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News Update - December 2006
The Te Anau/Manapouri community has got behind the Pomona Island Restoration Project. Since we started work on the island in May 2006 over 60 different individuals have pulled on their boots and headed over to the island to help cut and mark tracks, place and pre-bait stoat traps and more recently to check stoat traps. The Trustees would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time and effort this year.
We have now checked the traps on Pomona 5 times and have quite an impressive haul of pests - 2 stoats and a whopping total of 181 rats. The beech mast that we are experiencing this year has resulted in a plague of rats on the island, with volunteers reporting numerous sightings of live rats as they make their way round the island checking traps. In some cases the traps have been working overtime. A couple of times the volunteers have checked the traps in the morning and on their way back to the meeting point have just had a little peek into the traps they checked earlier only to find them full again! Hopefully as the food supply reduces over the summer the numbers should drop.
This shows though just how important it is to get all of the rats off the island as soon as practically possible. We have applied for funding to eradicate the rats from Pomona. If we are successful we are planning an aerial application of brodifacoum in winter 2007.
We have also been busy on the mainland adjacent to Pomona Island. We now have 24 traps sites fully functional over a 1.5km stretch of the coastline. The aim is to prevent stoats from swimming across and re-invading the island. The approach appears to be working well. Since October this year we have trapped a total of 6 stoats, 38 rats and 1 mouse on the mainland.
We plan to continue checking the traps on both Pomona and the mainland on a monthly basis so if you want to join us please check the website regularly for the dates of future working bees.
Work on eradicating the deer from Pomona will start shortly. The deer programme is being organised by Hunter Shaw, one of the Trustees, who is a very experienced hunter. The aim is to eradicate the resident population of deer from the island. A deer pen, which needs a little repair work, will then be operated to catch any deer that are able to swim back to the island.
Work behind the scenes has also continued with applications for funding being made to various organisations. We are also very busy preparing our application for resource consent for the aerial application of brodifacoum to eradicate the rats from Pomona and Rona Islands. We plan to make the application early in the New Year.
The Trust is also supporting DOC's summer programme by offering two activities. Firstly on Thursday 4 January 2007, Viv Shaw, the Trust's secretary, will give a presentation outlining the progress made to date and the plans for the future restoration of Pomona Island. Then on Friday 5 January 2007, weather permitting, people will have the opportunity to see, first hand, the work being undertaken on the island with Hunter Shaw as nature guide. Local artist, Chris Wilkie, and local photographer, Graham Dainty, have volunteered their time to give people the opportunity to sketch and photograph the island under the watchful eye of experts in their field.
Cost $35 adult, $15 school age children. Bring lunch, drink, camera and sketch book. Enquiries and bookings call 03 249 7924
The Te Anau/Manapouri community has got behind the Pomona Island Restoration Project. Since we started work on the island in May 2006 over 60 different individuals have pulled on their boots and headed over to the island to help cut and mark tracks, place and pre-bait stoat traps and more recently to check stoat traps. The Trustees would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time and effort this year.
We have now checked the traps on Pomona 5 times and have quite an impressive haul of pests - 2 stoats and a whopping total of 181 rats. The beech mast that we are experiencing this year has resulted in a plague of rats on the island, with volunteers reporting numerous sightings of live rats as they make their way round the island checking traps. In some cases the traps have been working overtime. A couple of times the volunteers have checked the traps in the morning and on their way back to the meeting point have just had a little peek into the traps they checked earlier only to find them full again! Hopefully as the food supply reduces over the summer the numbers should drop.
This shows though just how important it is to get all of the rats off the island as soon as practically possible. We have applied for funding to eradicate the rats from Pomona. If we are successful we are planning an aerial application of brodifacoum in winter 2007.
We have also been busy on the mainland adjacent to Pomona Island. We now have 24 traps sites fully functional over a 1.5km stretch of the coastline. The aim is to prevent stoats from swimming across and re-invading the island. The approach appears to be working well. Since October this year we have trapped a total of 6 stoats, 38 rats and 1 mouse on the mainland.
We plan to continue checking the traps on both Pomona and the mainland on a monthly basis so if you want to join us please check the website regularly for the dates of future working bees.
Work on eradicating the deer from Pomona will start shortly. The deer programme is being organised by Hunter Shaw, one of the Trustees, who is a very experienced hunter. The aim is to eradicate the resident population of deer from the island. A deer pen, which needs a little repair work, will then be operated to catch any deer that are able to swim back to the island.
Work behind the scenes has also continued with applications for funding being made to various organisations. We are also very busy preparing our application for resource consent for the aerial application of brodifacoum to eradicate the rats from Pomona and Rona Islands. We plan to make the application early in the New Year.
The Trust is also supporting DOC's summer programme by offering two activities. Firstly on Thursday 4 January 2007, Viv Shaw, the Trust's secretary, will give a presentation outlining the progress made to date and the plans for the future restoration of Pomona Island. Then on Friday 5 January 2007, weather permitting, people will have the opportunity to see, first hand, the work being undertaken on the island with Hunter Shaw as nature guide. Local artist, Chris Wilkie, and local photographer, Graham Dainty, have volunteered their time to give people the opportunity to sketch and photograph the island under the watchful eye of experts in their field.
Cost $35 adult, $15 school age children. Bring lunch, drink, camera and sketch book. Enquiries and bookings call 03 249 7924
