Curious Minds Projects 2020 - Taranaki Funding

We are very proud to annouce that we have been granted significant funding from Venture Taranaki to spend a year researching sound lures specific to possums in our local environment.

This is a huge boost for our sound lure project moving forward which will allow us to operate at a regional level with a significant project over the next twelve months.   It will mean that we will be able to link and network with a variety of organisations and individuals regionally and also potentially bring a huge audience to this project and work. 

We are extremely greatful for this support and funding as it will allow this project to continue to expand and progress regionally.  There will be further announcements about this moving forward.

In addition to our Curious Minds Project we are continuing to develop our use of sound lures to target additional creatures - mustlelids and rats are a focus for our deployment at New Plymouth Airport.

This development has four of our units deployed at the airport which took place in late June 2020.   In the first week of deployment, within the first forty-eight hours there were two activations including the capture of a stoat. 

This is hugely significant as this is the first Stoat captured at the airport despite extensive and detailed trapping over a considerable time.    The second checking of the traps two days later revealed that there were three mice in the traps.

We are continuing to explore interest from other groups and organisations who would like to trail the technology throughout the region and nationally.   If you would be intereested in doing so and have not yet made contact with us you can do so by emailing the project at myles.webb@gmail.com.

Deployment to New Plymouth Airport

 As stated on this blog previously it has always been our intention to check and re-check this technology at a number of locations to ensure that the science behind it is relevant and valid and we are looking to use the technology in a variety of locations.

Our first significant deployment has now taken place at New Plymouth Airport where four of our full units have been deployed.   The Airport has an existing pest management program targetting rats and mustlelids.   There are additional animals in the area that are controlled by other means (brush tailed possums).

This location provides us with a variety of locations, which are essentially all in full sun locations.  A number of the locations have existing trapping units present (such as being shown in the top photograph, the existing trap is present with pink spray paint to identify it and one of the sound lures is immediately to its left.

The Airport has extensive grounds around the immediate area of the runway which includes a variety of land, grass and scrub.   There are considerable drainage ditches in the area in addition to this the Airport is located near to

coastal land.There are a variety of animals known to operate in the area and have already been caught as a result of the trapping process at this location.   It is intended to record these results to see if the sound lures can increase the catch.

Of note is the season that the lures are being deployed in, it is in Winter here in New Zealand and there is less expected mustlelid activity at present with renewed activity expected in the Spring.

We are intending to have these units deployed at this location, checked regularly thanks to staff at the Airport and will be tracking the results of this deployment.  All the units have been deployed in Rat boxes with solar panels in position of strong sun. 

We would as a project like to acknowledge the support of the staff at the New Plymouth Airport (espically Marty) and the support of Fonterra to provide the units for this exciting development.

Update: Within two days of this deployment of the four traps there were two activations.   One of the traps had been moved during darkness from its trap location, the second contained a Stoat.  This is a hugely potentially significant development as it shows that the mustelid profile has shown results within 48 hours.

Unit Deployments in Other Locations.

We have reached a significant point in this project.   This week there will be a major annoucement at a regional event about the Possum specific focus part of this project.   This will form a seperate post on this site detailing this project and will be released on Tuesday evening.

This week we will also deploying a series of units at New Plymouth Airport with a view to assisting their exisitng pest trapping programme targetting rats and mustlelids.    These units will be monitored to produce data showing the units working in a different environment. 

We wish to acknowledge the support of Fonterra in supplying these units to be deployed.   This deployment is invaluable as it will allow us to monitor the effectiveness of the lure in an independent location.    The Airport has considerable ground around the runway area.   This land is a mixture of scrub and pasture.   There have been a mixture of target animals operating in this area. 

The sound lure profile developed is specifc to this location.  It consists of five tracks.   Two of these are distressed rabbit profile, one in a chick sound and two rat noises.    These are programmed to operate on a five minute cycle during the day and at night once it is dusk it switches to a one minute interval of sound.   There is no base sound profile for the daytime.  The units will be placed with existing rat trap boxes (similar to deployment site one shown on this site) with the locations in full sunlight.

The second annoucement is that we have supplied base units to the first school out of Taranaki, located in the South Island.   Our first unit was sent to Chevoit Area School last week.   It has always been the intention of this project to have as many people and locations as possible involved in the distribution of the technology, the use of the sound lure as a project to increase its effectiveness.

We continue to look for opportunities to support other existing projects or individuals who would like to experiement or use the technology.   We will be eventually providing full construction details here on the blog but in the meantime are willing to work out arrangements for other locations as people are interested.

There is gathering evidence to suggest that the sound lure is having an effect on attracting rodents (specifically rats at this stage) to the target area.   This being the case (and the sound profile is going to be modified and adapted moving forwatd) we would welcome interest potentially from anyone who would have a use for this technology, including from those of you who might be wanting to apply its use overseas.   

Significant Large Rat Activity

The continued use of the rodent targetted sound profile is showing considerable change in results.  We have started to see a shift from mice towards having possums and larger rodents appear.    There has been two instances of large rats appearing and spending considerable time interacting with the lure within a week.   In post cases the rat is spending time with the lure.   Based on the size of rat, it would appear that it would be larger than the trap and as a result it would be limited in its ability to remove the rat.   A much better option for a rat this size would be a DOC 200 - we currently do not have this option deployed with the sound lure as it is being tested in another location.   We are also going to use telemetry to measure the effectiveness of the battery relative to the sound profile.

In general terms the rat investigates the traps, appears to have shown interest in both traps and may have caused an activation in the t-rex trap, although it did not trap the rat.   It has also climbed over both boxes and spent nearly ten minutes in the vicinity of the trap.   This is the second time in seven calendar days that a large rat has interacted with the trap, this has now been deployed for five weeks and the rat interactions have both occurred in the last week since the change of the sound profile.   With the lure track playing every minute the lure has played repeatedly while the rat is in the vicinity of the trap.

We are continuing to research the target animals (Possums) and looking at while there may be possible variations with the sound lure.   There is some evidence to suggest that cats and cat smells can act as a deterent to Possums - this is a considerable issue at this deployment site.   The domestic cats are familiar with the site and one of the two cats is waiting at the site unitl the lure is deployed each night - and there is also evidence to show the cat is present repeatedly during the night.   This would potentially indicate that this is deterring the visit of target animals to the site.

This photograph is from the developing Instagram account for this project.   This is the cat that is mentioned and featured on this blog, waiting for the lure to go in place close to the tree.

Sound Lure: New Profile Results

While it is only less than a week of results with the new sound profile (which is configured to reflect a target of rodents and mustelids) there already has been developments.   Of note is that within a five day period there has been two clear activations on the trial camera by Brush Tailed Possums, suggesting that the sound variation

The fifth day has also had a protracted interaction between the lure and a extremely large rat.   Of note the rat spends nearly half an hour in the direct vicinity of the trap (it did not active the trap) venturing towards the trap itself in a series of images.

The possum can clearly be seen in this photograph on the left.   The possum was attratcted to the area, but does not spend an extended time in the area.

We will continue with the deployment site and monitor the total results of the lure/camera (which is approaching over 250 animal activations).   The domestic cat is still present and still regularly visiting the site.