Yep. Cat - stoat - rat triangle. Cats on Ponui Island credited with keeping it rat and stoat free (its swimmable distance from the mainland) with the highest kiwi density we have anywhere.
DOC stoat control in the Eglinton almost resulted in elimination of the mohua (yellowhead) when the rat population exploded unchecked the next mast year. Control one you've got to control them all as we now better understand.
adult kiwis are fairly able to deal with cats and rats Not sure how they do with stoats though. The chicks though are fair game to the lot. Most often its the devastation of the nests that kills off the species.
On 3rd Degree(TV3) the other night there was an article on pest control methods, 1080 etc, and one option being promoted was chemical sterilization of possums.
They anticipated field trials in around 5 years if they could get funding.
The amount, a measly 2 million dollars!
How could such a noble solution not get that kind of funding?
Surely its a no brainer for DOC/Govt!
Lets have a whip around shall we?
Yeah. Sterilisation would work for possums. "The degree of sterilisation required to exterminate a population using expression (3) is 97% for a population with a maximum rate of increase of 1.4. This may be achieved by sterilisation of 70% of the population for three successive years (Fig. 3); i.e. 70% in the first year, 70% of the remainder in the second year, and 70% of the remainder in the third year."
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Vic74Zool-t1-body-d4-d12.html
http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/36253/psnews12.pdf
It's been hampered by public perception of Genetic Engerneering, so the challenge is to find a target-specific edible product. Jabbing with needles to vaccinate isn't practical.
http://www.mwpress.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/70509/LRSS_29_Public_attitude_possum_fertility_control-.pdf
This post has been edited by the author on 5 December 2014 at 00:01.
Had an interesting chat with someone last evening who was involved in monitoring the latest 1080 drops in Kahurangi. he said that prior to the drops the 'tracking tunnels' looked like they had all had HERDS of rodents passing through, not just one or two! Afterwards virtually none. However one monitoring line still had many marks because, somehow, that area was missed in the drop.
Does make you realise that the vast majority of the bush is still infested as the area being covered is still just a small proportion.
He also commented on the high number of predated snails before the drop, from rats and possums. Apparently they can distinguish between what eat them, from the marks.
They had the sterilisation perfected 8 years ago when I was at Massey. Though my recollection off the top of my head is that it was 'all male offspring for all successive generations' rather than sterilisation per-se they were aiming for, as the single-gender thing breeds itself into the population whereas sterilisation breeds itself out.
Anyway - the issue, 8 years ago, was developing an bait that was paletable and environmentally stable enough for real-world use.
Would be good to see them get a sterilisation control solution up and running. It seems to be something they've been trying to develop for some time.
Chat piece on Friday's "Stuff" about an Arthurs Pass resident commenting on the plague of mice. Barely the tip of the iceberg from what you guys are reporting ?.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/63870815/mice-plague-sweeps-arthurs-pass
Had a talk to a DOC Volunteer on the jetty at Kerr Bay at St Arnaud, they were there to help with the big 1080 drop that happened 3 Dec. All local tracks closed that day. She said on a normal night, traps caught about 2 rats in the St Arnaud Village. At the moment however they are catching about 70…! sobering numbers indeed. Our poor birds, what a tough time they are having and will have.
Interesting that Lake Daniell still has loads of them as the Maruia has only just received a drop, and was on the programme "Third Degree" last week. A DOC worker claiming rat numbers had been reduced by something like 90%, and he was showing the "before" and "after" cardboard ink monitoring things to the camera.
Say no more.... :)
walking to Edwards Hut last week - we counted 12 mice crossing the track, mostly on the riverbed near the bealy. I can't remember ever having seen mice during the day until now.
