Kia Ora trappers,
We are heading into another burst of baiting and trapping before winter. There were great turn outs at the recent Hunua Market Day, Winstone’s Quarry and Ness Valley bait and trap days. We can happily update you on some further upcoming drop-in bait and trap restocking events:
- Sunday 18 April: Ararimu Hall, 10am – 1pm
- Sunday 2 May: Ardmore School, 10am – 1pm
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and pest control efforts, and ask you to get in touch if you have gear that is not being used. We’d love to collect and redistribute these to other members of the community.
Although we do not supply them, one of the pieces of kit that we promote are the use of trail cameras. Find out the pros and cons of different makes and models to help you decide what style best suits your needs, by following this link.
Some areas within the Wairoa River catchment are marked as Significant Ecological Areas. Auckland Council has a strong focus on these and in the coming months will be working on private property to carry out feral deer control. Council staff or contractors will contact affected landowners to arrange access prior to any work being conducted. The aims of this work are predominantly to protect local biodiversity, reduce the spread of deer to new areas such as the Hunua Ranges and restrict the spread of diseases associated with feral deer.
Friends of Te Wairoa supports these efforts as feral deer are classified as a pest in the Auckland region under the Regional Pest Management Plan. Feral deer prevent the understory of forests regenerating due to the browsing pressure they exert, and this in turn affects the balance of ecosystems living in this area of the forests. Their weight also impacts the integrity of ground and ecosystems just below the soil as they move around the forest.
For enquiries regarding the operation itself, please contact Auckland Council’s Natural Environment Regional Delivery team on 09 301 0101 or email biosecurity@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.
Our stats so far:
Total pests controlled:
- 2018 – June 2020: 3479
- July 2020 – June 2021: 3091
I’ve been checking in with you all via email for updated tally numbers, however I have been using a new email address so please check your junk mail. We are having some technical difficulties so if you cannot get through on pestcontrol@tewairoa.org.nz, you can continue to contact me on lennyvh@windowslive.com.
Thanks to all those that have responded to my emails and let me know their recent catch data. We have bumped up the totals significantly. When recording, it is useful for me if you set up a tally sheet as above. This could be on Excel, could be a note on the fridge. It is great to have a better reflection of what is happening out there, so thank you very much for taking the time to tally (or estimate) and share these successes with me.
Local community heroes among you, to inspire and encourage, are:
- The Baileys from Ararimu: involving the younger generation in pest control and protecting the rare swamp Maire on their property from pests
- David & Penny Brooker (and cats): In 4 months, 130 rabbits shot and twice that despatched by the cats!
As always, get in touch with me if you need specific advice, a visit, or more hardware. I enjoy hearing about what’s happening out there so good news stories are great too.
Happy trapping,
Lenny van Heugten
Pest Control Co-ordinator
Friends of Te Wairoa