Over the past few months a handful of hardy volunteers have been deploying DOC 250 ferret traps around the perimeter of Otanewainuku. The whole of the western perimeter has seen traps installed that are now being regularly checked and re-baited by volunteers. The northern stretch of the eastern edge is also up and running. The rest of the eastern edge is a work in progress, with tracks to be marked and traps to be installed. Oh, and volunteers to check and bait them will be needed!

Once complete the traps will comprise the ‘ring of steel’ to keep ferrets at bay (173 traps in total). Ferrets pose a major threat to kiwi, they can even kill strong healthy adult birds. They generally live in more open pasture/farm areas and can forage into the bush (and into kiwi habitat) from there.

Since deployment we have had a number of ferrets caught, John Bambury and his young son Noah who patrol the northernmost traps along the western edge had a haul of 8 ferrets out of their 18 traps during one of their visits earlier in the year. The next job is to install a network of DOC 200 traps into the recently established ‘expansion zone’, and to find more volunteers to regularly check and bait them.

If you’re interested in becoming involved in the trap roll-out and/or would like to take on a regular trap line please contact Chris Pronk, 0204 116 2959 or you can send us a message through our contact form.