Our first Volunteer Saturday after lockdown was a biggie. We had a tremendous turnout to help combat the influx of Rattus rattus that moved into our forest whilst we were all stuck at home!
Bait lines were replenished with diphacinone that was pimped with either aniseed or jaffa lure. Thanks to everyone who helped. Covering the entire 500 hectares of pest managed forest area in a timely manner is always a challenge for us though. This time we were lucky enough to secure the services of Toi Ohomai Conservation Operations students.
The entire northern block and a good chunk of the more southern block was completed in just a few hours. Clearly they were not dissuaded by the work as they returned to help with more back-logged tasks. That included removing the old fencing around the kohanga and along the car park border, weed-eating, and spraying sections of the paddock in preparation for planting. They also took on the clearing and marking the rat lines in the bush that were in most desperate need of attention.
A HUGE thank you to Ron Lidgard and his enthusiastic team for all the work and time contributed to the Project. Their efforts have catapulted our paddock project forward.