A joint community initiative on Beach Road is celebrating after six months of targeted rat trapping, with the latest trap survey showing no detectable sign of rats.
In early February, Onerahi resident Rachel Arlidge asked Tiakina Whangārei for support to eradicate rats from the rock seawall along Beach Road. She noticed the population increasing on her daily walks, especially during the lockdowns in 2021.
“I knew there were a lot of backyard traps in Onerahi, but these rats were living in the rocks in the seawalls. I thought there must be a way to control them.”
Conservation project Tiakina Whangārei has been supporting local residents to get involved in backyard predator control by supplying rat traps and advice, as well as coordinated projects in public areas. ‘Predator Free Onerahi’ was launched in 2021, with the goal of Onerahi becoming Whangārei’s first predator free suburb.
After reaching out to Tiakina Whangārei Coordinator, Dai Morgan, Rachel and others completed an initial survey along Beach Road, between Pah Road roundabout and the Onerahi Yacht Club. Using chew cards, wax tags and pest-tracking tunnels, it was identified that this was indeed a high rodent traffic area.
This was an immediate concern to the local community and a real threat to the protected kiwi and other native wildlife living on nearby Matakohe-Limestone Island, which is a predator free island.
“Tiakina Whangārei helped to organise approval from Whangārei District Council to attach permanent rat traps to the rock wall, sourced the materials required for the project, and helped to engage with the public on feedback on our plans.
“In May, we started installing 22 stations from Johnson Street to the Onerahi Yacht Club, with the first bait line installed in the first week of June.
“The bait stations required reloading twice a week for the first three weeks, and in this time we noticed a large drop off in rat sightings. We had more people from the community join the project and we each took turns checking the traps every week.”
Last month, after six months of trapping, Dai Morgan conducted another survey using tracking tunnels in exactly the same place as the original survey, and this showed a zero per cent uptake from rats.
“This is very exciting news and shows that tackling a community project can really pay off. It’s so rewarding for these concerned residents to see results from their hard work,” says Dai. “It’s also awesome news for both the Onerahi community and Matakohe / Limestone Island, as the risk of reinvasion to the predator free island is now much lower.”
Matakohe-Limestone Island is home to a kiwi creche, where young kiwi are able to grow healthy and strong before being returned to the mainland as adults. The island is also home to a growing variety of threatened native fauna that has been gradually reintroduced, including banded rail, New Zealand dotterel, moko skink and forest gecko.
Michelle Martin from the Friends of Matakohe-Limestone Island Buffer Trapping Group says Matakohe-Limestone Island is within swimming distance for mainland pests, which can threaten these precious species.
“Rat incursions on the island are an ongoing threat, and the success of the island’s programme and survival of kiwi and other taonga species are dependent on keeping it predator free,” says Michelle. “Even a few rats making it over to the island could quickly reverse all the hard work being done. It is essential that the rock wall mahi continues.”
Tiakina Whangārei and the community group are not staying complacent with the success of the project thus far. Rachel says that the survey results do not mean that there are no rats living in this area, but it strongly suggests that the population has taken a huge hit.
“The rats will not stay away, so it’s important this project continues and flexes to meet the threat of rodent populations. But, this just goes to show that you can make a difference in your community. If you see something in your local community that needs to be done, have a look around and see if there is an existing organisation that you can tap into to make it happen!”
