Traplordz group forms to hunt and kill rats in Wellington's flats

Sunday, 26 August 2018

Traplordz founder Tait Burge says his predator trapping group combines culture with conservation to get people from all ages and backgrounds involved with the predator free movement.

If Wellington's rats think they will find refuge inside the city's students flats, they've got another thing coming.

Renters across the capital, including students and young professionals, have been united by a group known as Traplordz, which launched in June to help hunt down the city's predators.

Founder Tait Burge said trapping wasn't just for homeowners. Getting renters involved had the added bonus of removing rats from student flats, he said.

'We have these native species here that need to thrive and for that to happen, people need to get involved.'

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Traplordz founder Tait Burge is combining conservation with art by supplying rat traps, painted by artists, to students across Wellington.

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Wellington street artist Dside paints 40 traps for the Traplordz trapping group, a predator free initiative targeting young professionals and students who are renting.

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Burge founded Traplordz with fellow Wellington residents Hugo Reeve and Claudie Ramsden-Bradley.

Living on the South Coast of Wellington, Burge said they were first concerned about the little blue penguin species.

'We said, 'let's do something about it'.'

Everyone who receives a trap also has a piece of Dside art.

To date, they have 50 people signed up and have trapped 11 rats and three mustelids.

That haul would increase as the weather became warmer and more traps were given out, Burge said.

'We didn't realise how much interest was going to be around this project. For us, it's a really good result just getting these 50 traps out.'

At Traplordz headquarters – a laundry shed in their backyard – Burge brews peanut butter bait for rats all over the city.

In the backyard there's a stack of trap boxes that have been painted by local street artist Dside.

Forty-two boxes were painted and numbered as an edition, so every flat would have a unique trap. Burge said they were already lining up more artists for future trap art.

When a new Traplord joins the ranks they receive everything they need for free. The starter pack includes a trap, a unique trap box, a guide and peanut butter bait.

Every week they ask people to report their catch data, from which they choose a winner.

Their main focus was rats and mustelids, particularly in student areas like Aro Valley and areas surrounding the Zealandia wildlife sanctuary, Burge said.

The group wanted to eventually hold dance raves, with the profits going to conservation, . It was making Spotify playlists of 'trap music' to get people in the mood, he said.

Rats are not just an issue in student flats. Results from the capital's annual rat census show rodent numbers have increased by 5 per cent.

This month, Predator Free 2050 committed $3.2 million to Predator Free Wellington and Capital Kiwi over five years, with the goal to make the capital city predator-free.