Next week @Dundee - it is a very sad story - a fabulous dog but I have to take him back to his breeder tomorrow - 15 months old and he has early signs of ED:(
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Next week @Dundee - it is a very sad story - a fabulous dog but I have to take him back to his breeder tomorrow - 15 months old and he has early signs of ED:(
Bugger @time out. My young fella is selling Lab puppies if your interested.
Marley checking out his last rat with me - sadly we had to take him back to the breeder as he was limping on a front left leg after modest exercise - they took x rays back in May to see if he was OK for breeding but decided not to keep him. Our Vet was able to access the x rays for us and I was fortunate to have expert Vet friends who advised us he had early signs of ED and advised us to take him back.
After owning him for six weeks - it was a sad process to give him up! We are again looking for a young Labrador - we have had five puppies throughout our lives - so not going there again.
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Sorry to hear that @time out
Best of luck finding another Lab. It, like those before it will be a lucky dog to be rolling with you [emoji106]
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That is a really rough break timeout, hope all works out for the best.
It’s been hard work trapping rats lately - numbers have dropped right off - monthly numbers at the Park from January this year to date have been - 23, 36, 114, 67, 40, 17, 18, 8, and now 12 for September - I was getting a bit despondent but got 5 of the 12 on Sunday and anther 4 today - so they are on the way back - mainly juveniles in the last couple of days - poor wee fellas didn’t get a chance to learn
I did get a couple of big Norways from the same spot this month - must be a family around that area. I got a young Shippy on Sunday and his mate came back to find him today.
Still getting the odd strike under the A24s which is pleasing.
Possums have been very hard to find around the Park lately - but one has been enjoying the Rose Gardens in the central area - a bit dangerous with kids around for a kill trap - so I have provided him with a special meal of Pestoff in a Philproof bait station up a tree for tonight.
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@time out How are you finding that A24 trap? Worth the money?
Got another in the doc200 last night
I did a report on Page 18 of this thread - it covers most issues
I checked a few yesterday that still had 01 on the counter - after I changed the gas bottle a couple of months ago and gave them one test fire - so no kills yet - but rat numbers are very low at present
I still run them on Possum Paste in an open A12 lure bottle - but have to give it a squeeze each time I check them and top up the container as required - i dont like their ALP system with chocolate lure
Best if you invest in trap boxes with a Victor Pro or a Kness Snap-E trap - you would get a lot of those for the cost of an A24
Good luck :chop:
@Sparrow
Great article in the latest Predator free NZ trust newsletter.
'Young trappers keen to help on Ashley estuary'
Good on ya mate, keep up the good work.
Awesome for the kids. I know mine love it !!!
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Thanks kukuwai, that article was due to the encouragement of time out.
Interestingly they posted it on their facebook page also where it recieved alot of positive support but negative also, how wrong it is to teach kids to maime and kill animals that kind of thing, reminded mewhy i dont use fb (the wife does).
I'll be honest made me 2nd guess myself a little until i asked Arlo 5 you know why we trap in the estuary eh? and he knows its for nest and bird protection but also so they dont get his grandads goldfish apparently, i always talk to him about how any thing we kill is a pest or for food and about the importance of a humane/quick kill.
After that i felt better and settle on the fact there is just some judgmental f@#k wits out there. His school are allover it with full support.
We are currently on holiday in bali and my kids are the ones counting andchasing geckos and looking at the cool bugs and stuff while i see others still on the ipads, i know what i prefer
That makes @time out an inspirational character then doesn't it !! He has encouraged me to do a few things awsell and I'm yet to meet him [emoji3]
WA@#KERS, I have never and will never be a user of Fb. Infact i would go so far as to say i despise it. Blows me away that some people are more concerned with a virtual life than the one in front of their eyes. Know which one id rater be living!! [emoji106]
"I'll bet they are, good on you enjoy your holiday and keep up the good work!!!
PS. Don't forget to put those smoked snapper and kahawai bones in the traps, they are great bait [emoji106]
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Thanks for your support guys - I love what we all do and I know it is for all the right reasons - largely for the protection of our birdlife - I reckon Kate at PFNZ did a great job with your story @Sparrow - Arlo should be proud of what he and his brother are doing
I guess you will all know that the Great Kereru Count 2018 has started and runs up to 30 September 2018 - https://www.facebook.com/OtoKiwiHous...7859874651679/
I decided yesterday about 4pm to take a quick walk up the Quarry Park to start my Kereru count - I did one short trap line and saw seven Kereru - that was over about 30% of the Park - three years ago I was lucky to see a single Kereru - and it was one that a friend at the ARC - BOP saved and released for us - the birdlife in general is amazing at present - it seems like there is a Tui up every Rewarewa - I am so looking forward to the Rewarewa flowering season soon
But I did get a big ship rat out of a Timms trap on the wattle log - I knew he was eating my apples - and eventually he made a fatal mistake
Only one of the Kereru was photogenic for my wee belt camera - but at 5m range and in full view I couldn’t go wrong - he was checking every new shoot on a small Kowhai tree - they keep them stripped at present
We went up to Auckland today and picked up our new black Lab - Jordy - he seems lovely - 16 month old - he has heaps of spring in his step - he is going to miss his five kennel mates tonight - I guess I will sleep in the nearest room to the garage
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Open all day every day - https://www.quarrypark.org.nz/
Back off hols this weekend and just squeezed in a couple of Line checks in the estuary, 1 mouse, 2 weasels and one 3 weeks dead Tom cat :sick: from 27 traps, the boy came with and managed the 4km with only 1000 questions, good fun.
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Will refresh everything at work tomorrow 👍
Sorry for the big pic I'm not very tech savvy, a bait that is proving good and easy for cats in particular is Cheerios/cocktail sausages btw.
Keep the tails for the swamp comp. I think you can win stuff at hunting and fishing
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Great work @Sparrow and your Son - another classic picture! - Cocktail cherrios are on the shopping list today - not much lure flavor in chicken legs that I have been using in the doc250s - bloody flies are back big time - rats and meaty lure turning to maggots very fast
Nothing exciting to report - dragging a few trap boxes into Puketoki and putting them beside old logs - also some of Bill Griffith’s clever coreflute boxes around the farm boundaries ( I can get six in the Mountain Mule) - but so far nothing where I would have expected to find them - so having to resort to snap traps in the cafés where there is bait chewing activity - give them two choices - Contrac or kill trap
Not a lot of action in the Park - about 200 trap sites and we are jointly getting about 4 predators per week - my lot for all my run in two trips has been a couple of young rats, one and a half possums and a hog - a hog is good as the Quail will be nesting soon - total predators for 2018 is 385 so might get to 500 again this year
My new companion is growing in confidence - a big transition from a show puppy to a bush dog - he is a ball of muscle but he still won’t carry a possum or swim - up to his belly in water is all so far - I might have to get in with him!
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Beautiful looking lab there time out. Where did you get him from?
This ones not gunna have to wait long in the freezer [emoji106]
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Not a lot to report really - hard work finding anything at the Quarry - just the occasional possum and rat - 397 pests for the year to date
I am still doing a perimeter line at Puketoki - we have about 70 possum traps in the 100 acre reserve - we get about 30 possums in there each year - invaders from the Kaimais and surrounding farmland - I am starting to get the team focused on rat trapping - mostly traps in existing bait cafés which is not that efficient and also produces ugly results - a mixture of Snap-E traps and the dinosaur T Rex traps - I am starting to get a bit more confidence with the Possum Master traps but not sure I would like to view the strangulation process - three possums and a couple of rats a couple of days ago and very low level bait take
We are thinking about shifting Puketoki control to a new level - to create an “Inland Ecological Island” - no pest fence but intense pest control to allow native plants, birds and animals to recover - is it possible? - recent tracking tunnel results show low pest levels - but still too high for birdlife!
https://www.facebook.com/Puketoki/ph...type=3&theater
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2 days to get your tails into H&F if you are doing it, wouldn't want anyone to miss their chance of a freebie for their efforts 👍
About a month since my last post - 50 more predators have come and gone at the Park - mostly rats but the odd possum has checked things out!
I have been using Connovation solid state cinnamon lure tubes on my Sentinel possum traps for several years largely because possum numbers were low and soft lures like peanut butter and possum paste were eaten out by insects or rats - just remove the bite block from the bait tray and tie on a tube - set them and forget them - maybe slosh on a bit of extra possum paste on if you walk past
I have a couple of Sentinel traps out on a boundary ridge - sometimes hard to go down into the gully and up onto the ridge - well I did a couple of days back and found a dried out possum skin in a trap - the rest of him was rotted out on the ground
I have just bought new solid state tubes so I am in the process of changing out all the old ones for nice fresh new ones
I am sick of changing apples in my Timms traps - so I am going to change over to solid state tubes on the bait rod - a bit of tape to stop it sliding down - it looks simple and should work well - might throw a slice of apple inside the box for an added attraction
Rats and possums become a mess very quickly at present - hard to hold onto breakfast at times
I decided to purchase nine new Doc200 traps from Haines - sorry Sir - about one month waiting list - so decided to build them myself - bad move - the time involved was awful - I would recommend being patient and wait for Mr Haines to deliver. The purpose of the exercise was to target stoats and hedgehogs as something seems to have decimated our Quail population - but may also have been cats
My target for bird predators from the Park this year was 500 like last year - we have just got to 445 so will have to pull out the finger to get there by New Years eve
Foolishly - I put my hand up too be a street coordinator for Predator Free Bay of Plenty - they are trying to get a rat trap every fifth house around urban areas of the city - they gave me 20 traps and boxes to spread around the 29 houses in our rural/residential street - the conditions were to list your trap on their PFBOP web site and register all kills - so far 13 traps are registered and 7 predators killed - slackers! - something for free is too easy! - I got 3 hogs on my place
Merry Xmas to all of you trappers
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Good work how many entrys did you enter for the swamp comp this year?
Just two this time - both ferret - how about you @Dundee
I see you are doing some great long range shooting with the .22 - I need a good bolt action with silencer and scope for sub-sonic on rabbits - do you know where there is a good Stirling?
I had two entrys bagged and labeled and my youngest son had one bagged and labeled in the dog tucker freezer.The old man is 84 ish and cleaned out the dog tucker freezer and biffed anything that didn't look like dog tucker.Negative on the Stirlings @time out my two stirlings aren't for sale.
Hi @time out just seen a post from Silverfin Sports in Foxton with a stirling 14p with silencer 021 887 423 for $300 Bolt action,10 shot mag.
FInally got out to do my overdue estuary lines last night and the Mrs came along for the stroll hence there a couple of better pics, were still late on the tides after work so we had a laugh as we crossed the estuary between line with her on my shoulder with the water nearly chest deep. 😅
Was expecting some stinky messes given the recent heat ( and there was rats and a weasel) but interestingly my first Stoat and Ferret of the estuary lines were very fresh, within 48hrs I reckon.
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Fresh bait was was well spent so had to think they came for the egg, with chicks mostly fledged looks like they maybe getting desperate, so get after em!!! (They were both adults)
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Setting a trapinator in action haven't caught a cat here for a while but fresh tracks in the sand make their presence obvious hopefully fresh skin on hare is the key.Attachment 102559
Stopped for a soggy jug or 2 on the way home and had a giggle with the Mrs how date night has changed over the years but I think she enjoyed it although she may not tell her mates. 5 tails in freezer already could be a big year. 👍
Predator Free BOP backyard trapping is growing well - 705 pests now dead - https://www.predatorfreebop.nz/
We are making some progress in our street with around 20 traps amongst 29 houses - all sections are about 1 acre and the street boundary is estuary and orchards - total pests trapped to date is 21
Most of the action is on sections closer to the estuary - one Guy woke up with a screaming noise on his lawn at 3AM - he went outside to find a ferret in his kids rabbit hutch - he beat it up with a garden stake but it escaped when he opened the hutch and tried to grab it - it was a bit big for his rat trap so I set up a Doc250 and a cage - but it never came back
Another Guy had his Snap-e trap smashed by something big - I replaced it with a Victor Pro and he got what I thought from his picture was a young stoat - but maybe it was a Weasel - he reset it and got a big Norway
I have had a four hogs and one rat around my section - hogs in a cage - the Guy next door loves hogs in his garden
I often see rats run across the road at the top of the street - maybe from the orchards but maybe they come up the underground concrete highway from the estuary - the stormwater system (currently very dry) with sumps all the way up the street - last sump is at the top end where they come out for a look around
We are starting to see a lot more Quail with chicks around the subdivision - so maybe backyard trapping is working
If you live in the BOP and would like a free trap in your back yard - just contact the team - they need a trap every five houses down every street - eventually 12,000 traps
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Good stuff @Timeout
I had a walk around my trap line yesterday, 9 rats and 3 hogs all pretty disgusting!!
Doesn't take long at this time of the especially with the very hot weather of late.
I did find this but not sure of what the culprit may have been.
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Also put out some vespex so hopefully that sorts out a few of the wasps too !!
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Keep up the good work fellas [emoji106]
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Got some new victors from these guys. Arrived today, very sharp price $4.80 +gst each [emoji106]
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Been a bit slack posting catches of late but walked my 2 estuary lines last night as the tide was right, catch was a bit lower than late 3 rats and a hog, and this hua in the sand dunes where its only been a few rats and weasels to date.
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Also noticed @kukuwai was using a bucket to cart every thing so thought i'd give it a crack, man so much quicker than a backpack 27 traps at 100m spacings and 1km stretch in the middle all eggs and baits changed just inside 2hrs with know broken eggs inside the bag to worry about :thumbsup:
Most of the time wasps are hunting sugar but for a small period of time they look for protein (about now)
During this time just put it out as a bait. It is a protein based bait, thus making it safe to use around bees. If the wasps are in their protein phase they will take it to their nest & only need to take a little bit and the nest is history.
Won't work on paper wasps as they won't take bait, only hunt live pray.
You will find all the info you need here Dundee [emoji106]
https://www.merchento.com/vespex.html
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That Puk looks to have been eaten by a hawk I recon but I don’t think it killed it eaten once dead. Why no surrounding feathers plucked and then carried to that spot?
Hard to say what killed the Puke @kukuwai but I have seen a few pheasant carcases carefully picked away to the bones - as per my pic - set a cage and get a cat most times - seems they are very careful to eat the good bits and don’t crunch the bones
I am getting sick of broken Snap-e traps so just got two boxes of Victors from Carol - I am going to soak them in boiled linseed oil to protect the timber before they go out and get wet - I took the treadles off first - oil is not cheap though - about $18/litre
I am going to cut a couple of new lines through about ten acres of bush that we have never trapped - it is steep so will have to poison as well as trap as I wont be over there often - I was going to invest in more A24s - but after reading this report I will just shift some from our well trapped out areas - give them some new work to do
https://www.naturespace.org.nz/news/...we4eM898rCAmRA
Our un-trapped area is producing our invaders on my perimeter traps - possums and rats seem to like to run along a log to a trap - great places for a Timms and seems to get them frequently
Seems to be plenty of young Quail around so we may be on top of the hogs and rats
This thread has had 22 pages of postings, 552 likes and 33,699 visitors, is it still interesting or has it become boring? - there are only so many ways to kill a bird predator - let me know if I should give it a rest
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Keep up the great work, not boring yet :thumbsup: