New Plymouth Airpot - Completing Deployment and Reflection

 

We have completed the deployment of our project at New Plymouth Airport.    We have collected the three units that have been deployed at the location for the past twelve months.

During that time the units contained within the two rat boxes and a DOC 200 stoat box have been exposed to outside elements including an extremely wet winter.  They have been placed at three seperate locations with the new solar panel set up.   Two have been using T-Rex rat traps and the third was set with the DOC 200.

In total there has been two years when the units have been deployed.   During this time there was a stoat that was caught within three days of the initial deployment of the first sound lure at the airpot, using peanut butter as a bait, in June 2020 and a distressed rabbit sound profile.      

While we had high hopes after this strike so soon after the deployment that was not the case following this incident.   Of note prior to the capture Stoats had not been sighted at the airport and there has been only a sole sighting following this and no active captures or trapping of any creatures that are targeted.

Interestingly and worth further investigating this was repeated when Feral Control were running experimental trials of the lure in April this year, a large stoat was trapped three days after the first use of the sound lure, in a very short time frame.   Again while there were initial success with the use of the sound lure with the same profile this was not repeated and the significant sound lure trial that feral control are running has yet to lead to success.

The evaluation of the units that were deployed at the airport has seen two of the three units ceasing to function due to weather conditions, although a timeframe for this cannot be established.  One of the units was operating as expected and continue to emit sounds despite the fact that it has been outside for a calendar year.   Two of the other units had damage to the solar panel connections that had been made, one where the connecting wire had separated from back of the panel and the other had water damage to the terminals.    There was considerable weathering on the solar panels, the wires and the units in general had clear discolouration.

Having said all this - the units have held up remarkably well and the fact that one unit has survived twelve months without needing attention is a significant development.   There has always been the consideration relating to the level of noise being emitted from the units (which we will be experimenting with in the future) that stoats are going to require something more subtle where-as the possum units are showing clear interactions and attacks on the units.    We have not targeted rats at this point as we are completing our obligations and data gathering for the curious minds project, however this is something that we will switch our attention to once this part of the project is complete.

It goes without saying that we owe a significant vote of thanks to New Plymouth Airport for allowing the deployment of the units over the past two years which has allowed us to conduct significant testing on the units to check their viability and effectiveness.

Credit: The Stoat Capture photo was supplied to us by Lance from Feral Control.

Refining Stoat Traps - Airport Deployment

The start of the new year has brough a further revision of the set up deployment part of the project targetting stoats, and in particular our deployment in conjunction with the New Plymouth Airport.  We have recently spent time there upgrading the solar panels and giving the units a refresh.   They were initially deployed in June and were working consistently towards the end of September.    We have been monitoring their progress since then and have been looking for an opportunity to revise the units.

Previously we have been working off a sound activation cycle of every five minutes which has reflected the battery and in particular the solar panel units that we were charging (there will be post shortly on the specifics of what we are using and their price point essentially we were using $8.00 (NZ$) panels and have now upgraded to $25.00 (NZ$) units.    We have maintained a night cycle with the unit but the focus is very much on stoats.

The sound lure unit has been placed inside a DOC200 unit which has been baited with salted rabbit meat.    The solar panel as shown in the picture has been duct taped in place on the roof of the unit.    We have a static distressed rabbit track playing at thirty second intervals (subject to the availability of the battery strength, the computer has been coded to activate if it has the available battery strength, if not it will activate less frequently).   We are aware that there are stoats in the area based on visual sightings in the past few weeks.  

We believe that the use of a DOC200 will prevent an animal (specifically brush tailed possums) from attempting to move the unit or set it off, and we are hoping that a Stoat will access the trap in the near future.

If this is successful then we will upgrade all of our Airport units to the DOC200 as described.   We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the New Plymouth Airport for their assistance with this project.

New Plymouth Airport: Three Week Update

Above: Deployment at New Plymouth Airport July 2020.

Three weeks ago we made our first external deployment at a remote location - New Plymouth Airport.   In 2019 we were invited by the airport to use it as a test location.  Three weeks ago we were confident with completed testing to start the process of deploying to the airport.

Within 48 hours of the deployment a stoat was caught in one of the four traps that we deployed.   Following that we had four mice caught.    Today we returned to the airport to check the four units and check their viability.    It should be pointed out that during the past three weeks the weather has generally been poor where there has been significant rainfall. 

The units have been deployed in rat tunnel boxes (shown above) with our standard set up.   The sound profile is targetting rats and mustlelids.   The sound profile during daylight plays every five minutes a random sound (of five).  When the solar panel detects darkness it plays one of the five tracks every minute. 

The airport has an active pest removal program which is being used in conjunction with the sound lure.   There are a mixture of traps some of which have the two different kinds of traps adjacent to each other.

Each of the units when checked today were working as expected following the correct sound pattern and showing no evidence of water entering the units.    This is extremely pleasing as the weather conditions could not have been worse in the last two weeks including heavy, driving rain and high winds.   This would again confirm our recent testing to show that the unit is able to maintain itself in adverse conditions.

While there was no animals that were present in the traps it was noted that all the traps had been stripped of the peanut butter that is being used as a basic bait.  Furthermore in the trap shown in the second photograph, which has had the wood placed on it to hold it in place there was evidence of Possum interaction with the unit.   This is interesting because of the location is removed from vegetation meaning that something, potentially the lure, has drawn a possum to the area where the trap is located.

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.   

Waterproofing the Sound Lure Unit

Above: Unit and casing showing connection cables.

Challenge: One of the key aspects of producing a successful unit is the issue of waterproofing.   The unit has been created, it has been tested, and there is not a question of it working in the short term.

The issue in long term is moisture - there is considerable rainfall in our region (Taranaki) during winter.    As a consequence the unit is going to be exposed to considerable direct rainfall.  This can be addressed by placing the unit inside another box (such as a stoat trap) and placing it inside a plastic box - we have 3D Printed these in the past, designed by students.   We have already lost one unit as a result, when the rainfall entererd the box, despite initial attempts at water proofing.   The next approach is to use a manufactured IP rated waterproof box.    Once the box was used to house the Picaxe and breadboard (as shown in photographs above).   There were a number of features that need to be explained.

Above; Close up of cords connecting to external bolts.

Left:  While the box itself is waterproof and the screws that join the lid on the unit are outside of the box, there is the need for two outputs - one being the solar panel (here shown by the brown and blue cords) and the speaker (the while cords).    The cords in both cases correct directly to a nut and bolt which has been drilled through the box.  They have been sealed on both sides using blue tack with the the tightened bolt.    This will mean that both the solar panel and speakers will be housed seperately from the main unit.  The speakers that we are using have been sourced from Aliexpress and are in the two-three dollar range.   The solar panel is relatively inexpensive, coming in at under $10.00.   The intention is to house both externally but to have them disposable.   With the box, the sealent and the water proofing we are anticipating minimal moisture able to enter the unit.

Above: The full unit in deployment.

Left: The completed wired unit in place inside the IP rated box.   We will be including with the box recycled Silica Gel packets to aid the absorbing of any moisture that is able to enter the box.   Furthermore we are experimenting with wood and 3D Printed designs to minimise the level of moisture.

The final phase of testing of the prototype is to deploy the unit as shown in the photographs in exposed outdoor conditions, including anticipated rain to measure its reliability to the elements.   We are looking to measure any moisture that can develop inside the unit, measure the sound quality from the unit outside of the box and check to maintain the amount of damage that occurs to the unit (if any).  Should there be significant issues with the unit we should be able to detect this prior to our first V3.0 unit deployments which are occurring shortly.   These deployments are different from previous deployments as they are being made at external locations where there are already existing trapping projects or groups that are removing pests from the environment.   In these cases unit which we were able to receive a donation for are being deployed to the New Plymouth Airport and Lake Rotokare Scienic Reserve.   These units are being deployed in exchange for the trapping data and evidence supplied by both these organisations.   We have similar agreements in place with a number of other organisations which we will be able to meet subject to funding.

If you are interested in using our units in a deployment can you please get in touch with us by emailing us at myles.webb@gmail.com if you have any queries.