Kea Kids News: Stoat Project Focus

The students from Auroa Primary School have been interviewed several times about the project that they have been working on targetting Stoats.

This project has been ongoing since 2019 and is working in conjunction with our 2020 Curious Minds Possum Sound Lure Project.

The students have already had a video made about the project that was featured in media that was created by Project Mounga.    Following this we had a film crew from the Stuff.co.nz and Kea Kids News visit our school and film an article about the students.    The article can be linked here.

Significant Rat Activity: Deployment Site One

We have recently begun the process of refining our deployment in preparation for the Possum part of the Curious Minds project.  As part of this process we have returned to deployment site one, which was previously used and considerable data logged.  At its height at this location at the tail end of summer there were anywhere up to a hundred activations on this site including large rats, mice and possums.

While yesterday was silent last night saw forty activations and included activity not seen before.  A large rat spent considerable time around the trap set up, including climbing over the boxes and inspecting the unit, this occurred over a duration where the lure was operating, and the lure did not scare the rat away.   The rat was subsequently trapped inside the rat box and caught.

At this point a second much larger rat, comparable to the biggest rat that has been seen at this location arrived and inspected the location.   During this time again the sound lure was repeatedly activating and had been placed on the box so it would have been loud.   The larger rat then fed on the smaller rat.  When the trap was cleared physically in the morning there was clear evidence that the first rat had been fed on.

This footage was viewed this morning, logged and then due to an extremely unfortunate technical issue the SD card with the data started displaying and error prior to it being copied across.  We are currently doing everything possible to try and retrieve this footage.

While this is only one nights activity there are some significant deductions that can be made.   

Firstly the first and second rat were not repelled by the fact that the sound lure was operating and was outside the box.   Given the duration and the time frame that both were present the lure would have been operating at full power and was outside of the box making it much louder than usual, and this was over a sustained period of time.   This did not deter either rat from the location.

Secondly it would appear that there is significant spring rat activity on this and the other side of the river which is back to levels that were noted previously at the end of Summer.    There has been a lull at this location where there was little activity previously noted.   We will continue to monitor this closely. 

Curious Minds Possum Project: Week Two Preparation

 

This week we completed a second trial week based around the upcoming Curious Minds Possum Project.   This involved determining the best settings for the trail cameras, to ensure the balance between recording data at a manageable level and recording what is happening.  We have been experimenting with a ten second delay and thirty second delay.   While we are not tracking Stoats for this particular project it should be noted that we would be looking at a one second delay which would be required based on the speed of the animal.    This would also mean as a consequence we would have a significant number of images each day as the wind or branches/trees moving would activate the camera.

In the first two weeks at the location where there is not a sound lure there has been significant possum activity including a possum that has twice removed the bait (a lemon and pear) from inside the trap without activating the trap.     This appears to be at a significant possum traffic site.

At the site where the sound lure is located there has been significant rat activity including three rats that have been trapped at the location in a rat box (that housed the sound lure).   This has been in contrast to the other side of the river (deployment site one) where there has been rat activity but not trapping for a considerable time.

While there are less images from this location at present we have been experimenting with the activation time and also the bait situation.   We will eventually ensure that both set ups are identical including every aspect of the deployment to ensure that we are conducting fair testing to measure the sound lures effectiveness.

Curious Minds Possum Project: Final Test Deployment

Over the past week we have had test units, with cameras and Timms possum traps placed on a local rural location.   We have been monitoring the images taken from the camera and are processing the images as part of our project.   There are two distinct sites: one with a sound lure and a Timms possum trap working in conjunction with each other and site two, which is over 100m away in another location with a Timms possums trap.   During the first week we have noticed the following:

This daytime photograph shows the site for deployment clearly shown with the trap next to the tree.   The Timms possum trap has been baited with pear.   A chew card was placed (nailed) onto the tree by this location, however it was removed as during strong winds this was creating acivations as a result of movement.

There were a number of possums that expressed interest in the trap during the week, including several who interacted with the trap, however none attempted to take the bait within the trap.

The camera has a delay of thirty seconds meaning an activation occurs if there is movement and the movement is consistent for thirty seconds.

Clearly there are a number of brush tailed possums operating in the area.  These were clearly shown numerous times on the camera, some spending time in the vicinty of the trap.

We are logging all the data (images) from the week to create a detailed level of data from the project.  A domestic cat was also seen on the images passing through the area. 

At the second location on this deployment site as shown the two traps are placed adjacent to each other.   We have the sound lure inside the rat tunnel box, this has reduced the level of sound emitting from the device significantly, however the purpose of this deployment is to test the camera and recording aspects of the project.    We also have the original sound profile that was developed which includes stoat, chick noises and two possum noises.

There were repeated interactions with rats during the week including one that was trapped in the trap.   There were interactions with rodents climbing over the trap and being seen in the area.    The rat tunnel trap was baited with peanut butter as an afterthought, it was again, an opportunity to check camera deployment and ensure that issues would not be present such a 'false' images created by high winds.

There was one significant interaction with a brush tailed possum, shown on the image on the left.   The possum did not stay in the area of the trap.   

In summary the week long deployment has provided significant images of high quality to ensure that we can monitor effectively what is happening at local sites where the lures are deployed.   Having a thirty second camera delay ensures that high winds do not produce a significant amount of false activations, where no animals are present.    We will now deploy at this site for a significant length of time monitoring what is occurring at the sites where the sound lures and non sound lure sites.    This will allow us to see and show clear evidence of what is happening and show proof of the effectiveness of the lures.   These will be set up to specificallly target possums, at present we are using a generic sound profile with a mix of animals.     Shortly we will move to a possum specific lure that will remain silent during the day and play possum specific calls and noises at night.   We will also look at placing the lure outside of the rat box as this will significantly increase the volume that will be produced (and thereby increase the sound profile of the lure).    

Kea Kids - Stuff News Article: Bailey

This video features one of the students involved in the project who was working on it in 2019.  As part of the process of the Sound Lure Project being filmed for a news show they also filmed a secondary article featuring Bailey involved in Stoat trapping.   The article is linked here.

Phase Two: Curious Minds Project Possum Focus

 

Recently we have experienced some challenging times as we await for technology for the start of the Curious Minds Possum Project aspect of our work.  Due to international circumstances some of the resources that we require for our project launch has been delayed, although we are expecting it in the immediate future.

In the meantime we continue to work with a number of partners who are deploying sound lures with a mustlelid focus.   You can read about this aspect of our work here.

Today we started the next phase of our Possum project.   We have deployed out final phase of test projects, putting a Timms Possum trap in a deployed area with a sound lure, currently contained within a rat box with a t-rex trap immediatetly adjacent to it.    We have both covered by a trail camera to record interactions with the unit (as shown above) and placed it in an area that is located on a local farm, in an area of bush that borders a river.    This is a similar location to deployment site one, detailed on this blog, but it on the other side of the river.

Trapping from the local farmer at this location has indicated that there are Brush Tailed Possums in the area.   There also have been other pest species including Hedgehogs, Rats and Ferrets.   We will be closely monitoring this deployment and have a secondary trap that is located a significant distance from the sound lure.   We are also monitoring this trap with a trail camera so that we can log the interactions and look at the two differences between the two seperate deployments.

Following this trial we will start rolling this set up out to the local South Taranaki locations.