Trapper Monthly, November 2024

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It has been a kind of quiet month on the possum front. Only 12 possums for
the whole month! But it is in line with previous years. Like last three it
was 11 possums. I wonder why that is. In October they definitely have young
ones and we catch more but then in November what are they up to? Maybe they
stay well down in the forest and eat new shoots of plants such as fuchsia
and wineberry or even kowhai! So no need to travel far up to the green grass
where we have lots of traps.
 
Some good news is that those two possies which were on camera along
Piccadilly Line, near trap T57 and AT11, have been caught. First it was the
young one, poor thing and then the mother about 10 days later. In the same
trap with the apple. They did not go into the AT11 which is nearby. It just
shows that the apple as a lure works every time. Patience is required
sometimes but eventually a targeted possum will go in and try to get the
apple. It means putting fresh apple into it as often as possible. Sadly the
cat which was on the same footage has not yet been caught. It has
disappeared from around there.
 
In November we also have refurbished all A24 traps. They needed new gas and
new lure. Jon and Sue helped with Elizabeth Line and Piccadilly Line. I did
the rest like down on the Embankment and along Circle Line. Some of them
were very hard to find again. Growth of plants hid them often or leaves
fallen onto them. The pleasing thing was that quite a few of these traps had
a rat underneath or sometimes a mouse. Also one hedgehog. Prove that they
actually work. The problem I have with them is that lots do not connect to
the phone so I have no data as to how many times they have fired. Must sort
it out with the manufacturer. Maybe it is a battery problem.
 
In November we had 14 outings resulting in 12 possums and 23 rats. The
possums are in line with previous years which was 11. It is interesting that
for the last four years the average has been exactly 11 possums. I wonder
why that would be. As I told Marcel maybe they stay deep in the forest and
feed on new seedlings of kowhai, or wineberry or fuchsia. In October we
catch more because they have young ones and they are out to feed on grass.
The rats are always there. Hard to know what impact all our trapping has.
 
Also this month I had Michelle and Tim on an inspection of the trap lines.
Michelle is from Ecan who have been good sponsors of the trust and Tim is
from DoC also interested in what we do in the Rakaia Gorge. I took them down
Piccadilly Line then up to lookout point and from there back to car. We did
not get any catches until the last trap T17 had a possum. A kind of bonus.
There were plenty of birds and even a shining cuckoo was present. It should
have been quite impressive. But they have not come back to me. Also took
them to the visitor’s book which is receiving lots of comments all very
positive.
 
The Fantail Shop is all installed but has so far no goods for sale in it. I
am still looking for things to sell which are reasonably cheap. Kind of
souvenirs like cards, small pottery and other stuff. The Weta Condo is also
still empty. It might take a while to get Wetas in there. If the rats and
possums have not all eradicated then we should surely get some residents.
 
So that is all good news. The birds should be busy still nesting and raising
chicks. They can be heard sometimes calling for food. I just hope that by
end of year we will have lots more bellbirds, fantails, grey warblers and
waxeyes. I am also always on the lookout for a Tui. Our neighbour has
reported a tui in her garden this month so they cannot be all that far away.
There is plenty of food for the tuis in the gorge. Especially fuchsia. And I
have recently discovered many fuchsia trees along the walkway and especially
deeper in the bush. I had no idea that so many are still growing. They are
still flowering and some are producing berries. Konini berries they are
called and are quite delicious.