Amazing. Astonishing. Unbelievable. In February 25 we have had one possum! Yes that is one possum! Last year in February we had 33! Is it the end of the line for the possums? I caught this one in trap T37 on Piccadilly Line. On the last day of February, on the 28th. I must say there was another one but that was in my vege garden! Trappers what are we going to do if there are no more possies?!
It is not for want of trying to get them. We had 18 outings in February so plenty of scope to get more possums. It is remarkable such a decline and so suddenly. Just in January it was still 15 which was an above average number for January. I am so pleased.
The rats made up for it, 18 of them we caught plus two stoats, three weasels and twelve hedgehogs. The rats and stoats will probably keep us busy for a while yet. There are certain spots on the network where the rats turn up regularly. That is along Waterloo Line, D37, on Piccadilly D3 and on Circle D68. The new traps I put out in February going up to Lookout Point have not produced much at all. A single rat in D156. The traps are too fresh and new most likely, to get the rats in.
I have not given up on the hunt for possums just yet. There is more to do to keep the birdies safe and give the forest a chance to recover. Each time I go down there I hear the birds, fantails, bellbirds, grey warblers, shining cuckoos, waxeyes (they are really abundant now) and almost every time I see or hear kereru. There must be two families, one near  the coalmine and another one closer to the track going down to the river’s edge. What I have not seen for a while are tomtits which I had seen last year, albeit very few. Hopefully they are still around somewhere and thriving. No tuis either.
So to tighten up the network of traps I have been busy deploying another nine AT220 traps in the more remote areas along the river on a line which I call the Embankment. The line has been there a while and is equipped with A24 traps but no possum traps. It is quite hard work to get these traps into place as often I have to cut a path through the undergrowth with my little chainsaw and secateurs! But it is almost finished. I have one more AT220 in the garage which will soon be down there as well. The bush along this line is really lush and looks healthy. Plenty of kowhai, mature lancewoods, broadleaf and lots of supplejack hindering progress. Not so many fuchsia trees. And always the company of fantails! 



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Inside of an AT220 trap. Battery, pump, lure pouch, computer. They are good for possums and rats. In fact they are very good for rats. Problem is that sometimes the rats get squashed in them and need to be prized out of them. Not a nice job.
To protect the forest, Ecan together with a company in Christchurch called City Care have had a few days along the walkway as well, cutting and poisoning lots of pine trees and sycamores. They usually pick an area and really have a go to eliminate these weeds. Sometimes good for me because they open up a path which I then can use for trap deployment. Mind you they probably also take advantage of the tracks I put in, marked with blue ribbon and tags. 

The new line of the new series of 10 AT220 along the Embankment: AT13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, AT11 and 12 are on Piccadilly Line. One more to be deployed! See picture below. 
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As I outlined in last issue we lost four traps down on District Line where we think some people have thrown the traps, D150 traps, into the river. I have replaced them now and hidden them a bit better.
But we are not the only ones dealing with either stupid people or misguided people. Further south other trapping organisations, Matukituki Charitable Trust, and the Southern Lakes Sanctuary, in the Dart and Rees valley, had more than 150 traps tampered with, either by blocking the entrance to the trap with rocks or throwing rocks into the traps and so triggering them. Just as at almost the same time DOC released 18 Takahe in the Rees Valley. Have a look at the picture below: is it not magnificent?!
Of course I am slightly jealous of it all. I imagine the day when somebody will release Kiwis in the Rakaia Gorge!

Thanks for your help, trappers, friends and sponsors, and take care out there!

January behind us. It was not a bad month for trapping. We did 15 possums, 28 rats, 12 mustelids and 7 hedgehogs. The possum number is about average for January. In fact 15 is the second best January ever! Still no trend in sight for declining numbers of possums. Certain areas certainly have fewer possums but then out of the blue there was a possum in trap T18. Its been there for years and done lots of possums the last one being February 24! Almost a year in between catches. Where did it come from?! Never mind we keep on trapping.

Between all of us we had twenty outings. There was a remarkable one by Robert and Karen on the 19th January in pouring rain and very cold too. Not even I muster such dedication. I give the trapper of the month medal to them.

Another great catch was by Tony who got two pigs! They can make some real damage to the forest and these two pigs even had a go at the walkway itself. Just churned it all up. Another strange day was on the 7th when I got ten rats all on Piccadilly Line! Very unusual.

The forest is full of bird song and especially around the coal mine there seem to be a lot of bellbirds and recently two or three kereru! I believe they all feed on the fuchsia trees and are after the berries which are abundant now. I picked myself a few. They are quite sweet but only when fully ripened.

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A lot of tourists are using the walkway now. From France quite a few, Germany, Holland and England. They love the visitor book and often write lovely comments about the walk into it. I must get the shop up and running! There are no residents yet in the Weta Condo!

On the 30th Barry from next door was kind enough to give me a hand to transport 20 new traps  to the upper lookout point. He has a nifty little four wheel drive, and the traps fitted into the trailer no problem. We made it right to the lookout point driving across the island.

The next day I went back and deployed most of the traps and put them into position. Rather hard work it was going up and down each time with two traps in my hands. But it is all done. The numbers are D139 to D158. Circle Line is now all equipped with DOC150 traps. Every 40 to 50 meters. It remains to be seen how these new traps perform. Some are still in the forest but most are on the open grassland. I guess in the forest it will be rats and on the open spaces more stoats and weasels. Will see. 

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