Predator Free Te Awamutu volunteer Michael Arthur checks one of the trap boxes on a public trapline. Photo / Dean Taylor
Predator Free Te Awamutu volunteer Michael Arthur checks one of the trap boxes on a public trapline. Photo / Dean Taylor
As the weather cools and more wet weather sets in homeowners may notice a number of pests will also try to take up residence to escape the elements.
Winter is traditionally the time more rats and mice become evident in the walls and ceilings of your home — but luckily Te Awamutu has an answer.
Predator Free Te Awamutu was established in August last year, the aim is to join the Predator Free 2050 movement to trap ourselves free of pests — mainly rats.
Members are encouraging residents to join the movement and set up traps in their backyards to eradicate the pests.
Volunteers are also using the approved trap boxes and traps, and with the support of Waipā District Council, setting up trap lines in vulnerable parks and walkways within the township.
Predator Free Te Awamutu trap boxes are marked with the group’s logo and volunteers ask that they be left for group members to monitor.
Te Awamutu is not only home to a great community to stand behind the Predator Free initiative, but it’s also in a prime position at the centre of two ecologically significant maunga, Maungatautari to Pirongia, each home to their own successful predator control projects with Pirongia Restoration Society and Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari.
The ecological corridor project, Taiea te Taiao - Ma Mangapiko, mai i Maungatautari ki Pirongia ahu ake, is now under way and aims to link the two spectacular maunga.
To support these native species to move between the maunga, and find habitat within the corridor, predator control is crucial.
But it isn’t just native species that are at risk from the likes of rats and stoats — they pose a danger to human health as well, and they can ruin your home.
One of Predator Free's target species keeps an eye on the Te Awamutu launch last year. Photo / Dean Taylor
For this reason, more members of Predator Free Te Awamutu are welcomed.
Traps are for sale at Te Awamutu i-Site, with instructions on their use and how to sign up to trap.nz and then to Predator Free Te Awamutu to register your trap and any kills.
Te Awamutu i-Site has partnered with Predator Free Te Awamutu and sells the traps and boxes at the discounted price offered by the group.
If you are already trapping you can also check out Predator Free Te Awamutu on trap.nz and ask to join.
The group is also looking for more volunteers for other roles — find the group on Facebook.
Why trapping is important for NZ
Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique and ancient native species of plants and animals will be safe from extinction and flourishing once more if our lands are free of predators.
Predator Free 2050 builds on the achievements of hundreds of scientists, ecologists, iwi and community conservationists and is inspiring thousands more to join the movement. It offers the unifying vision of an endgame, and an action plan to win it. That culture of care and responsibility to nurture the welfare of the land and, by extension, the people, is called kaitiakitanga
Return the voices of the insects, reptiles, bats and birds back to the forests, farmland, towns and cities
Before the arrival of humans, the only native land mammals in New Zealand were three species of bats; New Zealand was primarily a land of birds, small lizards and invertebrates. Our native species evolved without mammalian predators, making them especially vulnerable when these animals arrived.
Due to our country’s unique natural history, our extinction rates are among the highest in the world. This is largely due to the impact of introduced predators, invasive species and loss of habitat.
Our native wildlife needs three things: safety from predators, suitable habitat and enough genetic diversity for long-term resilience. Of these, the first – safety from predators – needs addressing most urgently.
These guidelines focus on trapping mustelids (stoats, weasels and ferrets), rats and possums – the most voracious predators of New Zealand’s wildlife.
Stoats
Stoats are ferocious predators and the number-one killer of many of New Zealand’s endangered native species.
Stoats will live in any habitat where they can find prey. They can be found in rural communities where they will prey on domestic fowl, along coastal areas and beaches, in the remote high country and at any altitude up to and beyond the treeline, and in any kind of forest. Stoats are more common than ferrets and weasels in forest habitats.
The serious effect of stoat predation on the survival of many of New Zealand’s bird species cannot be overestimated. They are voracious and relentless hunters.
Stoats are a serious threat to kiwi chick survival rates. In areas where they are not controlled, stoats can kill up to 95 per cent of North Island brown kiwi chicks hatched annually before they are able to reach a stoat-proof weight of 1kg.
They have a significant effect on coastal bird species such as wrybills, New Zealand dotterels and black-fronted terns. Forest birds that nest in holes in tree trunks (such as mohua, kaka and kakariki) are particularly vulnerable to stoats, which can destroy eggs, chicks and incubating adults in one attack.
Stoats are implicated in the extinction of a South Island subspecies of bush wren, the laughing owl and New Zealand thrush.
Stoats, rats and mice form a complex predator-prey relationship in association with beech tree seed production. In periodic ‘mast events’ – when high levels of beech seed are produced – rat numbers explode. As their main prey becomes more abundant, stoat numbers also increase. Later, when the seed supplies run out and rat numbers drop, the hungry stoats turn their attention to birds, insects, bats and land snails.
Although rabbits are the main diet of ferrets, this mustelid will attack, kill and eat native species.
Ferret
In the 1980s, at least 17 ferret farms were established in Northland. When these closed due to a downturn in the market, many ferrets escaped or were set free, which likely contributed to the northward expansion of ferrets into some of New Zealand’s remaining prime kiwi habitat.
Ferrets are a significant pest of both conservation and economic importance in New Zealand. They prey on indigenous wildlife and also carry bovine tuberculosis (TB).
Ferrets are a serious threat to adult kiwi. They dramatically reduce kiwi life expectancy from 30+ years to only 12 years. In some North Island brown kiwi populations, ferrets have caused sudden population decline by killing large numbers of resident adult birds.
Ferrets are known to prey on royal albatross chicks, yellow-eyed penguins and little blue penguins, weka, North Island brown kiwi and numerous freshwater wetland birds (eg ducks).
They are considered to be one of the major causes of the decline of the white flippered penguin, and along with cats have contributed significantly to a decline in the distribution of grand and Otago skink populations.
Weasels
Weasels, being smaller, less common, more patchily distributed and present at much lower densities than the other mustelids in New Zealand, are thought to pose a less significant conservation risk. However, they are known to have adverse impacts on lizard, invertebrate and bird populations.
Weasel
In particular, weasels may damage small and localised populations of endangered species such as Whitaker’s skink. On the mainland, predation pressure and loss of habitat have reduced Whitaker’s skink to a single remnant population that remains under constant threat from weasels, rats and mice.
While weasels are not able to tackle the larger bird species (eg adult takahe and kiwi) that are preyed upon by stoats and ferrets, they will tackle prey much larger than themselves, so many nesting birds are easy targets.
Three species of rats have been introduced to New Zealand: the ship rat (sometimes referred to as black rat or roof rat), Norway rat (often called brown rat, water rat or sewer rat) and kiore (also referred to as Pacific rat, Maori rat or native rat, even though they are not native to New Zealand). It is thought that kiore arrived with the first Polynesian settlers, about 1250–1300. Ship rats and Norway rats arrived with the first Europeans and spread quickly.
Rattus rattus - the Ship rat, aka. Black rat or Roof rat. Photo / Dean Taylor
Ship rats are found in most habitats and are now the most abundant and widespread rats on mainland New Zealand. They are good climbers and are therefore the rats most commonly found in forests.
Kiore were once found all around New Zealand and on many offshore islands. On the mainland they are confined to parts of Fiordland, Southland and South Westland.
They have some cultural significance because of their association with the migration of Polynesians throughout the Pacific and their value to Māori.
Rats have a built-in defence mechanism which makes them wary of new things in their environment. Therefore, new traps, bait stations or tracking tunnels need to be installed a minimum of three weeks before you need to use them.
Kiore or Pacific Rat.
Rats have a high rate of population increase. Annually they can have several litters and produce 11–16 pups.
This means control projects must either control continuously or time their efforts carefully to provide protection to native species at vulnerable times (eg for birds during their breeding season).
Rat food preferences are often passed on socially. This means rats ‘teach’ others about food sources and this can include their preferences towards poison and baits.
Threat
Rats have a major impact in New Zealand because they are omnivores – eating birds, seeds, snails, lizards, fruit, insects, eggs, chicks, larvae and flowers. The varied diet of rats also makes them competitors with native wildlife for food sources.
Ship rats are widespread in lowland podocarp-broadleaf forests. Because they are good climbers, they can access bird nests high in trees.
The Norway Rat or Rattus norvegicus, is also known as the brown rat, sewer rat, wharf rat, or water rat.
On offshore islands, Norway rats are large enough to kill burrow-nesting adult seabirds and eat their eggs and chicks.
Rats and mice both need to gnaw on things. Their teeth continue to grow throughout their life. Their incisors curve as they grow and gnawing on things like timber and pipes helps control this growth. If a rodent’s incisors get too long it won’t be able to eat, chewing through that water pipe is like a trip to the dentist. This means they will chew on house timber and plastic water pipes, not just for fun but because they need to.
In one case a home was vacant for two years and rats had chewed water pipes in more than a dozen places. The homeowner returned from overseas to almost every room in the house flooded.
Power cables, network cables, and phone cables are all critical services rodents love to chew on. This behaviour often causes faults to alarm systems, internet connections, and central heating units and can create a fire risk when damaging mains supply wiring.
Structural Damage
When a hole is too small for rats and mice to fit through they will make short work of increasing its size eating their way through walls, floors, and sometimes doors. Rat teeth rank about 5.5 on the Mohs Scale, this means their teeth are harder than iron and copper so a lot of materials in our homes are no match for their chewing behaviours. Rodents will often chew holes through the rubber seal on the bottom of garage doors to gain access.
Mice commonly eat away at carpets under interior doors for the same reason. An adult mouse can squeeze through a hole 10mm round but they like to go places fast, rats will go through a hole 25mm round but just like mice they don’t like to mess around, quick access to get in and get out is what they are after.
Rats and mice will chew through walls if there is any gap letting light through. Inside walls, they even chew around the base of the vertical studs to make their passage easier to travel along. Rats and mice chewing through ceilings are not unheard of either.
Nesting
Both rats and mice build nests, sometimes bringing in materials from outside, and both love insulation. They burrow into any insulation that is made of fibre, like pink batts. They will make a hell of a mess and destroy the insulation. Mice also love to build nests in the motor compartment of fridges. Often this means they stay warm because of the motor and they are nice and close to a food source in the kitchen. Mice will quite happily live very close to people even nest inside lounge suites, bottom drawers, wardrobes, in a suitcase under your bed, and many other places.
Rodent business
Rodent urine will stain surfaces and leave a horrid smell that can take months to fade away. Rats in a roof space will have a latrine site where they leave waste food and do their business. Their urine can soak through Gib ceilings and the only fix is to replace the ceiling. The smell can be so strong you can tell a place has rats as soon as you walk in the front door. Not only does it smell but their toilet habits can spread diseases like leptospirosis.
When rodents get into your pantry it can be costly. Rats and mice have similar and extremely diverse diets. There is not a lot they can’t or won’t eat, they will try a bite of anything if they have easy access. Bread and flour are always high on the menu for rodents, mice will even tunnel through the back of a bag of flour carving it out from the inside. Mice being smaller can often be a bit more discreet when eating through your food stores and evidence may not be as easily spotted at first glance. Rats being much larger tend to move stuff around and make a bigger mess of what they are eating.
Both can be hoarders and will make several trips to collect food from your pantry. Human food is not the only target, pet food is also well-liked by rats and mice. In some cases, rats will pile dog and cat biscuits up under ovens, behind fridges, behind couches and other furniture on the way back to their nests. This will contaminate your pet’s food spreading disease to your pets. Therefore it’s important to throw away your pets’ food too.
