There are many nature reserves in New Zealand. These are places such as Shakespear Regional Park reserve or Piripiri Point at Long Bay Beach, Auckland. All these preserves have protective measures put in place to preserve wildlife. This article dives deeper into what pest control measures are, what they do and how they affect nature preservation in New Zealand.
Protective Fencing and Entry Points
Fencing and special entry points protect against pest intrusion. They keep the area free from introducing pests through human carriers.
Sanctuary at Shakespear Regional Park, for example, is protected by a pest-proof fence that runs for 1.7km around the area of about 500 hectares. The entry is equipped with an automatic gate for vehicles to come inside. Three smaller gates allow pedestrians through.
The Auckland Council handles granting resources for pest eradication programs. It financed pest eradication at Shakespear Park to get rid of pests for a period of 120 days. The results achieved eradication of all introduced mammalian pests except mice.
The entry to the Shakespear sanctuary restricts the likelihood of pest come-through.
Weed Distribution Prevention Methods
There are also weed distribution protective measures. They involve usage of herbicides, or also known as weedkillers. The sprinkle of chemical substances over the soles of people's shoes prevents weed carriage through the foot. These substances include phenoxy herbicide 2,4-D, Picloram-based weed killers, glyphosate, and metsulfuron. They are used to kill weeds.
Depending on the substance, it can either target specific weed plants or it can kill all plant material with which it comes into contact.
Thus, if you consider using herbicide substances in your house garden, you should think about whether you want to get rid of the whole grass area or specific types of weed.
Trapping and Other Pest-Control Measures
There are various types of traps with different functionalities. They are used to trap differently-sized pest animals.
The snap trap works by breaking the back of pest animals. It needs to be reset after every catch.
Poison and bait traps attract prey through scent and then poison it. One downside to them is that they may attract native species and other animals that are not pests. To mitigate this, box traps are sometimes used in the wild.
As such, common backyard traps are bird-, child- and pet-safe because they are contained. These include Victor and DOC traps that are inside wooden tunnels. The GoodNature A24 trap for rats and stoats is secured inside hard plastic so it isolates itself from animals of inappropriate size.
The Victor Professional rat trap is often used in backyards. The trap is located inside a long wooden box so it is safe for children and pets.
This trap is usually baited with peanut butter or similar products to attract rats. The usual location is near walls and compost or undercover.
Three traps exist to target pests larger than rats. These include DOC 150, DOC 200, and A24.
The DOC 150 and DOC 200 are usually placed along ridges and tracks.
But box traps also do not perform well in limited space, Therefore, more high-tech solutions exist to allow for automatic trap reset and attraction of the right size of animal pests. The Goodnature A24 self-resetting trap is great for those who don't want to handle catches. It prevents native birds from trapping inside.
More advanced traps include Trapinator, Goodnature A12, and DOC 250. They are used to catch possums.
Trapinator is a trapping box used to kill low-density possum populations. It comes in a plastic box so it is safeguarded from catching smaller native species. It is mounted on trees by screws.
Goodnature A12 resets and triggers 12 times before the gas canister becomes empty.
The trap is usually placed on trees by means of screws.
Another trap, DOC 250, is used to catch really large prey such as ferrets. Ferrets and stoats are the largest invasive species introduced to New Zealand in 1879's to control rabbit populations.
These large traps are placed along ridges, creeks, and rivers. The common bait includes meat: rabbit, hare, beef, or possum. Hen eggs are also particularly appealing to stoats.
Conclusion
In this article, several trapping methods have been investigated. Some are useful for hunting down mice, while others are good at catching possums. The environment in New Zealand is quite fragile due to the many pests inhabiting it. That's why pest control measures are so important to consider for nature preservation and conservation in New Zealand.
