Capital pests prefer gourmet peanut butter too

Sunday, 15 April 2018

Founder of Predator Free Miramar Dan Henry, left, with Roman Jewell, Fix & Fogg co-founder, with peanut butter and jam toast.

It seems even Wellington's rat population prefers the finer things in life – and perhaps, in death too.

Local peanut butter artisans Fix & Fogg have donated 96 kilograms of peanut butter to Predator Free Wellington, an organisation which aims to make Wellington the first predator free capital in the world.

Fix & Fogg co-founder Roman Jewell, left, and Dan Henry, founder of Predator Free Miramar at the Fix & Fogg window kiosk, just off Eva St.

The peanut butter will be used to help bait their traps.

The collaboration came about when Dan Henry, founder of Predator Free Miramar, noticed on feedback forms that many trappers were saying that the pests seemed to be particularly drawn to the smell of Fix & Fogg peanut butter.

* Government sets target to make New Zealand 'predator-free' by 2050

* Wellington's latest Predator Free group to launch in Brooklyn

* Predator-free movement uniting communities and organisations**

'I thought, I'll call in and see if they can help us out with a few kilos or something if they had any. The next day they rang and said 'yeah, we've got some you can come and collect' and went down there and there was nearly 100 kilos of peanut butter.

'It's far more than we can use in Miramar, but I figured what we couldn't use immediately we could hand on to the other groups and I started delivering it.'

He has now passed on the peanut butter to umbrella organisation Predator Free Wellington to distribute to the various groups.

Henry got his start trapping bird-killing predators in Polhill Reserve around three years ago.

'I've always been interested in conservation - I love the outdoors and tramping, and I love birds and the bush.'

The eradication of possums over a decade ago in Miramar has been an inspiration to start the Miramar chapter of Predator Free. Henry is excited about establishing Miramar as predator free as well, as its the 'front end' of a 'sweep out' across the city.

'We're already so far ahead in Miramar. [The GWRC] reported in 2005 that there were no possums, then it was noteworthy - for the first time, a breeding pair of tui were seen at Massey Memorial - they're thick on the ground like blackbirds now. In 10 years, that's how quickly life comes back. If you can do it with possums, you can do it with rats. You just need the will - and the coverage.'

Roman Jewell, co-founder of Fix & Fogg, that already donates peanut butter to organisations like Women's Refuge, says he's keen for the collaboration to continue into the future.

'If there's peanut butter that is not fit for human consumption, for whatever reason, then we hold on to it and its perfect for trapping.'

Henry believes that Wellingtonians, including businesses like Fix & Fogg, getting behind the Predator Free movement will make what may seem 'insurmountable' achievable.

'We've got the karearea on our $20 note, we call ourselves kiwis, our award-winning digital effects company is Weta. These are how we identify ourselves, and if we're happy to see that disappear because we wanted to spend money on something else, well, god help us, really but it's totally achievable.'

'Having Fix & Fogg coming forward and understand what we're doing and get behind it and be willing to help is fantastic.'

* Want to get involved? Head to: pfw.org.nz.