Rangiora trapping workshop 2015

We had a fantastic trapping workshop at DOC in Rangiora yesterday 17 October, with some 60 people attending. It was particularly pleasing to see the number of young people coming along – some dropped off by parents – and families attending. (For links to the PDFs and videos, scroll to the bottom of this page).

Dean Turner welcomed everyone on behalf of DOC, and then Nick Ledgard, chairman of BRaid, opened with the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of predator control. This provided the crucial background about the successful management of trapping programmes, and the all-important reason for collecting data: is your predator control programme working?

Sarah Ensor from DOC explained some of DOC’s local work on predators, including the award-winning Nina Valley project being undertaken by the students at Hurunui College.

Nick Ledgard introduced everyone to the types of predators causing problems, using BRaid and DOC’s collection of stuffed predators.

Nick, Dean, and Geoff Swailes, the Ashley Rakahuri’s chief trapper, went on to explain and demonstrate each of the trap types, and some of the invaluable tips and tricks they’ve learned over the years. Finally, there was a  hands-on session with trap types and refreshments to finish the session.

This was also a fantastic networking opportunity to share stories, brainstorm problems, and catch up on the latest research.

PDF Powerpoint presentations – includes pest plan and siting of traps (3Mb)