Kiwi Predator Control Programme:
As expected for this time of year stoat catches are low but the 1 stoat that I did get was a huge 400g!!!! This was a big old male that must have been dodging me for years. He finally fell for a fresh rat caught in the first trap (most of our traps are doubles). With the cold weather I have gone back to salted rabbit for bait but I’m struggling for rabbits – if you have any can I have them please.

Traps for July – 1 stoat, 3 weasels, 0 cats, 46 rats, 3 possums and 1 hedge hogs.
Tally for season to date 35 stoats, 13 weasels, 14 cats, 324 rats, 104 possums and 45 hogs.

Kiwi monitoring:
Nesting has got under way with the usual dads settling onto their nests for the next few months.

What your monitored kiwi are up to:

Darwin – In the Lamb Road quarry –his nightly activity is varying a bit but still high – 11 hours nightly.
Whitu – Usual area Reotahi, Now nesting – will reach 65 days on 29 August.
Dallas – Back at Hills’ by WH school, nesting – 65 days on 11 September approx.
Lambert – Usual area Taurikura Ridge – nesting – 65 days on 15 September approx.
Waka – Usual area Mckenzie Bay – nesting – 65 days on 4 September approx.
Charlotte – Usual area of McKenzie Bay.
JR – South Taurikura Ridge above Urquarts Bay – activity dropping to 8 hours per night so may be starting to nest.
Charlie – At McNamnara’s at Craig Road – nightly activity is still high – 12 hours. He is now coming up to 4 years old so hope he starts breeding soon.
Kiwiana – At Blicks’ at the southern end of Mt Manaia. High activity as expected for a 2 year old.

Webb – In the scrub between Ody’s and Kerr Road. Caught up with her for 3 monthly check and she was a healthy 2200g – a big improvement after a hard summer (see photo). The landowners were very excited about having Webb on their place and have instigated excellent dog control of their pet dogs – they have also decided not to replace their pet dogs in the future.
Clover – Still high up on eastern Manaia -10.5 hours activity. Clover is in a tricky place to monitor and well away from any dogs so I plan to remove his transmitter.