Building and placing traps in the Kahikatea Walk

Thanks to the generosity of the Lake Kaniere Community we got sufficient funds to build the first 20 traps for the Kahikatea Walk and material for another forty to go into the backyards of properties around the lake. The first priority has been to build and place the traps in the Kahikatea Walk and special thanks for this stage needs to go to:

• Mike Cole - ITM Greymouth, for supplying free of charge much of the timber needed for the first 20 traps

• Hamish McMullen - ITM Hokitika, for supplying more timber for the next tranche of traps at a discounted price

• George Cooper - Collecting timber from ITM Hokitika and cutting and routering it into kitset form for another 25 traps

• Liz Holland - Doing the research and grid mapping of trap and monitoring station placements, and designing the trap stencils

• Eigill Wahlberg - DOC Hokitika, who spent half a day helping place and adjust the traps for best results

• The team involved in the trap placements and set-up including Elizabeth Sawkins, Liz Holland, Neil Challenger, Eigill Wahlberg, Paul Dunn, Richard Mackley and me.

By late Thursday we'd got all the traps, tracking tunnels, and bird count stations in place and recorded in the Trap.NZ App. There's been a great sense of shared purpose and achievement amongst our group and we look forward to enabling the many volunteers who've put up their hands to be involved in some way soon. In the meantime, here are some relevant pictures:

Twenty trap boxes (each containing 2 x DOC200 stainless steel traps, ready for placing around Kahikatea Walk

Placing traps in the bush

All the traps, critter tracker tunnels, and bird count stations are recorded in Trap.NZ

It was a very busy week for all those involved. It also provided some important lessons for the future:

• The most efficient trap building process requires a construction jig and two people. 

• Add the bait and egg nails before assembling the box.

• 25% of the stainless steel traps need adjustment and it's best to do this before putting them into the field.

• GPS location recording on Trap.NZ is pretty ropey when amongst 60M high Kahikatea. Marker tape will help narrow down where they are.

• It's best to keep your hand well clear of the pulverising plate when testing it - eh Paul!