Communications to rodent control volunteers

Email sent 18 August for Spring blitz

Dear Birkenhead & Northcote Rat Blitzers,

It might be hard to believe but Spring will be here soon! We want to make sure that the rat population doesn’t grow with the Spring breeding season so it is time for another bait blitz “pulse”.

We are introducing some refinements to the rat blitz programme to help ensure that the rat control programme is as safe and effective as possible. We appreciate that there is a bit more work involved in the improvements but hope that you’ll understand why this is important. The idea is to have fresh rat bait in the field during the “pulse” period and then to remove it at the end of the period. This is to reduce the risks of the rat bait getting into the environment and the risks of rats becoming “bait shy”.

This next “pulse” will run from 21 August to 11 September 2016. It is important to check the bait every 4 days during this time and keep the stations topped up as required. Remember to wear gloves – both for your own safety and to trick the rats!

Your local coordinator will make sure you have the correct bait blocks before this time and answer any questions you may have. Please discard any old bait you have or return it to your coordinator and only use the fresh bait provided. Keep the spare bait in the secure container provided, out of reach of children and animals. Unused baits should be returned to your local coordinator at the end of the blitz.

We are asking you to record how much bait is taken during this rat blitz.

Why is this information important? We want to monitor how the rat programme is working and get a visual picture of the pest activity around Le Roys Bush. If you’d like to know more about how predators such as rats are being controlled elsewhere, check out the animations in the link below to get an idea of what this information can show us:

https://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~fewster/CatchIT/

Finally, thanks so much for contributing to this community project. If you think your neighbours might be interested in taking part in the rat bait programme we would love to hear from them!

From this pulse Keith Salmon will be handing over the distribution and collection of the bait as well as the collation of bait take statistics. I’d like to thank Keith and for all the work getting the programme running so well in the last few years. He’ll still be involved as part of a wider Pest Free Kaipatiki and LeRoys Bush pest control network. Thanks also to Adrian Meys who has done a tremendous job getting this project off the ground - he also is still involved in the programme.

Thanks so much for all your help. Please get in touch if you have any questions.

Regards, Richard Gallen

Beyond the Fence and Friends of Le Roys Bush (August 2016)

Please reply to: leroysbush@gmail.com

You are receiving this email because our records show that you have had a bait station on a property adjoining Le Roys Bush.

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please let us know by reply email. If you have a bait station or bait that you no longer use, please get in touch and we'll arrange to collect these.

Email sent 30 May 2016 about winter blitz

Dear Birkenhead & Northcote Rat Blitzers,

The weather has finally shown us that Winter is on its way. And with the adverse weather outside, the rats are now starting to head inside. They’re on the hunt to put on condition and cache food.

• • The pre-winter rat blitz is a key control time for rat management. When the rats are hungry and there’s not much food around, the bait take should be high.

  • It's important that you keep the bait blocks on the pins in the bait stations so rats eat it, rather than take it away and store it.

  • Controlling rats now helps to keep numbers low so control is easier in the Spring breeding season.

We recommend that you check that all your bait stations are topped up with bait blocks* now.

• Check your stations a few times over the next couple of weeks to ensure there is still bait there, and replenish as necessary.

• Ask your local co-ordinator if you don’t have any bait blocks. Remember to keep spare bait in a secure container, out of reach of children and animals.

Thanks for contributing to this community project,

Beyond the Fence and Friends of Le Roys Bush

30 May 2016

Please reply to: leroysbush@gmail.com

* We recommend that you use the turquoise-blue fast-acting Pest-off or Tomcat bait blocks.

For more information about the sorts of rat bait in use, please see our web pages Rat Blitz and FAQs

Note if you find that your bait blocks get eaten by slugs or are getting wet or oxidised - put the baits in a small plastic bag before sliding them onto the pins.

You are receiving this email because our records show that you have had a bait station on a property adjoining Le Roys Bush.

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please let us know by reply email; if you have a bait station or bait that you no longer use, please get in touch and we'll arrange to collect these.

.

Email sent 14 March about new pulsing phase with green bait for 19 March to 3 April 2016

Dear neighbours of Le Roys Bush,

It’s time to re-fill your rat bait stations. For this rat ‘blitz’, we will use a different bait called “RatAbate”, as we are in the maintenance phase of the rat control life-cycle.​ The green​ ​RatAbate blocks are slower acting and less pervasive in the environment with little or no secondary poisoning effects. The faster acting bait blocks distributed last year are blue.​ For more information see Rat, possum and stoat control on the LRB web site

Getting the new bait:

Your local street co-ordinator has been given the bait for distribution, please liaise with them ​to pick up new bait this week​.

​us at ​

Please try to ensure that ​your bait station ​is topped up this week and remains topped up for the next two weeks.

Replacing the old blue bait with the new green bait for the two week blitz:

• • ​You need to be aware that with this toxin, the rats need to feed on it over successive nights for it to be effective.

• This means that your bait station can’t go empty during this blitz.

  • So while using th​e green bait, please check your bait station every 1-2 days for the two week rat blitz, and keep it topped it up as necessary.

  • If little/no bait has been taken after the ​two week ​blitz, remove the bait; otherwise leave in place until it is gone, or until the next rat blitz when it should be replaced with fresh bait.

​Keeping a record:

• ​As noted when you signed up, it is very helpful if you can keep a record of how much bait is being taken by rats - this helps us monitor the programme and to make the case for continued funding

• ​If you don't still have a recording sheet, ​please email leroysbush@gmail.com

  • ​and we'll send you one.​

What to do with old bait:

• • ​Please note: rat bait has a limited life​.

  • If the bait you remove from your bait station is damp, mouldy or crumbly please wrap it carefully away from children and pets and dispose of in your rubbish bag to landfill

  • If the bait you remove is in good condition, you can place it in a secure, clearly labelled dry container and store it for the next bait round OR return it by arrangement with your coordinator

  • Please do not just leave it at their door or in their letterbox.

Please let your local co-ordinator know if you have any questions.

Thank you for being a valuable part of this community initiative,

Kind regards,

Friends of Le Roys Bush and Beyond the Fence

​PS Please remember to spread the word! ​ We have more free loan traps for properties that border Le Roys and bait stations for sale for other people. See Le Roys Bush FAQs about pest animal control

If you know of people who'd like to participate, tell them to email ​leroysbush@gmail.com​ with their name, address, and phone number.​

​Great news: ​At the ​south side of Wernham Place, every household that borders the bush is now part of the rat control programme, and has a rat bait station on their property. That’s an amazing achievement that will result in extremely effective, neighbourhood rat contro​l.

If you are no longer living near Le Roys Bush or no longer wish to be involved in the Rat Bait programme, please email us. If you know of anyone else who might like to fill any gaps, we'd love to hear.

A reply from one of our supporters - 24 September 2015

We really like this reply we got from a local professional weed control expert working in one of the baiting areas around Leo Roys Bush:

"While climbing up to [control the] Monkey Apple tree I noticed the smell of dead, rotting mammals. This can only mean one thing: dead rats. So the baiting is working.

There seem to be a lot of hungry rats around right now, and that makes them vulnerable to eating poisoned food.

I set out 9 bait stations around my house / bush ... on 12^th September and on the 19^th I found the rats had cleaned out most of them, so I had to re-bait them.

When I got home from work today I was pleased to see a fresh dead rat had appeared on the back lawn. So far I haven’t noticed the aroma of dead rats.

It is good to pulse the baiting, with two important pulses being before winter and again after winter to reduce rat numbers before the native birds are nesting.

When doing each pulse it is important to keep re-baiting the bait stations until the rats have stopped chewing on the baits. Some bait stations will get a lot more chewing than others.

Once the chewing has stopped, probably after 4 weeks of baiting, that marks the end of that pulse. You have then got all the low-hanging fruit (rats).

If you keep filling the bait stations after that, the baits will just go mouldy and bait will be eaten by slugs.

So the bait stations can then be left empty for roughly 6 to 8 weeks until rat numbers have built up again, and its time for the next pulse."

Remember, the Le Roys Bush group can supply bait stations and bait blocks free to Le Roys Bush neighbouring properties and at cost to others. We have a pulsing programme in place and will be distributing a different bait type in November following the Council guidelines.

Email sent to volunteers and coordinators 13 September 2015

Dear Birkenhead and Northcote Rat Blitzers,

This is a friendly reminder to put bait into your rat bait station. Rats are prolific this time of the year, breeding faster as the weather warms up, so we blitz with bait following Winter to keep population numbers from sky rocketing.

Please fill your stations with 2-3 blocks of fast acting (bromadialone or brodifacoum) bait, e.g. Contrac or PestOff (the “chocolate” smelling bait). Put in more bait blocks if you think you need to.

Check it every four days and refill as necessary for the next three weeks.

Remember it’s good to mask your scent by using gloves (gloves will also protect you) and use fresh bait (check the expiry date).

If you need more bait please let your local rat programme co-ordinator know, or email leroysbush@gmail.com.

...

Please talk about this programme with your neighbours!

A family in Rawene Road has been having a disastrous week - they discovered rats had chewed through their water pipes. The downstairs is flooded and the clean up is huge. They are now the proud owners of a couple of rat bait stations and for sure will be following the blitzing programme vigilantly to prevent it ever happening again.

If you know anyone who is keen to join the programme, please ask them to look at

https://sites.google.com/site/leroysbushauckland/helping-leroysbush/rat-possum-and-stoat-control

and then to email leroysbush@gmail.com.

At this stage we can continue to supply bait stations for free to the houses that border Le Roys Bush, but other households in Birkenhead can purchase them from the Le Roys Bush Management Committee. See the link above for more information

Thanks and good luck,

Mary - for Beyond the Fence

Keith - for Le Roys Bush Management Committee

Update 5 September 2015

Thanks to everyone who has responded. That's great. We'll be emailing out a recording form to all people who have a bait station - so if you haven't heard from us please send another email.