Take Action: Trapping at home with Predator Free Wellington

We know that you care about the native taonga of Aotearoa and so does Predator Free Wellington (PFW). We caught up with the PFW team about Phase 2 of their plan to remove rats, possums, weasels, and stoats from the city. They’ve learned a lot and wanted to share some special tips to help out your backyard or community trapping.

Keep it fresh

Would you want to eat dry or mouldy peanut butter? Neither would a rat! Keeping your bait fresh (especially during cold and wet weather) makes it more attractive to rats, mice and stoats. This will improve your trapping chances. It’s also worth offering some ‘free’ bait in the tunnel in front of the trap to encourage them into the tunnel.

Think like a rat! 🐀 

• • Rats and mice like to feel safe and don’t normally like wide open spaces. They’ll stick close to walls, plants and fences—so that’s a good place to put your trap.
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• • Rodents also like food and water. If you have a compost pile or fruit trees, your resident rats will likely spend some time there—try putting your trap there. Alongside a stream or creek is another good place.
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• • Place the trap box on level ground and ensure it’s stable so it doesn’t move or rock when a rat enters the box—this can make them avoid the tunnel.  
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• • Make it smooth: file down or fold over any sharp edges around the mesh tunnel opening.  

Compost buffet? No way!

Your bin full of food scraps are easy pickings for little critters. By rat-proofing your compost, rodents will have to look elsewhere for food and are more likely to end up in your trap.

Location, location, location

Have a good look around your property. Tree stumps, dense bush cover, cape ivy and old retaining walls are all favourite rat spots. They’ll be happier there than a patch of open concrete. Make your hard work count by getting your traps in their neighbourhood.

Keep it moving

We know motivation can waver when your trap sits untouched for months. Maybe it’s time for a move. Is there somewhere else rats might be living? They’ll take some time to get used to a new tunnel but sometimes you have to take the game to them; they won’t always come to you.

Cover up

As we explained above, rats are pretty particular about where they live. Putting your traps by a wall or tree helps your chances—adding some cover will improve them even more. See the picture for some more tips.

That time of year

Rat numbers change during the year. Spring through to late summer can see big increases in the population while things can be quiet in winter and autumn. It’s important to keep your traps set even outside of ‘rat season’.

Keep on keepin’ on

As we remove rats and stoats from more of the city, your backyard or community traps will have less to catch. But there are animals we’re not removing that still cause damage to native wildlife, like mice and hedgehogs. Your traps will still be very important! 

We also rely on the community as our eyes and ears for reinvasion. Report a sighting in predator-free areas on our website or call our 0800 NO RATS phone line. You can also volunteer to help with the biosecurity monitoring of the city. 

Thanks for your backyard trapping. It makes a big difference to predator numbers across the city. If you’d like to get involved, you can find out how to support us.