Possum trap checking - Eastbourne

Today we had to go across the bay from Wellington to check 30 Possum and rat traps that have been installed in the forest of the Eastbourne reserve. The day mainly consisted of walking through the hills (total height 343m we climbed) and walking through or along a river stream. We needed to take along with us, pellets for the possum traps, flour with cinnamon, and rat poison.

getting ready for our climb/walk



the start of the hike




The climb up was pretty steep, and a hour and half walk only going uphill and steep. I was glad when we were at the top as these youngsters went up like speedy gonzales and i had to really walk very fast to keep up. We then walked further up but not too steep but it was a much smaller trail that we needed to follow. The trail is laid out by the Greater wellington nature conservation team.

the top of the hill - break time


a spider web, with Toby in the background




Once we arrive at the river, every 200 m a possum trap and rat poison could be found. We needed to check if the possum trap had a possum, if so we needed to remove the body, otherwise refill the trap with a pellet and dust the tree with flour and cinnamon. the rat trap we needed to check that there was still enough pellets inside for the rats to eat.

Toby explaining how we needed to work with the possum trap



Possum trap and rat trap



The forest we were walking in.




After checking the 30 odd traps we then needed to walk back up the hill and over to get back to our car. In all it was about a 7 hour walk. To learn more about a possum, have a look at these websites
www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/infosheets/possums/
www.kcc.org.nz/pests/possum.asp

Then it was the walk back up the hill, but lovely views on the down hill.



The flower of the phatuko tree, native to New Zealand




The path we followed to get down



The Possum team at the end of the downhill walk