Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends 

Last report of the year! It’s been a good year on all sides. For the birds and for the forest and for the predators. Maybe not so much for the predators but you get my gist. That is simply amazing. When I get to the gorge from on high up, I hear a veritable chorus of birdsong. An explosion of chirping, chittering, chattering, twittering. It makes me happy. And I hear it again and again from walkers how many birds they can hear and observe in the canopy. To me the best moments are when I see the kereru! Just the other day I saw three of them sitting in a cabbage tree and one after the other took off, flew high into the sky, then dived steeply and lifted themselves back on to the cabbage tree, landing somewhat clumsily. But fly then can! Just for fun I would have thought. Birds having fun in the Rakaia Gorge. And so am I.
 
I dedicate this trapper monthly to the birds. But first some statistics. We caught during the month of December 11 possums, 19 rats, 1 hedgehog and 1 weasel. The possum number is a bit on the high side but almost half the average for December. Quite some more than the last few months but it might be due that about four of the dead possies should be allocated to November. There were four very old and decomposed possums on Central Line, which had not been checked for some time. 

Now the yearly statistics are interesting as well. The possum numbers are half from last year. They are in fact steadily in decline. The main problem we have is that they are always coming back into the area. Just the other day we drove a short distance from Middle Rock Station to Terrace Downs and saw two possums wanting to cross over the road. In the end they will get to the Rakaia Gorge. Funnily enough, I took evasive action to avoid killing one of those possums! How silly is that! 
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The overall numbers look impressive too. We got 1216 possums so far, 1832 rats, 306 hedgehogs, 169 mustelids and 175 others. For reasons of charity I cannot divulge what the ‘others’ might be. The total number since the start of the project is 3698 predators removed. To this number I should add the catches recorded on the A24 traps which would add more than 500 to the tally! The reason is that not very often I come across a dead animal underneath these traps. There are rats on occasion or a mouse. Hard to know what effect these traps are having on predator numbers but I have to believe that the numbers I get from the traps are real catches that just quickly disappear, removed by other predators, birds maybe, cats or even pigs. 
 We have nearly 600 traps out there and just this last week I deployed 15 more DOC150 traps down Penny Lane. That area is going to be a lovely new native forest from what I can judge by the growth of natives coming up all over the place in between the gorse and broom, which are getting old and are opening up for the light to get in and stimulate the pittosporums, the broadleaf, the cabbage trees and even the kowhai. Care needs to be taken because sycamore trees are sprouting up as well even though Ecan has undertaken a lot of weeding of these and the pine trees. We must be vigilant as our gains could very quickly be lost again. 

I give you a little impression as to how it is to ‘deploy’ 15 DOC traps down Penny Lane. And sorry about the convoluted description. I cut this track last year and it goes in a semi-circle around a peninsula jutting out into the river. On one side is the walkway, so there is one entrance and one exit. Barry from next door helped me to get the traps down to the walkway with his four wheel drive buggy. We deposited eight traps on one end and seven at the other. And there I left it all.

But that is no good. So, one day I get to the top end and deploy five traps. D170 to D174. It means carrying two traps at a time and then instal them, getting a little platform so they are even and stable. Rats do not like wobbly traps! And then I left it at that. Bad weather. 

The drama starts when I took up deployment again a few days later. It’s got to be done! Nice morning it was even if a bit windy. Now there were three traps left at the depot at the top end of the lane and of course they had to go past all the traps I already had in place. I can only carry two of these traps. They are heavy and clumsy. 

I take two of them and get to the first one I placed a few days earlier, D170. Drop them there and walk back up to get the third one. Then from there I take two again and get to second trap already in position, D171, drop them and make my way up again to get the other one. And so on until I had all three traps at D174. Which to my astonishment had already a rat in it! A brand new trap and a rat in it! Maybe there are a lot of rats around here!

From this spot I have to measure the distance to next deployment which is forty metres. I have a blue tape twenty metres long. I stick one end, which has a kind of needle attachment, into the ground and go my way. After the twenty metres are out I have to pull the tape towards me to continue. And you think that you could just pull it, but no, it always snags somewhere which means I have to go back and disentangle the thing. Then stick the end again into the ground and walk another twenty metres. And that is the spot where the next trap will go!

For that to happen I need to walk back again to my depot of traps, get two of them and get to this location, make a flat area with my hammer, put the trap on to it, put an egg into it and peanut butter, close the thing, label it and put it on my GPS on trap.nz. 

From here I measure another twenty metres,  and then come back, pick up the tape, and then measure another twenty metres. Go back pick up the other traps and install one, then measure again and back to pick up the last trap. It is amazing how in this forest the tape can snag anywhere and everywhere. A little branch or a log. And then it goes all into knots and it takes ages to undo. Me in the forest undoing knots and entanglements of the tape or rope which I use. Hard work!

Finally, I walk towards the end of Penny Lane, where there are seven more traps to do. Arrrgh! In between I use chain saw to cut the track again because in high winds it all got blown over with trees and branches. Then I put in more blue marker ribbons so that other people can find their way through this maze of bush. 
 
I manage three more traps to put further down the lane but not to activate them. Just too much. Then I realise that I got the numbering wrong somewhere! The last trap I installed should have been D177 but it was D178. One too many! Which means I have to go back and sort it all out. What a nuisance. On top of it I lost the little wrench to open the traps with. I am exhausted. Still have to walk home. Made it in five hours! A day in the life of a trapper!

The other pleasing thing is that the shop down by the coalmine has done exceptionally well in December. We sold Christmas cards and other festive things and we can hardly keep up stocking the shelves! The post box is used quite a lot too. It always puts a smile on my face when I open the box and see three or four letters or postcards in there to be posted. With the help of Juliana Child, our friend next door, we have ordered special stamps from the post office with a fantail on it and the words: ’The Fantail Trust’. It looks beautiful. If you like to receive a post card with the stamp on it, please give us your address, donate ten dollars to the fantails and we send you one. The Fantails account number: BNZ, 02 0868 011730 25. Reference: Post Stamp. Thank you. Make my day!

​We will retrieve the visitor’s book for 2025 and put the new one into the box. I must say the 2025 book is amazing with all the entries and comments. Sue Whitty, another friend, has indicated that she might transcribe the book and give us another statistic as to how many persons signed, where they came from and what they might have written.

To the birdies now: 

The Fantail or Piwakawaka: 
















Song of a fantail:

www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/south-island-fantail.mp3

The fantail has done reasonably well in New Zealand despite a greatly altered environment. It has adapted to feeding in exotic forests, gardens and orchards. Part of the reason is that fantails have a very broad range of insects to live on, but they also produce lots of eggs and so it is likely that a few will always survive. Having said that they are still vulnerable to predation by rats, cats and stoats. 
They are able to move quickly in all directions with their wide tail to catch insects either by flying directly into a swarm of insects, or by disturbing them in bushes or catching them by following walkers or other larger birds like silvereyes.  
They surely are one of the most beloved birds in New Zealand.


The Bellbird or Korimako

Song of a bellbird

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/bellbird-06.mp3

Bellbirds are usually recognised by their song which Captain Cook likened to the sound of ‘small bells exquisitely tuned’. The song can vary a lot from one place to another. Bellbirds were very common when Europeans arrived but then declined sharply and were even thought of being in danger of disappearing completely. 

They have recovered somewhat but are still missing north of Hamilton, are rare in Wellington, Wairarapa, and inland of Canterbury and Otago. Not so in the Rakaia Gorge where there seems to be a healthy population of bellbirds. 

They like to feed on the kowhai flowers in spring which flower along the walkway from early June to the end of October providing delicious nectar during the breeding season. Then they also like the fuchsia flowers, again for their sweet nectar. 


The Grey Warbler or Riroriro












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Song of a Grey Warbler

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/grey-warbler-song.mp3

Grey Warblers are tiny birds and are found throughout New Zealand. They are not threatened but still, trapping helps them to survive in larger numbers. They fly in and out of trees and bushes and are hardly ever seen but their song gives them away, a song which is amazing considering the size of these birds, about the third of a mouse, making them one of New Zealand’s lightest birds!
 
The nest of the Grey Warbler is prey to the shining cuckoo which removes an egg from the clutch of up to five Grey Warbler eggs and replaces it with its own. It is not rejected but when the cuckoo chick hatches it throws all the other eggs or nestlings out of the nest! Strange what nature does! 

It is only the male that sings the long melodious song during the breeding season. That is why they seem to disappear from the forest at other times. 


The New Zealand Pigeon or Kereru

Sound of Kereru

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/nz-pigeon-song.mp3

The Kereru is not threatened but still the numbers are in decline where there is no predation control or where they are still illegally hunted as in Northland. The threat also comes from rats, cats, stoats and possums which eat their eggs or fledglings. Possums also compete for seeds, flowers and leaves. Kereru are an important species for the native forests as they can swallow large nuts and disperse them to other sites. 
They lay a single egg usually between September and April and when fruit is abundant, they might lay twice in a season. It takes almost two months from egg to young fledgling. Both, male and female, sharing in the brooding and feeding of the chicks. 

While their preferred food is ripe fruit from native trees, they also eat the leaves of kowhai, the flowers and buds and they love tree lucerne! In Akaroa I have seen flocks of kereru feeding in stands of tree lucerne. 

The kereru in the Rakaia Gorge are to me a very special sight and very dear as they are a good indication that the trapping has an effect on their numbers. I hardly ever saw one at the beginning of the project but now almost every day I can observe them in trees, just sitting there looking out over the forest. 


The Silvereye or Tauhou














The song of a Silvereye

https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/conservation/native-animals/birds/bird-song/silvereye-song-22sy.mp3

Silvereye are considered to be a native species but have only been recorded since 1832. The Maori name means new arrival. They are not threatened and are often seen in large flocks among the matagouri or gorse making quite a lot of noise with their chirping! Real busy bodies among the branches!

During the breeding season, August, September and February, they raise two to three clutches each one of about three eggs. A population therefore can increase rapidly especially if there is no predation by rats or stoats. 

They are an omnivorous bird eating insects, worms, caterpillars and flies but they also like fruit, native fruit and exotic, often to the dismay of orchardists for whom they might be considered a pest devastating plantations of cherries, apples, peaches and all other fruits as well. 

In the winter they are readily attracted to bird feeders liking fat and lard and especially sugar water. We have such a bird feeder at the back of our house and some days there are up to twenty silvereyes fighting for a spot on the feeder. Occasionally bellbirds visit as well. 


These are some of the birds down in the Rakaia Gorge. Other species which I see sometimes are the New Zealand falcon, robins, tomtits, chaffinches, blackbirds, redpolls, yellowhammers and song thrushes. Not all of them natives but all are adding up to the bird chorus filling our little sanctuary with their song. My hope is that we will get over time other species as well like Tuis maybe, parakeets and the ultimate goal: kiwis!

As a Maori proverb says:

Tamina nga manu, ka ora te ngahere. Ka ora te ngahere, ka ora nga manu. Or in English:
Look after the birds and the forest flourishes. If the forest flourishes, the birds flourish.
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To that I would like to say that if we look after the forest  and the birds then we save a little bit of our planet earth, a flourishing Earth, for future generations to enjoy. Enough incentive to keep on going. Thank you all for being such a big part of it. 

Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends

Back in the saddle again after a long sojourn to Switzerland. No possums over there! And soon no possums in the Rakaia Gorge too! Again, a very low number was caught. Only four for the whole month of November! It is almost a miracle that in the last three months we only got 11 possums whereas in the years before it was always over 50 and one year even a 100! And just last August it was still 21.

The rats are a different story. They just keep coming and for November we had 20 of them plus there were two weasels and one hedgehog. They are few and far between as well. A good thing really. This was all done in nine outings. Only nine?! Well, coming back from Switzerland I did not feel all that good and had to stay indoors!

Basically, I did only Piccadilly Line a few times, once I did the Grand Tour, which is Northern Line, Circle Line and Piccadilly line in one day. Then I went down Waterloo Line and inspected Penny Lane, which had suffered quite a lot from that big storm back in October. Lots of trees came down and obstructed the track. Lucky, I had my little chainsaw with me and opened it all up again, but it is still not finished. The battery did not last that long.

But it is very pleasing to see so much regrowth of all sorts of plants among the broom and gorse. There are lots of broadleaves, cabbage trees, pittosporums and now and then a kowhai. The ferns are back too and one area is all covered in a large leaved ivy. Delightful to see but of course not a native. Unfortunately, there are also sycamore trees sprouting up. They really need to be controlled otherwise the whole area will just become a sycamore forest.

If you are going through there and see a sycamore seedling just pull it out. It is also pleasing to hear a lot of grey warblers in that part of the bush and usually fantails are around. I believe that fauna and flora are doing quite well in the gorge. More needs to be done and to keep it all going as re-invasion lurks just around the corner.  







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All is going well then on the trapping front. A few traps are missing or are damaged. We will replace them or repair them. There are also some new traps going in especially on Penny Lane which has no rat specific traps at all. I allocated about twelve to fifteen DOC150 traps all along the path, say every 40 m a trap.

Another pleasing thing is the Fantail Shop. It really has surpassed all my expectations and while I am sure sometimes things go missing, most of the time the items taken are paid online and often there is an extra donation included. The post box is also a great success like in November we had twelve letters or cards to send off into all directions of the world! It seems it is more popular with tourists than New Zealanders.

And then there is the visitor’s book. Amazing how many entries per day we get. Sometimes the page is not large enough! And the comments are delightful to read. It will be a big project to transcribe it all and maybe produce a statistic of how many visits and from where. Alas, I feel that the Fantail Shop one day will go viral and then we might think we should never have done it! Luckily the long way in is a bit of a deterrent. 

​The shop is now well-stocked with even some Christmas things. My sister back home made us some angels and Christmas cards of which already a few have sold. Then there are the lovely post cards Juliana Child makes. They are a best-seller and then we have the talismans, small tokens with a fantail imprint, made of clay by Christine, also selling like hot buns. Jewellery items are there and painted stones.

This month I also had an interview with the environmental reporter from The Press, the daily newspaper in Christchurch. It was all about the trapping but also he was very interested in the shop. You might see the article soon with a picture of the Fantail Shop! Let me know if you come across it.
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To broaden the interest and appeal of this newsletter, as you might have noticed, I try to include some information of a different kind and slightly different content but  naturally always about trapping and conservation. And today it is the remarkable story of the survival of the Black Robin on the Chatham Islands.

The Black Robin was on the brink of extinction back in the 1980’s when only five birds lived in a small area on Mangere Island. One of them was a female of breeding age and she was called Old Blue. The only hope of the species to survive.

The Department of Conservation under the leadership of Don Merton and his team devised a plan and a management strategy to save the birds. Their efforts and success are now part of the history of conservation and provide a model for other endangered species around the world.

The eggs of little Old Blue were fostered by Chatham Island tomtits which are related to the black robin. They raised the chicks to adulthood. A process over many years until the robins could sustain their own population. It needed tireless nest monitoring around the clock and banding to get the black robins back from extinction.












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A big problem was in-breeding as each of the surviving birds descended from Old Blue. The lack of genetic diversity leads to an increase in diseases and reduced fertility. To overcome this handicap the birds were moved between two groups living on two different islands, Rangatira Island and Mangere Island. Most birds live on Rangatira Island while the ones on Mangere Island are struggling. There is just not enough suitable habitat for them and while there are now over 450 birds alive, they might have reached a limit due to this lack of habitat.

The battle to save these birds is of course not over. They depend first and foremost on a  predator free environment, as an influx of rats or stoats could wipe them out in day or two. It is a powerful reminder of what trapping can do. Not just on the Chatham Islands but across New Zealand. It means that every trap line, every trap out there is important to keep our native bird populations alive and thriving.

Another project that caught my attention is what our friends are doing on Banks Peninsula, Jack and Charlotte. They have made their farm possum free. Thousands of the critters must have lived in the bush on their farm. Their efforts, together with the Banks Peninsula Conservation Trust, has led to a recovery of native species not only of birds but also of plants such as tree fuchsia, which is a favourite for possums. 

















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​The fuchsia is also a favourite of native birds, like the nectar feeders bellbird and tui. While tui thrived on Banks Peninsula long ago, they disappeared in the 90’s completely. 70 tuis were re-introduced in 2009 and 2010 and are now thriving all over Akaroa and they are a frequent visitor on Jack’s and Charlotte’s backyard delighting them and all visitors with their magic song. What a bleeding heart story of conservation.

We have no tuis in the Rakaia Gorge. I have never seen one or heard one. But our neighbour says that she saw one in her garden. I am not sure whether there are some at Washpen Falls, but if so they might migrate to the Rakaia Gorge. There is a large colony in a little remnant of forest near Geraldine and tuis are known to fly long distances to find their favourite trees, the kowhais. Of which we have plenty. Maybe we could introduce some tuis?!

As Jack says we can do little bits, and we are doing little bits, and we get a benefit, everybody really gets a benefit, the flora and fauna get  a benefit. The planet earth gets a benefit and again as Jack says: ‘I’m quite positive amidst all the gloom in the world around us’.  So am I in the specific context of the Rakaia Gorge and of the wider one of the planet.

So, thank you yet again for your help and effort to make this positive change. Maybe all trappers are of a positive nature, surely of an optimistic disposition!

Have a fantailistic day! Thanks for reading. And lest we forget: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends, greeting from Switzerland!

It is sensational. In September we only caught two possums! Last year it was 29! It seems we are on top of the pest. Some will still be lurking around down there but not many. Cameras will be showing what and where. And then we can target those with more traps! It is very exciting and promising. The birds will love it.

Thank you all for doing the work and going out and looking after traps. The weather seems to have been quite bad in September too. But despite that the shop has been doing a roaring trade with lots of souvenirs taken and lots of postcards being posted.

Rats are of course still around too, and we caught twelve of them plus one stoat. That is a good result too. There are some hotspots for rats like around D15 on Piccadilly and D37 on Waterloo. That is very pleasing too.

There are mice as well. There is a phenomenon called mesopredator release which means that when one species like rats is eliminated another one like mice takes over and the population just explodes and causes real damage to ecosystems, like  stripping of seeds, predation of insects and skinks or geckos and ground nesting birds.

This month was also the New Zealand Bird of the Year competition which was won by the falcon or Karearea. There were 73 birds contesting the competition and the New Zealand Falcon won with 21% of the votes out of 75000 participants.

The falcons hunt at great speeds reaching up to 200 km an hour when diving for their prey. There are only about 5000 to 8000 of them left putting them at risk of extinction. Incidentally Sue and Jon on one of their trapping rounda saw a pair of them in the Rakaia Gorge. Hopefully they will be nesting somewhere in the cliffs above the river.  They are magnificent birds as the two pictures below show. 

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There are 38 species of falcons worldwide and the New Zealand falcon is the only one endemic to this country. It is found both in the North and South Islands even down to Auckland Island. There are three forms of which the bush falcon lives in the forest mainly in the North Island, an Eastern variety in the central South Island and a Southern one in Fiordland and Auckland Island.

They usually lay three to four eggs which take up to 33 days to hatch. The falcons do not build nests but lay their eggs in scrapes on the ground or under rock outcrops and sometimes in an emerging forest on an epiphyte.

That makes them very vulnerable to predators. Especially cats are a problem as even the falcon finds it difficult to defend the chicks against such a large predator. But rats, stoats and even hedgehogs are known to have attacked their nests. Another problem seems to be windfarms, shooting by people despite their protected status and electrocution on power poles.
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There are positive things too in this battle for a better world. There are areas where real success has been achieved in eliminated predators like the Miramar Peninsula in Wellington, Zealandia of course and other sanctuaries. That is great motivation to continue the fantail project and turn the Rakaia Gorge into one of those sanctuaries. So, thank you again for your support and trapping efforts. 

Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends
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August is usually the best months for possums. It did not disappoint. While not as many as in past years it was nevertheless 21 possums compared to 31 last year. It was also 20 rats and one weasel. The rats were due maybe because we re-furbished all D traps along Piccadilly Line. There was a spite of catches after that. Now it has all gone quiet along that line. It seems to be very low in predators although one camera still picked up a possum. The hunt is on. By the way we also had 20 outings between Marcel, Jon&Sue, Paul&Jo and myself. Which is a fair good number. So thank you all very much.
The title trapper of the month has to go to Marcel for his discovery of a weta. Yes he has seen a weta and taken a picture!





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This one is apparently of the genus Pleioplectron, a cave weta. There are ten species endemic to New Zealand and all but one live in the South Island and are fairly common. Not in the Rakaia Gorge I think because I have never noticed one and the Weta Condo down by the coalmine still has no resident weta in it.

They live in darker places of the forest, in caves and under rotting vegetation. All are flightless with long antennae and legs and are nocturnal. (maybe that is why I have never seen one) Marcel must have disturbed this one in its sleep so it is a very lucking sighting. It is very exciting to know that there are wetas in the forest and that not all of them have been eaten by the possums and rats. I think we call it Pleioplectron Marcelinus!

The other discovery made down in the bush was discovered on camera. I could hardly believe it, but you can judge for yourself.

As you can see right by the fantail shop which incidentally has been doing a roaring trade and we sold a record number of tokens and souvenirs. Unfortunately, some people from overseas find it hard to pay online and I have now added a Wise account number to make it easier. A number of postcards have also been put into the mail box which always puts a smile on my dial. The oddest and remotest post box in New Zealand for sure!
But it also impressed one of the walkers and he sent us this email:
Just a quick email to say how impressed I was to see the amazing work that you guys are doing in the Rakaia Gorge, with both the trapping work, explanatory artwork, and of course the brilliant Fantail Shop!  This was my first time ever walking in this area, and it was brilliant to see the level of trapping occurring hereand, more importantly, hearing the birdlife. It was a very different experience to the normally silent bush that unfortunately we have all become used to. And the idea behind the Fantail shop is amazing - its so nice to see that you have placed such a level of trust in people that they will take merchandise from the shelves and pay you later.  Its reminiscent of a time when everyone trusted each other, and so I truly hope that most people who partake in this do indeed support your work.
 
I have deposited the $15 for the lovely fly broach into your account, which in itself was a very cheap price to pay for something so anatomically correct - I could even see the halteres behind the main set of wings!!  I was also happy to donate some more money to help you guys out on this brilliant initiative - it was a highlight of my weekend in the area.
 
All the best for your future work.
 
Is that not a nice email and such an incentive to continue the work. Not that I have any thoughts of stopping the project. It is always such a pleasure to walk in the forest, see the plant growth and hear the birds. Plenty of bellbirds, grey warblers, silvereyes and fantails and again, as I said before, quite a number of kereru. 

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​Most of these birds feed now in the kowhai trees. The whole forest is yellow with the blooms many of which fall onto the path giving away the locations of the trees. It is such a distinctive and beautiful flower used as an emblem on New Zealand coins, stamps and banknotes and has even featured on Megan Markle’s wedding veil! So if you want to see a profusion of kowhai flowers you should go for a walk down in the Rakaia Gorge these next two weeks.
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They seem to flower over a long period of time. The first ones I usually see in early June, the 5th June this year, and they will continue to flower until the end of October providing nectar for almost half a year! For the Maori the first flowers were a sign of spring and that it was time to plant kumara. But obviously this would not work with our kowhai. 

​Maori also used the kowhai flowers to produce a yellow dye. The tree itself was a source for remedies of a lot of ailments having strong antiseptic properties. They made an infusion of tree bark and used it to treat skin diseases, cuts and bruises and even broken bones were bathed in ‘wai kowhai’.
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Two little stories will illuminate the lore and fascination with the kowhai: ‘A young Maori semi-god, a Tohunga, was sitting under a bare kowhai tree with a beautiful young maiden and he asked her to marry him. But she resisted saying that she would only marry a man who could perform a miracle. The Maori Tohunga summoned all his magical power projecting it onto the kowhai tree which burst out into a splendid spectacle of yellow flowers. He reached up, took some flowers and made them into a golden crown and put it on the head of the girl. Of course she said yes!

There was a pub in Bluff and the owner made beer usually with cabbage tree roots. One day a group of sailors broke into his premises and helped themselves to the beer, smashed his shop to pieces and stole all the grog as well. When the ship returned the old man was all in for revenge and he added kowhai leaves and flowers to his normal brew and left it ready for the sailors. Naturally they came again and drank themselves silly. But they did not make it back to the ship being very sick and vomiting for twelve hours!1

A last paragraph about the Kaki or Black Stilt:

‘The kakī (black stilt) is one of the world’s rarest birds — and it’s uniquely ours.

Once widespread across Aotearoa’s wetlands, rivers, and estuaries, this striking, jet-black wader has been pushed to the brink, now clinging to survival in just a few isolated braided riverbeds of the South Island. With fewer than 150 adults remaining in the wild, every single bird matters.

Its story is one of beauty, resilience — and heartbreak. Despite decades of tireless work by conservationists through captive breeding and release programmes, the kakī continues to face a deadly and persistent threat: introduced predators. Stoats, feral cats, hedgehogs, and rats don’t just pose a nuisance — they decimate nests, devour eggs, and kill fledglings before they ever have a chance to fly. Even adult kakī aren’t safe.

This iconic species, a taonga of Aotearoa, is battling extinction not because it failed to adapt — but because it’s up against enemies it never evolved to face. And without serious intervention, we risk losing it forever’.2
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It is not only that every single kaki bird matters it is that all birds matter. So, thank you all for reading and trapping and caring. We are getting there and it has occurred to me that we might soon have to change from being trappers to being bird watchers! Twitchers!


















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1 The meaning of trees, Robert Vennell, 2019
2 Connovation, 08.2025

​Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends
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Breaking News: At the Selwyn Awards Ceremony yesterday on the 2nd August the Fantail Trust became a finalist out of 14 nominations. It was a great honour to be up on stage and to receive the certificate on behalf of all of you. Thank you for your support. 

The Award!

​​July was a cracker of a month. We had a long spell of good weather and I could work on the newest trap line called Penny Lane. It is an off-shoot of Waterloo Line and if you look at the map there is about halfway down the walkway a kind of peninsula jutting out into the river. The name Penny Lane comes from the first three letters and the last two letters of peninsula!  All a bit of fun. You might think it is kind of Swiss fun. Never mind.

This peninsula is all overgrown with gorse. I think it was at one stage grassed over and used as a paddock by the farm just behind. Then it was let go and the gorse and broom took over. But now, to my big surprise, when I cut a path through this jungle there is vigorous growth of native bush and trees throughout the area. Cabbage trees, pittosporums, lancewoods and even kowhai. They are all pushing through the gorse canopy. In a few years it will all be native forest again! It is also full of native birds especially grey warblers. Quite exciting to see it all.

Now being a cracker of a month, we had 24 outings in July! That is a lot of checking traps and a lot of hours spent in the forest. The results were not so spectacular in one way but of course very spectacular in another! Less predators caught but more birds seen and heard. So, we had 20 possums, which is a bit more than average for July but far less from last year when we had 37 possums in July! Then we had 17 rats, a few more than last month but a lot less than the 49 we got in May. On top of it we had two stoats and one weasel. It brings the total of predator catches to well over 3500!

It is getting more common now that I come home with nothing caught at all. Which is of course what we want. The big highlight is that almost every day I see kereru, one, sometimes two or even more. A pair is hanging around the coalmine and the shop area. And the bellbirds are still feeding in the kowhai trees which are full of flowers and the fantails frolic about and the waxeyes are tweeting in the bushes and the grey warblers warble their lovely song throughout the forest.  
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As I outlined in last newsletter, we have three cameras operating in the forest to see what is happening and what might still need to be trapped. With footage and knowing what is around we can better target the predators. Like now I use sometimes dried rabbit meat and down by the coalmine we installed a ramp leading up the tree straight into an AT220 trap! See below. 

Our installation near the coalmine. On the tree you see an AT220 with the ramp underneath. This is an automatic trap. What goes in falls out and the trap sets itself again.  In the middle is a DOC150 trap with an egg in it, plus peanut butter and in the lower right corner you see the camera recording all the action!

Talking about birds have a look at this one: It is a Pukunui!

It is the world’s rarest wading bird and only breeds down on Stewart Island. As of 2025 there are 105 birds left, up from 101 last year. At one stage they were even down to 62. Lots of traps and the efforts of may people helped to stabilise the population. DOC has a dedicated team of rangers looking after these birds.

The danger is ever present in the form of rats, stoats and sadly feral cats. The New Zealand Nature Fund has partnered with DOC and raised more than $400,000 for the campaign to safe this bird from extinction. A lot of money really, more than $4000.00 per bird!

It is great to know that a lot of people care about a little bird and are willing to contribute financially to the efforts of saving it from forever gone. I really believe that collectively we have a responsibility and a duty to prevent the disappearance of these birds.

On the other hand, I have seen in the news that Peter Jackson wants to bring the Moa back to life through genetic engineering. The proposal is to extract DNA from Moa bones containing well preserved DNA which can be extracted and manipulated and then grafted on to DNA of Emu to give birth to the Moa.

The company behind it, ‘Colossal Biosciences’ gives it a good chance of success and Peter Jackson has invested twenty three million dollars into the project. I have already contacted Peter and asked that the Fantail Trust will get the first two birds to be released in the Rakaia Gorge! By the time the birds are born the Rakaia Gorge will be predator free and the Moa will be safe! Really what a waste of money!
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Some other exciting news this week is that I have rediscovered deep in the bush a Horopito or peppertree. Maori used it to alleviate toothache and skin infections, and it is no wonder as the plant has strong anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. The early settlers used it as a pain killer and a cure for stomach aches. Chefs use it nowadays to give dishes a distinctive New Zealand twist and flavour. There  are also many companies selling horopito sauces, oils and even teas.

But to top it all I have found another plant down on the new Penny Lane. When I was cutting my way through the bush I came across some golden jelly type thing on a tree branch. At first I thought it might be a worm or snail or something like that. It was very unusual and prompted me to take a picture and put it on iNaturalist. A great website for anything flora or fauna wise. Just put a picture of it onto iNaturalist and somebody will in a short while tell you what it is.
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So, it turns out that my yellow jelly thing is a fungus ‘Tremella mesenterica’! In common language it is called ‘Witches Butter’! It has its uses as it is not poisonous. The Chinese put it into soups such as an immunomodulating cooling soup with lotus seeds or lily bulbs as the rubbery and gelatinous consistency of the mushroom gives texture to these soups.[1]

But far more interesting than this culinary usage is the origin of the name ‘Witches’ Butter’. I was really intrigued and found out an unlikely story. It is in a book from 1814 titled and written by Mr. George Sinclair, the ‘Late Professor of Philosophy in the College of Glasgow’:

‘Satan’s Invisible World Discovered; or a choice collection of modern relations, proving evidently, against the atheist of this present age that there are devils, spirits, witches, and apparitions, from authentic Records, and Attestations of Witnesses of undoubted veracity’. This is what he wrote:
“They confessed also, that the devil gives them a beast, about the shape and bigness of a cat, which they call a carrier ; and he gives them a bird, too, as big as a raven, but white : And these creatures they can send any where and wherever they come, they take away all sorts of victuals they can get, as butter, cheese, milk, bacon, and all sorts of seeds, whatever they can find, and carry it to the witches. What the bird brings, they may keep for themselves : but what the carrier brings, they must reserve for the devil, and that is brought to Blockula, where he gives them of it as much as he thinks fit. —They added, that the carriers filled themselves so full oftentimes, that they are forced to spew by the way, which spewing is found in several gardens, where colworts grow, and not far from the houses of the witches. It is of a yellow colour like gold, and is called the butter of the witches”. [1]
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The records and attestations he refers to come from a trial of witches of the 17th century in Sweden. Astonishing really that even in the 19th century this believe in witches was still alive and believed. Anyway, to satisfy your curiosity below is the picture I took of the Witches Butter.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremella_mesenterica

[1]  https://wellcomecollection.org

Witches Butter below:

Now on a lighter side this month also, on the 22nd July was the Day of the Ratcatcher. Not kidding. You must have heard of the story of the Pied Piper. It dates from the Middle Ages. The town of Hemelin in Germany had a problem with rats. The mayor put out a prize of 1000 guilders for anybody to claim, if they could get rid of the rats. That was in 1284.

The piper accepted and used his magical flute to lure all the rats into the nearby river where they all drowned. But the mayor reneged on his promise and now the piper played the pipe and lured all the children away from the town.  Be that as it may, but I wish I had a flute like that.  
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TrapNZ, the app where we record all our catches, asked for stories on catching rats from all organisations such as the Fantail Trust to celebrate the Day of the Ratcatcher and offered as a prize one of their hats with the TrapNZ logo on it. Naturally I entered a story and submitted all the names of our volunteers. My story came first and your names went into a draw and Jon Whitty won the prize! Congratulations Jon!  (TrapNZ did not renege on the promise) Below some pictures.
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Thank you all again for caring and helping to get those Moa back!
Robbie and Christine

 Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends

June was a bit more quiet. In the number of outings and in the catches. We had 16 outings which is not bad considering the weather. There are just not the conditions to get me out there. It is cold and wet and miserable. But despite that we caught 12 possums, 10 rats, 2 stoats, 1 hedgehog and 3 mice. And the shop has kept me busy too!

The possum number is almost about average for June, but the rats are way down from May when we had 49! Two stoats are great, and the low hedgehog number is normal as they are now hibernating and the mice are coincidental.

The trap, T111, which I put near the spot where I had the camera, and which picked up three possums, has now had the third possum. That might be the last. Who knows. I will use the camera again to make sure. No more rats caught in that spot either.

On the other hand, the other camera near the coalmine, which also showed a possum, a rat and a cat, and where nearby I deployed an AT220 and a DOC150, has not been so successful. No possum caught so far.

There is also the mystery of the possums seen on camera at the beginning of Piccadilly Line near A2, one of my first traps ever. I put a Timms trap right there in the path of the possum but so far it has eluded capture. It is a slow process. Slowly catch the monkey.

It is also nice to report that the Fantail Shop is doing a roaring trade. Never expected that many sales but I have been re-stocking the shop four times this month and considering the many wet days we had it is just astonishing how much stuff gets taken. And as far as we can tell all of it has been paid for! Anything with a fantail on it just flies off the shelves. So, if you have any ideas of what we could sell down there please let us know. Maybe you could even produce something yourselves. Some handicrafts? Items should be priced at around five dollars. Also, the visitors book is used almost every day. Sometimes the page is not large enough for all the comments and wishes. The post box has been used as well to our great joy. It is all beyond expectations and we just hope it will continue without any problem. It makes me ask: why did I not think of it before?

I am thinking now of installing a bench in that area for people to sit down and take it all in: the bubbling brook, the shady glade and the birds all about. Usually, kererus can be seen nearby and sometimes fantails flit about and bellbirds can be heard. It is just a magic little spot in the middle of the bush. Go and have a look yourselves!

Then on top of it the local paper in Methven has published this little cute article on the shop:














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I just hope this fun activity is not putting too much strain onto the shop. We are running out of things to sell! It is of course good in that it takes people out into the forest and onto some activity which they might not do otherwise. It gives a purpose to the walk and maybe it makes people aware of the sad state of much of our environment. It also should give them some pleasure being in a lovely forest full of native birds and thereby make them aware of the importance of looking after it all.

Paul, one of our trappers, has made me aware of an article in The Press. It states that annually there are an estimated 25 million birds killed every year which makes it 68000 a day! Among these birds are many kiwis and only 5% of all kiwi chicks reach adulthood because of predation. This is a sad statistic especially concerning our national bird, the kiwi.

Of course, back home in Switzerland birds get killed every day as well by natural predators so the numbers above might be a bit alarmist. But here the problem is that the native birds get killed by predators which are not natural to the environment and are not part of a natural food chain that has evolved over centuries.  Most of our native birds have not adapted to the killers out there and are very easy prey.

The aim of the Fantail Trust is to change the habitat in the Rakaia Gorge back again to its former glory with no predators. A haven for birds and plants!

Thank you all for taking part in it and making it happen.
Robbie and Christine 

Dear Trappers and Fantail Friends

May has been an interesting month. Until the middle of the month we had only three possums and I thought great we are getting on top of it. But then suddenly it changed. Marcel got seven possums in one day all on Waterloo and District Lines. Then I doubled up with another three on Piccadilly Line! That is ten possums in a week. Has not happened for a very long time. Now the total for May is 17 possums! How many more can there be!

Then we had 49 rats, 5 stoats and 3 weasels. The rats too just keep on coming. Relentless really. Also, quite unpredictable. Most are on Piccadilly Line which is the first line where we deployed traps for rats and stoats. One would expect an end to it someday. But there can be a series of catches in a particular trap, say four or five rats within a few days, then nothing for a month or so and then it starts again.

At the beginning of the month, I had a camera out near trap T45 just to see whether there is still vermin around. And well enough it picked up three possums, two rats, a cat and a hare. Interesting to see what is happening in the dark of the night. Because of these sightings I doubled up on traps at that location. Like I installed a trapinator trap, an extra Timms trap and a DOC150 trap! Plus added a lot of lure.

A few days  later I got a rat. Then another day later I got one of the possums and another rat. A week after that it was the second possum and now we are still trying to get the last possum. The camera is worth having because we can adjust the traps and lures. There are now three cameras in operation.

The same technique I am applying to a spot near the coalmine where a camera again picked up a possum, rats and also a cat. They are everywhere. So, I moved some heavy equipment into the area like an AT220 and another DOC150. First result was two rats caught in the AT220. Still waiting for the possum.

It’s been a busy month as we had 21 outings! That is a lot of hours spent down in the forest. I was also busy installing about ten more A24 automatic traps for rats in various parts of the forest. Plus three I had to repair as pigs had wrenched them off the tree! During this work I discovered deep in the forest an old totara tree! I have never come across a totara before and am not aware of any others. Very unusual but a lovely surprise.

Then of course the birds were a delight as well. Lots of fantails. They are everywhere and often in small groups of three or even four. Bellbirds seem abundant and loads of silvereyes. The grey warblers have disappeared a bit. Probably gone to warmer areas as also the shining cuckoos have done. But the biggest thrill is to see so many kereru! Hardly a day goes by when I do not see or hear one of them. Or people on the track tell me that they have seen them. Very exciting to see that happening.

The other big news is that the Fantail Shop is finally open and stocked. It opened on the 15th of May and while not many believed it would work it has proven to be a sounding success! The souvenirs just disappear, and we had to re-stock every second day! What we have there are painted stones by Juliana, small pottery plates by Christine, painted paperweights by Jon, some kiwi fridge magnets, postcards and small water bottles. All selling between five and ten dollars. And all gets paid online!









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​The Fantail Shop!
 
Then in the same week we installed the Fantail Bird Gallery! This is a bit further up towards the lookout point. There are ten panels, each bird depicted in a painting by Juliana and a text describing the birds. It will hopefully get people interested in conservation and the importance of protecting these birds. The panels are all in the same area and mounted on trees.
 
So please come and see for yourselves! The shop and the visitor’s book are about 30 minutes’ walk from the stile at Terrace Downs. You can drive down past the driving range to a four wheel track which gets you to the stile.

Thank you again for your interest and support. Special thanks to the trappers too. It’s all quite fantailistic!

Robbie and Christine
 
 
 

April was relatively quiet. We had twelve outings. Which is reasonable. The reason for this lower number is that I was away on two walking trips. One was the Humpridge Track and the other the Rees/Dart Circuit. Plus, it was my birthday month. A good enough reason to almost have a break from trapping.

Anyway, we got nine possums. Astonishingly most of them on Piccadilly Line and two of them in trap T58 which had never had a possum before despite having been there for over two years! Now suddenly in one week there were two.

We also had 32 rats. Again, most of them on Piccadilly Line like in D7. Then there were two stoats, one weasel and seven hedgehogs. They are now off to their winter hibernation and should not appear again until September or October. They are still my least favourite catch if you can have favourites among the catches. Prickly to get out, smelly and maggoty. Really need gloves to get them out.
This month I also purchased two more cameras because I think the project is at a stage where  we need to do a bit monitoring to see what is going on. The cameras are really helpful. Like I put one near T37 because we had not caught anything there for a while. Is it really predator free around there? Well after a week the camera picked up two possums, mother and child, which was riding on the back of the mother. Frustrating it was to see these two. So, I shifted the trap right where the camera picked them up and visited more often to put fresh apple into the trap. And sure enough after a few days the young one was caught and a while later the other one. With help of the camera the trapping can be a bit more targeted and we might get the last stragglers or at least we know where they might be.

Then one of the new cameras I put down by the river near a new AT220 trap. The footage is quite astounding: a hare went by, a cat came and went and two black pigs turned up and then a huge coloured one, maybe a boar. Anthony has taken care of one or two of these pigs now. They caused a lot of damage on the walkway if it was these three pigs. No possum showed and no rats. Now I hope to get the cat in the AT220. They are very good at catching them.
 
 

 










​Here is a link if you want to see more:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6ir25vvtez3gcpkhob1i2/MFDC0014-Pigs.AVI?rlkey=je76u6ydk76mvyddekaoh1hap&st=7vwj76dk&dl=0
 
As you might already know when I did the Rees/Dart walk I saw three Takahe of which 18 were released in February. I noticed a lot of traps along the walkway and I asked the ranger what they were mainly catching. Stoats! They are targeting the stoats and as he told me they catch them even high up above 1000m in the tussock grass lands. Amazing. They also get hedgehogs up there. And some stoats are caught up in the Remarkables at over 2000m. The birds to protect up there are rock wrens and kea. And in fact when I stayed at the hut, Shelter Rock hut, at 920m, that is where I saw the Takahe, at night a possum appeared. Just shows how far they have spread. The rats on the other hand seem to be sensitive to cold temperatures and certainly to snow on the open tussock lands.
Would it not be amazing if one day we had Takahe in the Rakaia Gorge? I could imagine them on the island which has lots of tussocks. Their preferred food. But maybe the area is not suitable for Takahe but it certainly would be for kiwis!

Below is an image of three Takahe I saw in the Rees Valley! As you can see they are all tagged and have an antenna on their back. 

Thank you all for supporting the fantail trust! 

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A mixed bag really, this March. No pattern, no rhyme nor reason. After last month of only one possum this month we are up again to fourteen possums. And possibly half of them in old and established traps. Like T17 which alone had three possums. But then also T15 and T18 had possums. How is this possible? Again and again it proves that when a trap is once installed it has to stay there for a long time. It is  a slow process this elimination of possums.

Pleasing was that the new traps we put in, the AT220 traps on the Embankment Line, have also taken out some possums. I was not sure what to expect and thought there might be no possums left in that area of the forest. But no.

My theory was that most possums, if not all, would come up during the night through the forest and up to the grass paddocks on the island. To feed on clover and fresh grass. But no. It seems I was wrong. The AT220 caught possums right down by the river, like AT13 and AT16. You can see the locations on the trap.nz map.

The big task achieved this month was the cutting of a new line through the forest on both sides of the track which leads down to the river. It’s called The Embankment. It was there in parts before but did not connect to the walkway itself. Now it is all connected, and one can enter the track at AT4 all the way down to AT17 and from there high above the Rakaia to the river access track and then across and up again to come out on the walkway near D67. Sue and Jon helped with forming the track. Cutting branches, sawing logs and putting in ribbons. It is great fun to be down there with them but exhausting work.

I believe that the new path leads through some of the best bush in the Rakaia Gorge. It is lush with undergrowth, old kowhai stands, mature lancewoods and broadleaf and ferns all over. A delightful walk through there not least because there are always fantails. Loads of fantails and bellbirds to hear and grey warblers. It is well marked now with blue ribbons, but care still has to be taken when attempting to discover the new Embankment Line!
 
The other thing is that we have now three cameras monitoring the wildlife in the forest. Yes I went out and bought two more cameras just to see what is going on. The first camera is near trap T37, one of the new ones is near AT4 and the third near AT14, both of  these new ones on the Embankment Line. I leave them there for a few days. It is very helpful to know whether possums are still around. Like near T57 I had a camera and it showed a possum and a cat! So I put more traps in there and re-lured them often. And we got the possum. Not the cat though. But even the cat did not show up anymore later on.
Then I had a camera at T37 and again it showed a possum right in front of it. So now I put another trap there and used the flour and sugar trick to lure it into the trap. It means you use a mixture of flour and sugar and a bit of cinnamon and sprinkle it all around leading to the trap. No success so far. In the end we will get it!!
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​This cheeky blighter followed me for a long time




​The possums are one thing and one can imagine to maybe one day get the last of them. At least they do not breed faster than what we can possibly get rid of. But the rats?! How is it achievable to get rid of the rats? We have made great inroads into their numbers. Like we have eliminated over 1600 rats. That is a lot of rats but somehow I have a suspicion that they might have been breeding more than what we killed! Statistics tell us that a rat can breed up to 200 babies a year. Not only that but within that year the offspring also produce their offspring meaning that there could be 2000 new rats within a year produced by a single rat! Enormous.

That is the theory. But there are, apart from trapping, other factors limiting the spread of rats in the Rakaia Gorge. One is the relatively cold winters. That knocks them back some. Then we do not have those mast seasons that occur in beech forests. ‘Our’ forest is mainly kowhai which is rather unique. So the food supply is more limited. Of course, they still feed on seeds and worms and other invertebrates and eggs of birds and possibly also on the wetas if they exist. I have never seen one and the ‘Weta Condo’ down by the visitor’s book is still empty.

And then there is us!

Did you know that there are only about 450 Kakariki Karaka birds left in the country. They are bred in Christchurch in the Isaac conservation trust centre. Recently 34 of these birds were flown from Christchurch to Invercargill and from there by helicopter to Dusky Sound!
They have also been released in Arthur’s Pass Hawdon Valley where they were previously quite abundant. Kakariki are a taonga to Ngai Tahu. The feathers of Kakariki were used to weave korowai, a cloak the Maori made and used during important ceremonies and festivities. 

​I reckon that these 34 birds are probably 100.000 dollars birds or more. Is that the price we have to pay for mistakes that our ancestors made when they brought the rats and stoats to New Zealand? I do ask myself is it morally justified, with all the other problems we have in this country. to spend that much money on 34 birds?! I have to say yes because otherwise what we do in the Rakaia Gorge would be equally unjustified and wasted money and effort. You get my point. In the end it means to me that all life on this planet has equal value. A statement that I am sure David Attenborough would agree with. (For ever the cynic I have to ask myself what about the possums and the rats?!)
Thank you all so much again for your help and interest in the project: ‘To establish a native bird and plant sanctuary in the Rakaia Gorge’.

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!