Check out this awesome sign made by Tim Duff to remind his Whale Bay neighbours to trap in their own backyards. What a great initiative by a highly motivated Backyard Hubber! Thanks Tim!

Read below for Rachael Goddard’s “Confessions of a Backyard Trapper”

After reading that introduced pest species are killing around 25 million native birds a year, I decided it was time to overcome my squeamishness and start rat trapping on our property.

On the first day I christened myself the ‘crapper trapper’, as I was rather apprehensive about how to contend with a rat, should I catch one. On the second day ‘snapper trapper’ was a more appropriate title after getting my thumb whacked in the trap. However, it was all worth it as I caught a shocking 6 rats in just over a week, almost one every day. And thankfully they all died quickly and were buried in the chook pen with a wee apology from me.

I have joined the Karioi Backyard Hub, run by the Karioi Project. The aim is to make Whāingaroa (Raglan) pest-free by 2050. The amazing team provide pest advice, a trap library, and employs and trains local school leavers to deliver pest control on the maunga and surrounding properties. We all get to keep track of our catches too through the trap.nz app!