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Self-resetting Goodnature pest traps to bring back birds to Taupō

Friday, 3 August 2018

A new self-resetting rat-trap is helping Taupo hospice bring back the birds.

A new self-resetting rat trap should help lifestyle block owners bring back the birds.

Similar to the A12, the Goodnature A24 has a gas-operated mechanism that strikes when rats poke their head through a hole in search of the lure.

The dead rats fall free of the trap and are cleared away by nature.

A new self-resetting rat-trap is helping Taupo hospice bring back the birds.
A new self-resetting rat-trap is helping Taupo hospice bring back the birds.

Predator Free Taupō's Robyn Ellis said she hoped Taupō District communities would do their bit to bring back the birds.

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Ray Dunbar with a possum that met its demise thanks to a new Goodnature A12 self-resetting trap installed in bush near the Izard Hospice in Taupo.
Ray Dunbar with a possum that met its demise thanks to a new Goodnature A12 self-resetting trap installed in bush near the Izard Hospice in Taupo.

Backyard traps will help Taupō become predator free by 2022

Group wants Taupō pest free by 2050**

Robyn Ellis from Predator Free Taupo says Taupo residents can make checking and clearing their backyard rat traps can become a weekly task, like taking out the recycling bin.
Robyn Ellis from Predator Free Taupo says Taupo residents can make checking and clearing their backyard rat traps can become a weekly task, like taking out the recycling bin.

'We really want everyone to put a trap in their backyard.

'People on lifestyle blocks and with reserves near their property, should put in one of the Goodnature traps, which are self-restting.

'That means you don't have to go check it regularly, and it will just keep working.'

The bush surrounding the Izard Hospice House gained one of the tree-mounted traps last week.

Maintenance manager Ray Dunbar said six other traps had been operating for a month.

'We've caught 11 rats, one mouse and two possums just last week.'  Dunbar said.

'Who would have thought, in an urban area, we'd get two possums in one week.'

He said he hoped to clear the area of pests

'Where I live in town, there's bellbirds and wax eyes by the dozen, but here, there's nothing.

'Hopefully, if we get rid of the pests, the birds will come back in and we'll be able to enjoy their songs and seeing the birds around.'

Dunbar said the hospice patients were involved in the project too.

'During occupational therapy sessions, some of the patients are building the wooden tunnels which we put the Victor rat traps in.'

Ellis said the A24 rat traps were easy to install.

'You just attach them to a tree about 15 cm off the ground using a drill. They come with their own aniseed lure.'

Predator Free Taupō launched in June 2017 alongside Greening Taupō under the Project Tongariro umbrella.

* To get a trap delivered to your door visit predatorfreenz.org. 

* People keen to champion pest-fighting efforts in their neighbourhood should email robyn@greeningtaupo.org.nz