Possum Control UpdateAugust 2024
We’re pleased to provide an update on our local possum control project, made possible thanks to generous funding from Rodney Local Board.
To date, 120 landowners in Rodney have been equipped with 316 Flipping Timmy Possum Traps, and 15 AT220 self-setting traps have been deployed across 10 additional properties. Our work is ongoing, with appointments scheduled for 18 more properties, and the placement of an additional 134 Flipping Timmy traps.
We have engaged individual landowners and community groups in areas identified for meaningful ecological impact. The provision of RLB-funded possum traps has sparked numerous community conservation discussions and strengthened connections among existing groups.
Below, we share feedback from some of the dedicated landowners involved in this project. Their commitment and passion are crucial to the success of our mission to control possum populations and protect our native ecosystems.
“We have had a great catch record since traps were installed. In the first few weeks we were catching a possum every night along with rats most nights. We have caught approximately 40 possums and over 60 rats, dozens of mice and 1 stoat!”
“The traps have made a huge difference in our area we haven’t caught a possum in over 4 weeks, and the number of rats have dropped too”. – Heath, Mahurangi East
“We were very pleased that 2 rats were caught on the same night one in the D331 Flipping Timmy, the other in the Doc 200. Have also caught 2 Possums in the Flipping Timmy so it’s great to be seeing results!” – Steve, The Dome
“We have half a dozen of the Flipping Timmy’s on our property. Of the 6, 4 will catch every night that they are baited, with the other 2, catching every other night.
The kids love it, more so in the summer time as a baiting and checking activity”. – Nick, Makarau
“Our trap has worked very well, we caught four possums, two female, two male, in the first two-three weeks. After that there hasn’t been any more, but I think we decimated them really well. I check the trap daily since it’s in our chicken pen”. – Munro, Matakana
“Thanks so much for the traps! They’re much easier to use than the old ones and have made a big difference since we got them in June. Baiting and removing catches is a breeze now. These new traps have really boosted our efficiency and success rate”. – Susan, Tamahunga Buffer Zone
“Our trapping journey at Cowan Bay has been marvellous since we joined up in April 2024. We had no idea that we had so many possums around here. On average we’re probably catching one every other day and are finding the tree fitted Flipping Timmy’s fabulous. Since we are on 100 acres and have about 30 acres of bush on our land and we also back onto maybe another 3000 acres of bush in the valley right to the sea, I’m sure we have many more possums to catch. The Flipping Timmy’s are easy to mount, super easy to check, and PJ (husband) says they are very easy to reset too. We’ve found some ‘possum highways’ and are concentrating our traps in those area’s but have them dotted around other area’s too as you know.
We check the easiest to access ones pretty much daily and the other more remote ones about once a week. We’re quite chuffed with our ‘trapping rate’ and every chance I get I tell the neighbours about The Forest Bridge Trust.
Loving the contact and the updates from TFBT and its good to see that if we all do our bit, we can make great changes in time”. – Caro, Pohuehue