Comments for WildMan blog - Centre for wildlife management and conservationWildMan blog – Centre for wildlife management and conservation

Comment on A new, long-lasting tool in the battle against stoats by Whyte, Belinda

Whyte, Belinda — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 02:46:41 +0000

Hi Karen,

We are currently using Erayz (a long-life rabbit lure) but we are developing long-life lures based on pheromones for when there is abundant food around.

Good luck with your trapping!

Comment on A new, long-lasting tool in the battle against stoats by Karen Colgan

Karen Colgan — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:34:27 +0000

Are you using any lures in the spitfires?
Our unfenced conservation project is in the Waitakere rainforest with a plentiful supply of food otherwise especially in the bird breeding season

Comment on Possums change den sites following control by Whyte, Belinda

Whyte, Belinda — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:40:17 +0000

Hi Andy,

Thanks for your interest and your question.

I used Capture within MARK to estimate the densities both before and after control.

I was also able to ground-truth this estimate by doing a large scale poison operation at the end of the study, counting the bodies from this, and combining this with known individuals I wasn’t able to kill. The results of this collation were within the estimate range given by MARK.

Cheers,

Belinda

Comment on Possums change den sites following control by Andy B

Andy B — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:45:50 +0000

Hi Belinda,
Interesting work. I was just wondering what program you used to estimate pre-cull population? Was is MARK, removal models in CAPTURE or an ‘inhouse’ model?

Many thanks,

Comment on A new, long-lasting tool in the battle against stoats by Helen Blackie

Helen Blackie — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:39:52 +0000

Hi Karen,
Thanks for your question.
One of the benefits of PAPP is that there is no secondary poisoning risk (unlike many other toxins), so this means that a bird could safely eat a dead stoat will no ill effects. Since PAPP is a red blood cell toxin it is completely metabolised by the target species before death, meaning that no secondary poisoning can occur. Hope this answers your question.
Helen

Comment on A new, long-lasting tool in the battle against stoats by Karen Raateland

Karen Raateland — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 21:41:39 +0000

What about secondary poisoning? For example, if a Hawk or Falcon were to feast on a dead stoat that had ingested poison, would this in turn kill the birds?

Comment on Possums change den sites following control by Whyte, Belinda

Whyte, Belinda — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:01:05 +0000

Hi Tim,

The adult population was reduced by approximately 50%. I was aiming for a larger density reduction but I carried the work out during the week of the earthquake, so work was obviously quite constricted! In any case, I’ve starting analysing the home-range data and they have definitely changed their behaviour, so 50% was enough. Next field season I’ll be trying for a higher density reduction though to see what difference that makes.

By the way, check out our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Centre-for-Wildlife-Management-and-Conservation-CWMC/216983704980139

Cheers,

Belinda

Comment on Possums change den sites following control by Whyte, Belinda

Whyte, Belinda — Wed, 11 May 2011 04:08:46 +0000

Hi Tim,

Thank you for our first comment!

The animals were removed from the population via live trapping. This allowed the collared study animals to be protected (they were released if caught).

With regards to how much I reduced the density by, I’m actually in the process of working this out, as it involves using a specific computer program to give an estimate of the density before and after control. I’ll let you know the outcome when I’m finished in the near future.

Cheers,

Belinda

Comment on Possums change den sites following control by Tim Kelly

Tim Kelly — Mon, 09 May 2011 05:24:12 +0000

Hi, what was the control used in your study and waht was then effect on the possum density? Cheers,
Tim