Lake Tarawera was one of the first places in New Zealand to set up a community controlled rat eradication program (set up with the help of the then E.B.O.P.; now called Regional Council). This was initiated in year 2000 by some committed locals who were concerned about the number of rats seen running around and causing damage to properties. With local man, Bob Scopes, at the program's helm its been an outstanding success, particularly as there was & is a noticeable increase in our a legendary bird-life. Sadly Bob passed away in November 2012 and is sorely missed in the community. With the community keen to continue his hard work a committee was formed. We now have 500 bait stations mounted on 85% of the properties and have 50 volunteers who have runs monitoring and replenishing  the bait stations all year. We do encourage our residents to have their own bait stations or traps. The following information will be helpful to all who are involved in this, and who live in this beautiful area.

CONTACT

  For more information contact Liz and Mike or any of the following committee members for specific help.

COMMITTEE

As of 21/11/2012 the committee is as follows

CHAIRMAN........................ ....................... Mike Savage,     3628608         mikeega@hotmail.com

SECRETARY
and FUNDING.........................................     Liz Sims,            3628608         sims.family@gmail.com

TREASURER...............................................Dianne Perks     3628395 

BAIT CO ORDINATOR..............................Derek Packham      3628807      Valder@xtra.co.nz   

VOLUNTEER CO ORDINATORS............ Liz & Mike & Owen Dawe

BAIT STATIONS
 CONSTRUCTION.........................................Mike Savage     3628608     mikeega@hotmail.com 

POSSUMS....................Brett Bosley       3628378     brett.bosley@xtra.co.nz

BAIT STATIONS and TRAPS

Mike organises the making of the bait stations (Bob's bait stations) to Bob's unique design. These cost property owners $35 to buy and a small percentage of this goes back into our funds.  Bob designed them to hold six baits that drop to a rat accessible PVC pipe. They just need to be checked and reloaded regularly to ensure there are always baits for these hungry rodents.

September 2016 .. we are trialling Protecta Bait Stations which are cheaper than the ones that Mike makes. They are plastic boxes which hold 6 to 8 baits. According to Dale Williams from Regional Council they seem to be harder for any other creatures like birds etc to get into. Some people find the baits get damp & mouldy & need to be discarded.

We also encourage people to have their own traps for rats  stoats & possums on their properties. A good website with options for this is Predator Free NZ
https://predatorfreenz.org/tools-resources/trapping-best-practice/where-to-buy-equipment/#traps are a

Good Nature Traps are a good option for property owners with holiday homes as they can automatically reset up to 24 times. They use a gas fired canister.
There are traps specifically for possums as well as rats and stoats.
An advantage is they don't need to use any poisons.
See https://www.goodnature.co.nz/products/accessories/
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VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are the essential part of this program. Bob set up different areas and found volunteers to monitor and replace baits as necessary on each property. He started with a few and it has now built up to 50 volunteers servicing 501 bait stations.

 Mike and I  co ordinate and support the volunteers.
If you have concerns about your run, or if you'd like to volunteer,  contact us.
Mike keeps the statistics about how many baits have been taken. Every few months it is essential that the volunteers email him those numbers. He then passes this onto Region Council. Our funding is based on this & our volunteer hours.

WHERE TO GET MORE BAITS.

Derek Packham orders and stores the buckets of baits on his property at 8 Bay View Rd. You can pick up more buckets from him.  Let him know when your bait supply is getting low to enable him to keep up with the ordering, or if you have any "bait questions". Phone 3628807       Valder@xtra.co.nz

You can also get baits from The Buried Village. Ask for Elizabeth Walters  Phone 3628991

Rats are a major predator of our birds and invertebrates.  This affects our entire ecosystem. Much our our beautiful native bush need the birds to spread the seeds and in turn the birds needs the trees for food and shelter.
HELP US KEEP LAKE TARAWERA AT IT'S BEAUTIFUL BEST.

NEWSY STUFF

          NEWSY STUFF

2013..Peter Storey saw this beautiful kaka two or three times last winter and spring. It always alone. He has heard it sing again recently but didn't see it. Keep an eye out for it. It is so exciting to have a bird like this returning to our area. 

April 2014….With the results from the tracking tunnels showing very few rats and the increase in dabchicks on our lake, Regional Council are very happy that the rat population is under good control. Regarding the endangered dabchicks on our lake, the recent counts from the last two weekend have shown a sizable increase in numbers --around 200 dabchicks with some large flocks. This is really exciting as there are only 1,500 left in all of NZ.   

April 2014. by Wayne Miller

Wayne Miller from Te Toroa Drive monitored two bait stations on his run with Mike's infrared surveillance camera for 3 nights in March.

During this time 3 baits were eaten.This is Wayne's summary of the "visitors"

              44 Rat visits

19 bird visits (8 Sparrows, 10 Blackbird/Thrush/Unidentified, 1 Chaffinch)

6 Hedgehog visits

4 Quail visits

1 Opossum visit

1 Rabbit visit

1 Cat visit

"The birds don’t seem to actually enter the bait station except for some of the sparrows. Quails seem to be interested but can’t really fit in. Hedgehogs can’t fit. Rats on the other hand often spend up to 15 minutes in and around the bait station, quite clearly feeding away. So in summary our bait stations appear to very successful in delivering bait to our target species – rats. They don’t seem to have much of an effect on others, who largely don’t seem to enter the stations.It was also interesting that after 10 days the rat activity was much reduced suggesting the baits were all consumed. But when I inspected there was still one bait left.However still work to be done, and we are a long way from ‘predator-free’."

Thanks for that Wayne. Nice to know that it is the rats that are getting the baits. More confirmation that our program is helping keep the rats under some control in our community.

Always a good catch up Ratters Christmas Party    Dec 2015 at 444 Spencer Rd.

 Wasp Control 2016

 Our Lake Tarawera Pest Control group was given a generous  donation by a local family.Rather than use this on our rat control ( we have enough funding for that at present) we decided on a new and innovative wasp control program.Wasps are a big issue in New Zealand & have been estimated by the Conservation Minister Maggie Barry to cost the economy $120 million a year.  As well as disrupting bee pollination and being a pesky nuisance, they have a negative effect on our ecosystem e.g. predating on insects etc which birds feed on. Our Lake Tarawera community is certainly not immune from this; we have a huge amount of wasps. After 15 years of research, Nelson scientist, Richard Toft, developed a bee-friendly wasp bait called vespex which targets german and common wasps. Rather than searching for the nests, the bait is put into a bait station and the wasps take it back to their nests. This has had great results with pilot programs in the Sth Island.

On the 13th March, 15 local people helped us place the bait in stations they'd erected along our residential area.  Its now a couple of weeks after this and we have had mixed results depending on areas. Just 3 of our volunteers have had noticeable amounts of baits taken. It can be a few weeks until we really know the results but there are certainly still many wasps around. While there are many theories as to why this is, Richard Toft wonders if seasonally it has been a very wet summer and also copious other protein sources around apart from the vespex bait. Disappointing, but we have left the bait stations in place and will try again next year.  Thanks so much to everyone for their interest & support and a special thanks to all of the volunteers.

Letter to Ratepayers association September 2016

Our program continues to ensure the rats are mostly kept under control and our prolific bird life is protected. It is one tool in preserving our wonderful Lake Tarawera ecosystem. We now have 50 volunteers who work hard to keep this going...thank you so much.

Amazingly we have 501 bait stations on our properties along Spencer Rd. Over 20,000  baits were taken last year. Thanks for getting the tallies of the baits taken to Mike. It is that & our volunteer hours which enable us to get funding from Regional Council. With the huge amount of baits taken it is important to keep those tallies coming in regularly. 

Every year tracking tunnels with ink cards are put out to see what critters are around. We are about to do this again as well as put some cameras on some bait stations to ensure that it is rats eating the baits. We will let you know the results.

We are about to trial some cheaper bait stations. They also reduce the possibility of any birds getting the baits.

In the future I'm hoping more home owners can do their own pest control & particularly if we can use traps like the good nature traps, which are more humane and don't use poison. At present, according to Regional Council, this is not cost effective. 

We have two more volunteers who have taken on runs. We do need at least one more to do a run at the far end of Spencer Rd.

Please contact Liz or Mike... 3628608,  if you could do this or know of someone we could contact.

We do plan to try the vespex wasp baiting in 2017. It seems that we need a long dry spell in late summer for it to work;  more about this in the next Phantom.

Thanks again to you all for making this program the success it is.

8/12/2016

This email from Jan and Wayne Miller who saw a NZ Falcon..rarely seen in these parts.

Hi all,
About 6:30 last night, the birds round our place just started going ballistic - tuis screaming, blackbirds and starlings squawking, and everything else joining in and flying round excitedly.

When we looked at what was causing the commotion we found a NZ falcon sitting in a tree. I made a couple of short flights which attracted all the birds like bees round a honeypot! We were standing on our deck and the falcon flew past about 2m away followed by its cast of followers…..
So pretty exciting.... Cheers, The Millers 

Ratepayers Newsletter April 2017

On the mornings of the 18th & 19th March vespex wasp baits were placed in 130 bait stations at various properties along the entire residential area including Te Mu Road. Thanks to the seventeen volunteers who did this. We did this last year but there was a poor uptake of the bait. This year we have have varying reports of uptake by the wasps. Most volunteers who reported back have noticed that at least a third of the vespex bait has gone, a couple have none and some have seen the wasps going in and out of the bait stations. The most success seems to be at the far end of Spencer Rd where the wasps have been most prolific.n

This is a new program in New Zealand and has had big success eliminating wasps in areas the South Island areas particularly around Nelson forests. It may be next season again that we will notice whether the wasps have lessoned. 

Thanks to Wayne Miller for the survey about wasp numbers; it meant we could tailor the program and put extra stations at the end of the road where the wasp numbers were at their highest.

Of course thanks also to all our rat baiting volunteers who keep that program running smoothly.

APRIL 2017

Just to let you know that with some our funds, we have purchased some self setting Good Nature stoat traps. If anyone is having problems with stoats or sees stoats please contact us to come & borrow one.

Mike has just collated the rat bait numbers taken and still indicative of lots of rats around. Thanks heaps for all your work & keep the bait numbers coming into Mike. 

Cheers Liz & Mike

Five Minute Bird Count Excerpts taken from Carmel Richardson's report May2017

For full report contact us.

INTRODUCTION

Lake Tarawera settlement is approximately 16 kilometres from Rotorua city. Spencer Road is approximately 8 kilometres in length and is the main access road along the north-western side of Lake Tarawera and for the settlement of houses there.
On the western side of Spencer Road above the houses are plantations of pine and eucalyptus trees, farmland and pockets of native forest. East of Spencer Road is Lake Tarawera itself and at the northern end of the road is native forest which connects with Lake Okataina.
Over 400 residences are dotted through the well vegetated strip of land between Lake Tarawera and the farmland above, forming a corridor of native vegetation, exotic garden plants, large trees, lawns, wetland and farmland. The different habitats and variety of plants growing there provide food and shelter for birds and other wildlife throughout the year.
Pest control:
Organised pest control targeting rodents began in June 2000 and was carried out by volunteers to reduce a major rodent infestation in the settlement at the time. Regular pest control has continued since then and still targets rodents in an effort to prevent further infestations, improve the general environment and continue to enhance the native birdlife. Pest control involves LTPCG volunteers checking and topping up bait stations positioned on properties throughout the settlement. The toxic baits used are Ditrac wax block baits, which are secured in bait stations on a vertical wire rod. Ditrac is a rodenticide containing the anticoagulant diphacinone, which is effective at killing rats and mice.
The LTPC Group organise and carry out pest control throughout the year and are sponsored by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC).
Five Minute Bird Counts:
5MBC surveys are a simple way of monitoring some of the benefits and changes in the environment, brought about by, in this case, regular rodent control.
Birds are preyed on by rodents, are conspicuous in the environment and therefore relatively easy to notice and monitor changes in their abundance, density and variety over time. Many of these changes will be noticed by residents living at Tarawera and volunteers carrying out the rodent control, which encourages the continuation of the project.
Report:
This report covers the 5MBC survey that took place in November and December of 2016 along Spencer Road and some adjoining roads, the survey results and my thoughts on the findings.

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METHOD
Standard five-minute bird count (5MBC) methodology, (Dawson and Bull; 1975) was used for this survey.
Count stations spaced approximately 200 metres apart along Spencer Road and several side roads are where the 5MBCs took place. Birds seen or heard within a 100 metre radius of a count station over a five-minute period were recorded. The time, date and weather conditions (Sun, wind, temperature, precipitation) were recorded at each count station for each 5MBC carried out.
Bird counts were carried out between 9.00am and 1.00pm (NZ standard time) to be consistent with previous counts and to avoid both the dawn chorus and the quiet afternoon periods. All counts were conducted in fine, still conditions with no rain. Weekend days were avoided due to the extra noise, traffic and activity typical at that time of the year. Survey dates were; 18.11.2016, 23.11.2016, 1.12.2016.

The same count stations were used this survey as were used in 2005, 2008 and 2011 and were located using existing residential house numbers.CONCLUSION

Results of the 2016 5MBC survey indicate bird numbers may have plateaued after big increases between 2005 and 2008 and between 2008 and 2011. Ongoing control of rodents may keep bird numbers increasing at a modest rate, especially if habitat improves, though I suspect no big changes will occur without expanding pest control to include other pest animal species such as possums, mustelids (stoats and ferrets) and wallabies.
By increasing pest control, habitat for native fauna will improve – especially along the lake edge. There will also be better breeding success and a greater survival rate for birds (as well as other native fauna). Bird species such as Bittern, spotless crake and fernbirds might then become common. 

ARTICLE FOR RATEPAYERS NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2017

Rats and wasps

Our rat control program continues to run smoothly with fifty volunteers covering 500 bait stations. Every year in Spring eight volunteers along Spencer Rd use tracking tunnels with ink cards ( and peanut butter) inserted in them to ascertain the level of rats & any other “creatures” that may be around. We have just completed this and so far it seems we have good rat control with minimal rats around, some hedgehogs and mice. We still need to get the inky paw prints verified by Dale & Shane from Regional Council.

We had an early Christmas get together for the volunteers on November 5^th at our place on Spencer Rd. It's always lovely to catch up with people and thank them for the great job they do.

More people are coming on board to have bait stations on their own properties which we think is a positive trend...more responsibility and control from property owners and of course less work for our volunteers. You can still get the baits through our program which is funded by Regional Council. In return, every month, you need to send Mike the numbers of baits taken.

Another option is to buy the Good Nature traps for your own properties. Instead of using ditrec poison (anticoagulant) these traps use a gas fired cannister. The advantage is that these rat traps can automatically reset to kill up to 24 times. Each trap has a dose of chocolate flavoured paste for bait which is automatically squeezed from a plastic sack after every 'hit' as the gas is recharged. The bait paste is usually replaced after four months but can last for six months. Some people find they work well and others report that they are not so efficient although it does take time for the rats to become “used to them” on their run. At present the gas cannisters are not funded by Regional Council. Lake Okareka Care Group are using these at Tikitapu with great results. They are also available to buy for possums and stoats. These are available at RD1 in Rotorua. There has been publicity about resistance to rat baits and we have followed this up; this doesn't seem to be happening here as the rats are under good control. We are in regular contact with Dale and Shane from Regional Council to keep up with any latest changes. However its always good to look at alternatives and in my opinion any move away from poisons has got to be good! Another tick for Good Nature traps.

This from Wayne Miller “Rat resistance to poisoning?

A question came up from one of our householders when I was doing my rat bait run the other day: they were having problems with rats getting inside the house and causing damage and mess. This is despite three bait station being in close proximity (about 50m away in the shrubbery), and rat baits continuing to be taken.

The question was asked about whether the rats had developed resistance to the poison bait we were using, and so weren’t being killed.

I consulted an expert on rats, Dr John Innes Landcare Research (also very knowledgeable on dabchicks!). He suggests that it always good practice to mix your tools with rats, and suggests that we should mix trapping with poisons.

The rats will just be using houses for shelter and as a den, but will be primarily feeding outside. While bait stations 50 m away should get the house rats eventually, it is faster to target them directly with baits or traps at the dwellings.”

There is a positive momentum in New Zealand to lessen our pest problem. Lake Tarawera was one of the earliest areas to tackle the rat problem as a community; dating right back to year 2000. It's important to keep this momentum going and along with the Dabchickers, the Land Care Group who are dealing with pest plants, possums and stoats, Lake Tarawera Community shows that we can work together and are a proactive community.

Thanks again to all the volunteers who give up their valuable time.

Liz and Mike.

MARCH 2018.

A reminder to our volunteers that with damp weather the baits sometimes absorb moisture and get stuck in the feeder tubes of the Bob Scopes bait stations. They may need cleaning out from time to time. 

If the pins are really rusty the baits won't slide down easily.  Let Mike know & he'll replace the pins with a stainless steel one. When handling the ditrec baits make sure you wear gloves. 

Alistair from Regional Council is GPSing the position of all of the bait stations. He still  has about a third of our runs to do. 

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