Conrad Jackson, a volunteer
Meet a volunteer series
Each day, volunteers in our community step up to help build a healthy, thriving and resilient community and environment through restoring biodiversity. Conrad Jackson is just one of these everyday heroes. Conrad checks traplines along Ngarunui Beach every week, with the help of his trapline buddy Peter Williams (who’s not scared of a little rain)! Conrad’s good with a hammer, and is a huge help at our working bees. In fact, we first met him at a working bee in 2017, which he came to as part of Raglan Ramblers.
Conrad has been a greenie for a long time, loves tramping and the outdoors. He first started trapping over 60 years ago, but took a little break until he met us. Conrad told us that he used to trap possums as a kid. “I’d trap in the gully near my house for pocket money from the council. 2 shillings and 6 pence per possum was a lot of money back then. If you got half a dozen in a week, you’d be a pretty wealthy school boy.”
Conrad showing off one of over 150 rats that he and Pete have caught around Ngarunui beach!
Conrad volunteers on a trapline every week with his friend, Pete, and he recommends to others that they also join with a friend. “It’s a social get-together. We go down to Raglan Roast and get a coffee first. And then we go out and do the traps and solve the world's problems while we’re walking. That’s one of the best parts. It’s nice bloke time. The other thing that’s nice about sharing two trap lines, if one of us is away, then the other can do them so you never feel like they’re going to be neglected. It works for us!”
Conrad also enjoys the social side of working bees and is hoping to start a men’s shed in Raglan one day.
Conrad has no scarcity of hobbies! He also likes brewing beers, sampling craft beers, jam-making, Raglan Ramblers, cooking, yoga, woodworking and is in a bloke’s Book Club,
Conrad’s trapping tips are to have a backpack just for trapping, as it gets grubby and muddy on the traplines that he takes care of. He hangs his pack up in the shed where it would be difficult for critters around his home to reach, however, that changed when we tried out Eggcellent mayo lure for the stoats. The rats leapt across the garage and chewed their way into it! He says changing up the baits is certainly working. “It seems like whenever you change baits you get another crop, when we put the whole eggs out a few weeks ago we ended up with 3 stoats!”
BIG THANKS TO ALL THE VOLUNTEERS FOR BEING EVERYDAY HEROES!
Pete shows the straight line between tan and white fur that helps us identify stoats vs weasels. (Stoats = straight, weasels = wobbly) This month, Pete and Conrad caught 4 stoats after switching the bait to whole eggs!.