In 2022 we wanted to make sure we had every inch of target habitat in the northern operating area covered with possum traps. We added in another 324 possum traps and 475 rat and mustelid traps, targeting blocks that were prime possum real-estate. The northern suburbs were smothered in red (trap station dots) on our Trap.NZ map.
Like the year before, we got high catches in newly trapped areas (such as the Hilary St block in Pine Hill that flanks SH1) and started to see catches drop on traps that had been running for a year or more. This is when we started to look closely at our monitoring data to see if our traps had really removed all of the pests or whether they were just losing interest!
Our wax-tag and tracking tunnel data told a mixed story. In some areas, like Signal Hill and Woodhaugh Gardens, we were continuously getting low tracking results. This meant we could reduce our trap density on these lines and trap check frequency. In other areas, we continued to get moderate-high rat and possum detections. At the end of 2022, we started to move our traps around and introduce new trap types to try and entice any pests in the area that may have not been interested in the older traps.
Traps:
Catches:
Possum catches 2022
February 20, 2025
Shining light on our trap catch history — City Sanctuary
maximios city
In 2022 we wanted to make sure we had every inch of target habitat in the northern operating area covered with possum traps. We added in another 324 possum traps and 475 rat and mustelid traps, targeting blocks that were prime possum real-estate. The northern suburbs were smothered in red (trap station dots) on our Trap.NZ map.
Like the year before, we got high catches in newly trapped areas (such as the Hilary St block in Pine Hill that flanks SH1) and started to see catches drop on traps that had been running for a year or more. This is when we started to look closely at our monitoring data to see if our traps had really removed all of the pests or whether they were just losing interest!
Our wax-tag and tracking tunnel data told a mixed story. In some areas, like Signal Hill and Woodhaugh Gardens, we were continuously getting low tracking results. This meant we could reduce our trap density on these lines and trap check frequency. In other areas, we continued to get moderate-high rat and possum detections. At the end of 2022, we started to move our traps around and introduce new trap types to try and entice any pests in the area that may have not been interested in the older traps.
Traps:
644 possum traps
905 rat and mustelid traps
Catches:
Possum catches 2022