Pest trapper - conservation in action

28 April 2023

A good haul of rats have been trapped on Kaiwharawhara Point, part of a five-year pest management programme to help protect native animals living in the ferry terminal redevelopment area.

Traps have been set up on the eastern side of Kaiwharawhara Point where mokomoko (lizards) have been relocated to a safe zone for the duration of construction work.

There’s lots of rat and mice activity in the area, says Avery Johnson, Health & Safety Advisor at Trap and Trigger which have set up the trapping regime, using chocolate, peanut butter and dried rabbit to lure the rodents.

Monitoring tunnels have also been put in place to get an idea of the type of pests on site and their abundance - these tunnels have bait and ink pads inside, which the pest runs across, leaving a paw print on a piece of paper at the other end.

Avery says so far there have been no sign of mustelids – stoats, weasels and ferrets -  but she’s set up a monitoring camera to check if they are living in the area, or to find out if the mice are taking the bait before they get to it.

It’s Avery’s first job after graduating with a Master’s degree (she’s studied biodiversity, ecology and marine biology), and while she agrees the work might sound morbid to some people, it’s all about conservation, and she’s learning plenty by being out in the field.

“We also get rid of weed species such as wilding pines, along with the rats and other pests.”

Rats, she explains, come in the species in New Zealand, Norwegian rats – bigger and likes to hang around water, ships rats, which are more common and prefer to live amongst the plants, both of which have been trapped on Kaiwharawhara Point, and Polynesian rats.

“These pests and weeds have a big impact on Aotearoa’s native animals and plants. The work we do can allow bird life and other native species to flourish.”