to protect them and help them to thrive.

This video first aired as part of the Franklin Online Pestival, in November 2022.

Ben Paris – Senior Conservation Advisor (South), Natural Environment Delivery, Environmental Services

Ben Paris graduated from Waikato University with a science degree and worked for the Waikato Regional Council on bringing tūī back to suburban Hamilton via the highly successful Hamilton Halo project. Hamilton was also where Ben was introduced to New Zealand’s native pekapeka, for which he developed a passion, co-leading the formation of Project Echo. While at Auckland Council he helped kick start a bat awareness movement through research and science communication. He also worked with Auckland community groups to develop a pest free “wildlife corridor” across the North Shore, encouraging communities to provide safe havens for birdlife arriving from the Hauraki Gulf islands.. After working at Auckland Zoo and writing for the Tiaki Tāmaki Makaurau – Conservation Auckland website portal, Ben is back as a Senior Conservation Advisor at Auckland Council working with pest free communities at a landscape scale across South Auckland.

WATCH: “Recovering Native Bird Species – How to make a difference by starting on your own property” – Lenny & Willow van Heugten

Pestival Webinar Replay:

Hear from Lenny and Willow van Heugten about the Kōkako Management Area in the Hunua Ranges, and how local Hunua residents can contribute to the success of this programme by taking steps to control predators on their properties. Be inspired, and learn about the options you have for predator control on your property, from traps to baits, as we all work towards Predator-Free NZ 2050.

This video first aired as part of the Franklin Online Pestival, in November 2022.

Lenny van Heugten – Pest Control Co-ordinator, Natural Area Restoration and Communications, Friends of Te Wairoa

Lenny has spent her whole life, ever since she could put on a pair of gumboots, in conservation activities and especially predator control. She is a first generation kiwi from a Dutch family who are passionate about conservation. She was born and raised in Hūnua and is firmly rooted to that and surrounding areas. Over the last 4 years she has played an increasing role in Friends of Te Wairoa running their community predator control program, their communications, and has helped establish other pest control organisations in adjacent areas. She is an excellent communicator/writer and is in the final stages of writing a book about the history of the Kōkako Management Area.

Willow van Heugten – Pest Control Contractor, Auckland Council

Willow van Heugten is Lenny’s father, and is a well-known forest-addict. Willow arrived in New Zealand in the 1980s and spent his time hitchhiking, and building a Buddhist retreat in the Coromandel bush. From there he returned with his partner to hike the South Island, after which they settled in Auckland. Willow stayed at home to raise their two girls, and once free of that task he disappeared into the Hūnua Ranges, becoming heavily involved in voluntary and paid pest control work and Kauri Dieback surveying.

WATCH: “Using Technology to Trap Smarter, Not Harder” – Andy Saunders

Pestival Webinar Replay:

“In my opinion, Predator-Free 2050, for it to be successful, we need tools that don’t burn the community’s energy and trust. And the old school way of trapping with the kill traps, I think does burn energy. It’s tools like the Tāwhiti Smart Cages that are going to help us get there. We are going to need better tools than this, but Smart Cages are probably one of the first ones to start us in the right direction”

In this video hear from Andy Saunders about how technology can play a big role in making predator-control on large properties and bush blocks sustainable. “We’re the only ones doing this in a community way. And learning quite quickly how to keep landowners in the game”

Featuring Predator Free Franklin’s Tāwhiti – Smart Cage, Wheronet’s Remote Trap Monitors and the Trap.NZ app, making recording & understanding your predator control and biodiversity data easy.

This video first aired as part of the Franklin Online Pestival, in November 2022.

WATCH: “How Planting and Predator Control go Hand-in-Hand” – Āwhitu Peninsula Landcare

Pestival Webinar Replay:

Āwhitu Landcare is one of the oldest Landcare groups in New Zealand. Started over 30 years ago by a group of local farmers concerned about the sheer number of possums on the peninsula that were killing off the Pōhutukawa trees, among others.

Today we hear from Nicky Reynold about the Te Korowai o Papatūānuku project supplying local landowners with eco-sourced native plants, to bring back the biodiversity on the peninsula.

We also hear from Sam Whitley and Paapaka Brown about predator-control on the peninsula, as without that, replanting of native tree will simply be feeding the pests.

This video first aired as part of the Franklin Online Pestival, in November 2022.

Nicky Reynolds – Te Korowai o Papatūānuku, Āwhitu Peninsula Landcare

Nicky feels very fortunate to have been able to incorporate her passion for the environment into her employment over several years. In 2021 she was fortunate to become part of Te Korowai o Papatūānuku, the partnership between Ngāti Te Ata, Auckland Council and Āwhitu Landcare. She has been involved with a raft of land-based work and projects prior to this position. The funding secured by Landcare from MPI has allowed a nursery extension, significant increase in production of eco-sourced trees from the Āwhitu Peninsula, increased community engagement and the employment of a number of local people (including staff training through Primary ITO ). Above all it is significant to have iwi sites successfully planted along with extensively fenced off wetlands, waterways and Biodiversity Focus Areas (BFAs) across the Peninsula. Te Korowai o Papatūānuku received an Auckland Council Mayoral Conservation Collaboration Award in 2021.

Paapaka Brown – Western Area Supervisor, Te Ara Hikoi

“Kia Ora, Ko Paapaka taaku ingoa, Ko Ngaati Te Ata Waiohu te IWI ko Tainui te Waka. I am a Kaitiaki (guardian) from the environmental team of Ngaati Te Ata, the local IWI of Waiuku/Awhitu area. In my role for the IWI I deal with the natural environment. From Pest Control to riparian planting and ecological enhancement with a specialty in cultural landscapes and biodiversity. My second role I work for Te Ara Hikoi/predator free franklin as a Western area Supervisor, I have a strong interest in pest management, monitoring and control and currently work in the Waiuku/Awhitu areas conducting pest management. My desire is to continue to provide effective pest control and eradication with the end goal of a predator free Awhitu peninsular by 2050. Both roles are heavily environmental, by land, sea and air. By land, I conduct duties tasked with Kaitiaki mahi which involves restoration and protection of the land. By sea, restoring waterways, protection, and enhancement. By Air, conducting regular Air Patrols correlating data and photographs of coastal erosion for my IWI Ngaati Te Ata. My mission is to recruit and lead teams of local IWI in pest control/management with a focus on effective predator control methods and a strong emphasis on community engagement.”

Pest News from Friends of Te Wairoa

Kia ora trappers!

Wow, it feels like the world has woken up with the arrival of spring from a long 2.5-year covid-induced slumber.

We’ve had some neat events in the past few months, including a Natural Area Restoration Workshop, a follow-up in-field session to see the theory put into practise at Jodie and Steve’s place, and with Predator Free NZ we hosted Cam Speedy.

Upcoming events:

Pest Plant Workshop on Sunday 16th October – spaces strictly limited, email info@tewairoa.org.nz to register and for more information

Predator Free 2050 drop & learn session at the Auckland Botanic Gardens on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd October

Clevedon A&P Show on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th November at the Clevedon Showgrounds

Hūnua Market Day on Saturday 26th November at the Hūnua Hall. Come and see us for your pest control materials and top-ups.

 

With spring and baby birds in full swing, it is time again to refill those bait stations and check traps. Use the opportunity to teach kids and grandkids about bait and trap safety and get them involved while they’re off on school holidays. We have plenty of precious taonga species hanging around and hanging on, just. We can give them a chance at respite from predation by doing our bit.

Keep those catch tallies coming in by email or via the trap.nz app. If you need any advice or support, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We have the ability to do property visits if you are completely overwhelmed and confused.

There is a small update in the way we are operating.

As some of you know, alongside other pest control groups in Franklin, we operate under the umbrella support of a group called Te Ara Hīkoi (TAH). TAH applies for large sums of funding in order to purchase bulk pest control materials at wholesale prices, which are then distributed to groups like ours which can then give them away for free.

Unfortunately, Covid has limited the funding that is available, alongside increased demand, inflated prices, and the increase in predator control groups competing for funding from the same sources has left us a little short.

Hence, on behalf of TAH, we must start asking for donations. A donation of, for example, 50% of the wholesale cost of materials taken will go a significant way towards helping us make the gear stretch further for those in need. All donations will be used directly to purchase more gear for others.

As an indication of the cost of pest control materials, excluding GST…

Item Wholesale cost
10kg Pest off $47.70
2kg Double Tap $55
Philproof bait station $11.80
Pied piper bait station $16.77
Flipping Timmy $51.20
Eggsellent Lure $20
Blue Possum Lure $13.04
Rat traps $15.50

For donations over $20, email accounts@tearahikoi.nz for a tax invoice. Donations can be made to:

Te Ara Hikoi Trust
12-3023-0111364-00

Please enter ‘donation’ in the reference field.

TAH are also open to receiving commercial sponsorship or donations. If your business is interested in this contact Debbie at accounts@tearahikoi.nz. Even better, if you have stickers of your logo we will be happy to attach these to a run of pest control materials that your donation has helped to fund.

 

You receive these newsletters as you are on the Friends of Te Wairoa mailing list. You may have been to one of our bait and trap days, or been in touch via email. We realise that people shift around a lot. Check this map to see whether you are connected with the right group and subscribe to their newsletter. At the bottom of this email is a link to unsubscribe if you are no longer in the area or do not wish to receive these emails, which are sent only five times a year.

Happy trapping,

Lenny van Heugten
Pest Control Co-ordinator
Friends of Te Wairoa
pestcontrol@tewairoa.org.nz

FINE TUNING YOUR PREDATOR CONTROL WITH CAM SPEEDY

Do you want some tips and tricks on how to increase the effectiveness of predator control for your project or community group? We invite you to join us for a free presentation and Q&A session with Cam Speedy, a wildlife biologist with over 40 years of experience in predator control and ecosystem management.

Hūnua
6pm – 7pm Monday 26 September
Hūnua Hall, Village Hunua Rd, RD3, Papakura, Hūnua
Register here

Waiuku
6pm – 7pm Tuesday 27 September
Waiuku Rugby Club, 36 King Street, Waiuku
Register here

Many thanks to Predator Free NZ Trust for making this event possible.

The motivation of a landowner – Part 2 – Cath

Cath is a first-generation immigrant to New Zealand, but has whole-heartedly embraced a vision of restoring NZ native birds on her own small lifestyle block in Franklin. In this video she shares her gradual understanding of what needed to be done to make that a reality. And yes, shortly after this video was made, she saw kākā, for the very first time, flying over her bush block.

Pest updates from Friends of Te Wairoa

Kia ora trappers,

Well, the rains finally came as the community planting season got underway, and I know a number of you have been looking at your own properties and planting natives which is wonderful to see.

To protect these plantings, pest control is a crucial step.

As we start to see the back of winter and the days get longer, bird breeding season comes upon us. Birds and their chicks are most vulnerable during nesting time as they sit idle on a nest. With no chicks, there is no young generation in a population, and it creeps closer to extinction.

To protect our local birds, pest control is a crucial step.

We have had some fantastic news with the recent kōkako survey done in the Hūnua Ranges. In 1994 there was just one remaining female amongst 24 male birds. An ambitious goal was set by DoC and Auckland Regional Council under the advice of the National Kōkako Recovery Project to recover the Hūnua population to 50 pairs by 2020. With intensive pest control in the Ranges by volunteers, that goal has been smashed and in 2022 we have 229 pairs in the Kōkako Management Area. So, you see what pest control can do. Properties bordering the Hūnua Ranges have a unique position where they can support the work done in the park by reducing the reinvasion of predators from their properties.

To reinforce the Hūnua Halo protecting the Hūnua Ranges and kōkako, pest control is a crucial step.

In a recent collaboration with Ecoquest, Friends of Te Wairoa contributed to assessment of bat populations in rural/urban areas across Franklin. 15 monitors were placed on properties with suitable habitat across the catchment, and of those, 10 monitors recorded at least one bat passing during the two weeks that the monitors were out in the field. This was surprising and exciting to us. Although we knew that Long Tailed Bats, or pekapeka-tou-roa, existed in the Hūnua Ranges, we didn’t realise that they ventured out quite so far.

To protect the pekapeka-tou-roa that fly and (probably) roost around our properties, pest control is a crucial step.

In 2017 there was an attempt to release kiwi into the Hūnua Ranges. In a tragic turn, this attempt was not successful. The main culprit was predation, predominantly by ferrets. There are hopes to attempt to reintroduce kiwi into the area again in future, but as Senior Ranger of Conservation in Southern Parks, Miranda Bennett says, we will likely only have one more shot at it. If it fails again, there will be no more chances.

For a successful reintroduction of kiwi into the area, pest control is a crucial step.

We have reached the end of the financial year for Auckland Council and final reports are due in, including for my role. I collect the pest catch data from you as property owners through your reporting on trap.nz or via email. I use these to create a picture of what is happening in the area between 1 July and 30 June. This year you have reported more possums, rats, rabbits, mice, ferrets, stoats and hedgehogs trapped than ever before.

For funding of free pest control gear and free advice and support, pest control (and reporting!) is a crucial step.

So in summary, it is time again to refill those bait stations and check those traps before the pests start moving around again in Spring. With the kids and grandkids off on school holidays it is a great opportunity to teach them about bait and trap safety and get them involved. We have plenty of precious taonga species hanging around and hanging on, just. We can give them a chance at respite from predation by doing our bit.

Any final catch tallies up to 30 June need to be sent in ASAP, so that we can put our final data together for that 12 month period. These can be sent to pestcontrol@tewairoa.org.nz.

If you need any advice or support, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We have the ability to do property visits if you are completely overwhelmed and confused.

You receive these newsletters as you are on the Friends of Te Wairoa mailing list. You may have been to one of our bait and trap days, or been in touch via email. We realise that people shift around a lot and that in the early days we may have included some emails from people outside of our catchment. Check this map (https://predatorfreefranklin.nz/areas/) to see whether you are connected with the right group. If you click on the area where you live you can see what your group is doing and subscribe to their newsletter. At the bottom of this email is a link to unsubscribe if you are no longer in the area or do not wish to receive these emails, which are sent out only five times a year.

Happy trapping,

Lenny van Heugten
Pest Control Co-ordinator
Friends of Te Wairoa
pestcontrol@tewairoa.org.nz

Why does a pest walk into a trap?

Some people spend hours talking about this or that secret wonder-lure they use, but actually it’s very simple – A pest must feel comfortable about going into a trap, or it won’t do it.

A lot of traps out there are a single-entrance box type – there is only one way in or out. Pests (and mustelids in particular) are wary animals and they don’t like going into enclosed spaces with only one way out. They have to be pretty hungry to go into a single-entrance box. Whereas if a trap doesn’t look like a trap from a pests-eye view – if it looks like a big open tunnel with a clear exit, they won’t think twice about going in, and will even pop through out of idle curiosity if they can smell another pest was in there recently.

To prove this isn’t just a load of waffle, here is our very own “trap supercut” showing pests walking into our double-ended cage traps all across Franklin. Enjoy!

Our Tāwhiti trap is based on a double-ended trap for this very reason. So now you know: To max your pest catch, go double-ended!