Trapper Monthly, June 2025

 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 

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