By Anja Filip
Westlake Kaitiaki and Akoranga Environmental Prefect

It might not be everyone’s first choice to head into the bush and set traps to reduce the number of rats, but for some of our students it is!

After carrying out some pest monitoring in Smith’s Bush earlier this term, Westlake Kaitiaki has progressed onto some trapping in the bush too. Our monitoring indicated a high number of rats, so, alongside our Auckland Council Park Ranger we have placed a line of rat traps within Smith’s Bush. This is in an effort to protect the native birds, invertebrates and variety of ecosystems within the area. 

We are currently two trips into our four week pulse. After placing and setting our traps on the first trip, we went back to check the traps, record our findings, reset and re-bait them. As a group, students have learnt about the use of traps, different trap types, how to set traps and how and why to record the catch data. 

We will be back trapping next week, bringing along our Pics (Crunchy) Peanut Butter (our most prized possession and strong contender for group mascot). 

To see our upcoming adventures, follow: @westlakekaitiaki on Instagram