Final Phase of Curious Minds Data Gathering

We are undertaking the final aspect of our Curious Minds data gathering process.  As part of this process we are running sound lures on multiple sites in South Taranaki on local farms.  At each of the farm locations we have sound lures working in conjunction with a Timms trap as well as a non-sound lure location with identical baiting.   We are intending to deploy for several months and will be monitoring eight sites in total.  At least some of these locations will be covered by trail cameras and some sites will rely on the count of possums that are recorded.   This trial will be featured on a trap.nz project and this will be made available for data gathering purposes.  We also have a number of images that have been gathered from recent deployments.

We have again shown clear evidence of the interactions that are occurring between possums and possums that are deceased and have been trapped.   There is considerable post trapping activity that is taking place with behaviour and mating.   This is important because it is underlining the important potential link between the sound lure and using other possum noises to attract additional possums.   We are thinking that the sound of a distressed possum would prove to be enticing based around the anecdotal evidence that we have been gathering.   Currently we have been concentrating on the units creation and proof of concept testing - we are considering that the sound has been able to draw possums in - and this would appear to be even more of a consideration when looking at stoats and other animals.

We are looking to complete the project in the next few months, when we have gathered the final data from the project the school aspect of the project and our Curious Minds Project will be completed.

We will continue to investigate the use of the sound lures to attract target pests and continue to investigate possibilities in the future although the project has final report deadlines to be produced.  If you would like to contact us prior to the conclusion of the project please do so via email as soon as possible.
 

Intensified Non Sound Lure Behaviour

Recently we have been running extended trials with the sound lure targeting brush tailed possums with a new sound lure profile, and a decision was made to run at the same location without the sound lure for an extended period of time to chart the difference.    

There were several factors that occurred of note during this time.   Firstly there has been another successful capture at this location using the Timms trap, the second in three days, the first with and the second without the sound lure.    

The second is the heightened activity that we have seen where a trapped possum has remained in a trap for an extended period of time.  Typical of that occurring the activations on the camera and the interaction with the dead possum from other possums.  We are consistently seeing hundreds of activations at locations where typically we would expect twenty or thirty in an evening.   During this time we are seeing possums interacting with the dead possum, ripping fur off the dead animal and mating with it.      

This pattern repeated itself during this monitoring phase as over the five day of monitoring there was nearly a thousand activations.   Almost all of these occurred following the capture of the first possum where additional possums then came into the site and activated the camera by interacting with the possum.

In normal circumstances the trapped/dead possum would be removed in the following morning - however in this instance due to being absent from the location for five days it had to remain in the trap.    Three days of extreme heightened activity occurred with a variety of possums, including a mother and baby and a possum that had a distinct tinge of red or brown in the colour of its fut.

Also of note - the sound lure was not present and during the entire time there were no rat activations at the site - there has been numerous in the previous deployments including repeated large rat activations - these ceased for the duration of the five day only non sound lure deployment - there were no rat activity at all.

Finally New Zealand and our region has had a massive rainfall during the last three days of the deployment on the final day the water from the river, which is usually eight metres or so from the river to where the trap is located, had an unprecedented water level rise, as can be seen from the photograph on the left.   The affect that this has had on the activations will be investigated.
  
 

Possum Activity and Interactions (Updated) June 2021

 

We are continue to monitor activity on a variety of local farm locations involving brush tailed possums, sound lures and interactions.

It is continuing to reinforce what we have been seeing recently over time and at a variety of locations - that the sound lures are proving effective at drawing possums to an area where we have been able to deploy Timms possums traps, which are now working effectively, with a number of successful catpures.

We are seeing that the springing of a trap is not proving to be a hinderance to additional possum activirty, if anything we are seeing heightened activity when there is a deceased animal in the trap, with numerous possum interactions with the dead animal.   

We believe that there is clear evidence that the lure, picture left, is drawing animals towards the areas of the lure, they are not frightened by the lure when in its vicinity (as evidence by the lure operating while they are present) and additional animals are being brought into the area once the first animal has been caught.   We have also recently seen the arrival of the New Zealand Hawk which has been feeding on possums that have been caught in the traps.   While this is not a focus for our investigation of sound lures it is proving some striking imagery.

Hawks in New Zealand are not considered a pest bird and while they are not a focus of our investigation we have seen then several times as part of our work - and them feeding potentially on trapped possums is safer for the animals than feeding on roadkill.

We have stated recently that we are going to be producing our final set of data for this project and essentially winding it down - we will be publishing our full results as we continue both this investigation and the stoat work that we have been looking at.

Possum Activity - Recent Notable Incidents

 

The following series of incidents and images are from a local student who has been experimenting with the sound lure on their local farm and using it in conjunction with a Timms trap.   As part of this sequence a possum is visible in the first photograph on the left.  The possum investigates the area around where the trap is set and then activates the trap.

In this incident the sound lure was adjacent to the trap not inside the trap as is in some local deployed variation.

Following this successfull pest removal there was heighten actvity at the site as a number of possums interacated at the trap site.    During this time the sound lure was still operating and additional possums were arriving at the sight (this has been witnessed before at various locations locally).

There were also additional activations from two other animals of note during the monitoring timeframe.   

The first of which, shown in the third picture, is of a feral cat that was pulled into the activation area and spent time investigating the site and the location.  

While we are not targetting feral cats at this location and it is not outside of the realms of possibility that the sound lure is responsible for this visit (it has been evident on numerous locations throughout trials that feral cats are showing interest in the noise being generated from the boxes or the sound lure).

The final photograph in the series shows a visit from a Hawk to a location on the same farm where another possum has been caught using a Timms trap with a sound lure in operation.

Shortly on this site we will be running a prolonged trial involving a double blind set up to montior and measure the effectiveness of the sound lure.

Further Developments from Ongoing Projects

 

It is currently the school holidays in New Zealand, we have a number of students who are currently running trials during the school holiday break, focussed on possums and using a sound lure in conjunction with a Timms Possum Trap, as seen left.    We have seen extremely encouraging initial results from these latest trials, including having possums entering into buildings (barns) to engage with sound lures and subsequently traps.   We have also have results coming from outdoor trials of the sound lures - again the initial results from these trials appear to be extremely positive showing increased possum activity at locations where the sound lure is being deployed.   These sites have double blind situations with two different locations on the same farm one featuring a sound lure and Timms and the other just a Timms.   Both locations are being monitored by Browning trail cameras.

At deployment site one we have noticed a significant change in the activity.   We have started in the last two weeks to use the 'feather' unit which is an adapted version of the sound lure.   There is the basic unit but we have the motor working in conjunction with the unit, when the sound lures is activated there is a motor that runs at the same time.   This is currently turning a feather, however we are going to develop this further trying addiitonal material and movement items.   At least one feral cat (pictured) appears to have taken up residence in the area by the river.   The result is that we have seen a significant reduction in mice and rats in the area.   While we have taken a short break with our recording at this location the cat was visible prior to the break starting and is now featuring significantly at the site.   We are not interested in trapping cats at this stage however the cat is shown significant interest in the lure, which is currently making possum noises. (We have in the past seen cats show significant interst in chicks or chirping bird sounds).

Finally we would like to acknowledge the support on Fonterra again to allow our project to continue with a stoat focus.   We also need to thank Bryan and Feral Control who are currently running trials for us using a number of our units.

This trial has not yet been completed however there are already some results of significance - the photograph on the left showing one of the 'distress rabbit' sound lure units which has been deployed inside of a DOC200.  As can be shown from the photograph a stoat has entered the trap and been disposed of as a result.

We are awaiting the results of this trial and looking to modify the units as a consequence of the feedback and the expertise that are available to us.   We will publish the full results of this trial when it is complete.  

Of considerable interest to us is this is the second time of recording a stoat strike on one of the sound lures in an unusually short space of time.  We have previously detailed how at the New Plymouth Airport we caught a stoat within three days of our first deployment at a location that stoats were not suppossed to be at.   While the capture above is not such an area, as stoats were known to be operating here, the capture is in a very short space of time - four days after the setting of the trap.     

Second Phase of Testing: Initial Possum Progress

 

Our initial data gathering process for the second phase of data collection is progressing and we are currently preparing for a major push with regards to the locations that we are using.    At the first of these sites we are seeing interaction with the lures as evidenced from examples such as the recent one shown left (in this example the lure is immediately to the left of the Timms trap, wih the solar panel clearly in view).    Where-as we previously were questioning the ability of the Timms trap to activate this have proven to not be the case at this location as we have seen several activations with the trap being sprung, three of which have occurred at the sound lure location and one at the non sound lure location.   Again we do not wish to pre-empt the data being collected but we are seeing a pattern that appears to be repeating itself as shown elsewhere in testing where there is heightened activitiy with the sound lure location, including possums interacting directly with the speaker or the lure.   

This includes the barn instance previously shown here where a brush tailed possum active in the area has gone into a barn location where a sound lure has been activating indoors, inspected the lure and then activated a Timms possum trap.   

We are also running lure trials focussing on stoats, with the help of Bryan and our friends at Feral Control, which is being conducted with units supplied and funded by Fonterra.     

We are awaiting these results but we have already had evidence of significant possum activity targetting the units as they have been discharging noise.   This compliments the work that we have done at numerous locations as brush tailed possums have approached the boxes, interacted with them including setting them off and attempting to enter them etc.   

Provisional Data - End of Phase One (2020/2021)

As we start on the new phase of the sound lure project, focussed on specifically tracking the possum data from a number of locations throughout our region we have made some findings from the first stage of recording.   At the two locations that are listed below we have had two near identical set ups - a standard possum trap and a sound lure and a standard possum trap.   Both locations have been monitored by trail camers to record evidental data about what is happening at both locations.

At the longest recorded location we have been recording now for 146 days with a sound lure.  At this location 458 photographs of animals have been taken and 89 specific animals have been identified.   Taking into account the number of days there is an average of 5.5 photos a day and 0.64 animals that have appeared at this location.     

At the non sound lure location there have been a total of 199 photo graphs taken and 61 specific animals have been identified, an average of 1.61 animal photos per day and 0.54 animals have appeared at this location.

There are some factors that need to be addressed: We have had technical issues at this site address by changing the solar panel and the basic speaker deployment, which was initially inside a rat box.  This site cannot be accessed daily and during this time frame from when the units have been deployed to when they have been checked there has been clear evidence of possums expoloring the site and disturbing the set up, this has included them flipping over the solar panel or breaking the connecting wires, meaning that the unit has not been able to function as expected.

At the third location listed on this blog the non sound lure location has been monitored for twenty nine days.  During that time there have been forty two activations and eleven pest animals present.   This equates to an average activation of 0.69 per day for photographs and 0.37 for animals.   The corresponding data at the sound lure location has been monitored for forty days.   In this time there have been 719 activations (photographs) during this time an average of 17.97 per day and 123 animals for an average of 3.075 per day.

While this location has been running for less time a clearly regular patten is already being experienced at the two locations.   The heightened activity at the sound lure site at this rural location has included dramatic activity involving a possum, trapped in a head trap which then had additional possums interacting with the possum after it was deceased, this saw two hundred activations during a three day period of time.

Again at this site further recording of data and information needs to be maintained to ensure that this data is correct and reflective of the difference in the sites.

We are about to start of a significant recording process across numerous locations collecting data at each of these which we will be publishing as part of our Curious Minds Research Project.

Brush Tailed Possum - Refining Sound Lures

We have recently been further experimenting with the final deployment set up.  We continue to test the solar panels which have now been left out in semi-shade conditions long term - this is showing that the unit is remaining fully charged and operating as expected, despite the fact that it is not in full sun, which was the case with the smaller panels.    

Our revised sound profile and speaker combination have meant that the focus for now is very much on the Brush Tailed Possum.   We have returned again to the first deployment site to test out these new combinations and again are seeing extremely encouraging result.  We are continuing to run long term deployments on two other locations and are about to expand to a third.    At deployment site one with the unit in place we are seeing significant nightly brush tailed possum activity - this is something that we have not seen previously at this location.

At present we have had three consecutive nights of possums interacting with the speaker or at the location where the speaker is operating, this is in contrast to the previous twelve months of activity where we have seen possums at a rate of once a fortnight.   

We are again seeing evidence of the possums interacting directly with the unit and the speakers themselves.   They are currently able to do this because this version of the deployment has the unit seperate from the trap, altough we have already modified our set up to take this into account.   

We have also deployed a live capture cage at this location, combining it with the sound lure and intend to monitor how effective this will be.

It is currently the school holidays in New Zealand so the students involved in this project are currently on their summer break.   We will return to regular posting and development during January.

 

Final Prototype Deployment Activations/Weather Situations

Following three days of rainfall, wind and generally poor weather there has been two significant activations on the single unit deployment at site one.   There are three issues here that are worth noting. 

Firstly the IP Box which has been waterproofing the main portion of the electronics has work as expected.   There has been three days of rain and while the box has been at the base of a tree offering it some basic protection (as opposed to being placed inside a trap box as eventually it will be) the unit has been exposed to the elements.   We have stated that the solar panel and speaker are being housed separate from the main unit and they are more exposed to the elements, and there was evidence of rainfall on both.    For the main unit there is no evidence of moisture inside the box itself which is housing the main electronics (and the expensive parts of the units, see 'economic breakdown' in a different post on this blog).

The two activations that are present shown on the camera are represented by a cat which can be seen in the above photo.  It is clearly seen on a series of photos that take place at 8:25pm.   As noted the camera needs to be reset so that it reflects daylight savings and the correct year.

We have shown evidence in the past of the unit with the basic sound profile (which we are using again for current testing) which has two possum sounds, two chick sounds and a stoat sound consistenly attracting cats and feral cats to the unit.  The second activation which can be seen clearly in the photographs is the large brush tailed possum which arrived at the unit and was in the vicinity of the unit at 9:15pm. 

The final issue relating to the unit is again the question of the battery unit and solar panel charging.  There has been three days of rainfall and overcast weather.   The suspicion is that this has limited the ability to charge the unit.  There is clear evidence that the unit has been working during darkness (as shown by the photographs) however by the early morning the unit has stopped.  This is something that has been experienced with the unit.   The speaker deployed with this unit is a 4w speaker.   Once the unit has been moved into morning light the unit has started immediately operating exactly as expected (using the day profile).    We are going to run trials with different strength speakers and also experiment with the solar panel in a location that has more direct access to sunlight, in addition we are charging the unit fully in daylight (solar) and will then place it in semi-shade for the deployment.