Don’t think that predator trapping should just be done in bush blocks or reserves. Pest mammals know no boundaries and are happy to travel across urban areas to settle in your compost bin, under your house and get into the pantry or nibble wires, or just raid your fruit trees!
Native animals are also frequent residents in urban areas and pests will have negative impacts on them too. Furthermore, species like rats and possums can carry nasty diseases, such as leptospirosis or giardia.
Maintaining one or two traps on your property will help protect native lizards, invertebrates and birds. Not only that, it will also restrict the movement of pests across the city. For $10, a rat trap that is housed in a sturdy wooden box can be purchased for your backyard.
We encourage backyard trappers to focus on catching rodents. In some areas, however, possums may also be a problem. If you would like to target possums, please get in touch and we can have a korero about the best way to do this. We also encourage trappers to register their trap on TrapNZ and record each pest in order to measure success.
