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ALAN_MCKENZIE
.400 member


Reged: 24/03/04
Posts: 1214
Loc: Western Australia
NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED
      #124406 - 18/01/09 04:14 PM

Pestbuster champions in South Taranaki
Congratulations to the South Taranaki branch, which has won the first Pestbuster Award for the most successful trapping of introduced predators and pests.

In the past 12 months Forest & Bird members Bob Walkington and Rex Hartley and other volunteers have trapped and counted 400 rats, 64 possums, 47 hedgehogs, 43 goats, 22 stoats, 11 weasels, six feral cats, three magpies, two ferrets and one rabbit. They worked in two bush blocks near Eltham, each about 400 hectares, where they also monitor bait stations. It is not possible to tally how many pests these deal to.

Both men have seen and heard increasing numbers of native birds, including toutouwai (North Island robins) and North Island brown kiwi, in the Collier and Totara bush blocks. Native orchids and other plant life are also flourishing.

The Pestbuster Award was announced to mark World Environment Day. All branches were surveyed and the figures were analysed based on the size of areas trapped and how many people were involved in trapping.


--------------------
"Dogs always bark at their master"
Sir Seretse Khama.25th June 1949

Edited by ALAN_MCKENZIE (18/01/09 04:44 PM)

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ALAN_MCKENZIE
.400 member


Reged: 24/03/04
Posts: 1214
Loc: Western Australia
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: ALAN_MCKENZIE]
      #124428 - 18/01/09 10:41 PM

I thought I would get some comments especially from the KIWI club.
They are lucky they dont have foxes or there would be no Kiwi's left.
Al

--------------------
"Dogs always bark at their master"
Sir Seretse Khama.25th June 1949

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9.3x57
.450 member


Reged: 22/04/07
Posts: 5504
Loc: United States
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: ALAN_MCKENZIE]
      #124444 - 19/01/09 02:16 AM

Really interesting and bravo!

Here in the States we have rounded the bend and now are supposed to celebrate all predators regardless of what they do to game or bird populations or anything else for that matter, including pets, livestock and little kids.

Someday maybe the Common Sense of Insanity will grip your nations, too, and such fellows as these two will be remembered as Wicked Destroyers of All Things Good just like pest controllers increasingly are here.

Get this: My son just scrapped his plans for a wildlife management degree due to the insanity of current philosophies at university. One of his professors did a study on coyotes in urban Chicago and now promotes the growth of urban coyote populations everywhere. If you disagree with this you are ostracized and forget about getting a good grade in the class.

Alan, I can see the veins bulging in your head right now...

Yes, it is the world turned upside down.

Funny, since you Upside Downers are still Rightside Up!!

Count your blessings while they last...

--------------------
What are the Rosary, the Cross or the Crucifix other than tools to help maintain the fortress of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

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shinz
.300 member


Reged: 11/05/08
Posts: 135
Loc: New Zealand
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: ALAN_MCKENZIE]
      #124482 - 19/01/09 08:17 AM

Alan, I'm in no way wanting to belittle the efforts of these guys, I think what they do is just great, but they represent the visible tip of a huge effort in this country, much of it volunteer, to control introduced predators & try to protect our native birdlife. There are several "inland islands" in different parts of the country, one of them in Nelson Lakes Park near me, where Kiwi have been reintroduced. These relay on a ring of traps to keep predators out. This in turn relies on endlessly patrolling these traps to rebait & reset as necessary. A huge effort & heros all, just like these guys. The catch word in all this, is introduced pedators, rats, weasels, stoats, ferrets, possums. We are lucky we don't have foxes & bigger predators. Until mankind arived in NZ we had none at all, other than hawks, hence our birdlife evolved in the absence of predators & are especially vulnerable.
On the other hand, Roe deer aren't predators, & I reckon we could do with a few of these.
Steve

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shinz
.300 member


Reged: 11/05/08
Posts: 135
Loc: New Zealand
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: 9.3x57]
      #124484 - 19/01/09 08:25 AM

Quote:

Really interesting and bravo!

Here in the States we have rounded the bend and now are supposed to celebrate all predators regardless of what they do to game or bird populations or anything else for that matter, including pets, livestock and little kids.

Someday maybe the Common Sense of Insanity will grip your nations, too, and such fellows as these two will be remembered as Wicked Destroyers of All Things Good just like pest controllers increasingly are here.

Get this: My son just scrapped his plans for a wildlife management degree due to the insanity of current philosophies at university. One of his professors did a study on coyotes in urban Chicago and now promotes the growth of urban coyote populations everywhere. If you disagree with this you are ostracized and forget about getting a good grade in the class.

Alan, I can see the veins bulging in your head right now...

Yes, it is the world turned upside down.

Funny, since you Upside Downers are still Rightside Up!!

Count your blessings while they last...



9.3x57, I guess the difference here is the "'yotes" are native to NA so this guy sees them as being worth preserving. As in my previous post. Everything these guys target is an introduced pest & gets no sympathy from anyone. The same mentality lets our DOC (Dept of Conservation)1080 poison our deer herds with the support of the Forest & Bird types so I don't think my Roe deer scheme would be a goer.
Steve

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ALAN_MCKENZIE
.400 member


Reged: 24/03/04
Posts: 1214
Loc: Western Australia
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: shinz]
      #124498 - 19/01/09 12:29 PM

You will note that no deer were included in the list of pests trapped or shot.
The reason:- both men are hunters of the occational deer when the larder is low.
How do I know this?
The bloke on the left,Bob Walkington is my father inlaw..
Al

--------------------
"Dogs always bark at their master"
Sir Seretse Khama.25th June 1949

Edited by ALAN_MCKENZIE (19/01/09 12:30 PM)

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NitroXAdministrator
.700 member


Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39300
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: ALAN_MCKENZIE]
      #124528 - 19/01/09 11:42 PM

Quote:

You will note that no deer were included in the list of pests trapped or shot.
The reason:- both men are hunters of the occational deer when the larder is low.
How do I know this?
The bloke on the left,Bob Walkington is my father inlaw..
Al



Well done to him.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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ALAN_MCKENZIE
.400 member


Reged: 24/03/04
Posts: 1214
Loc: Western Australia
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: shinz]
      #124536 - 20/01/09 01:18 AM

shinz,both of these blokes are pushing 80 and are volunteers,the only reward is seeing native wildlife returning and increasing in numbers.

Al

--------------------
"Dogs always bark at their master"
Sir Seretse Khama.25th June 1949

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shinz
.300 member


Reged: 11/05/08
Posts: 135
Loc: New Zealand
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: ALAN_MCKENZIE]
      #124574 - 20/01/09 07:41 AM

Quote:

shinz,both of these blokes are pushing 80 and are volunteers,the only reward is seeing native wildlife returning and increasing in numbers.

Al



I sure hope that I can look that good & be that fit if I get to that age, your FIL looks like a good keen man thru & thru.
Allan,I hope you didn't think I was in anyway belittling their efforts in my first post. I have huge admiration & respect for them & others like them. All things being equal, when family are off my hands I hope I am still fit enough to join the ranks of these volunteers in some way or other.
Steve.

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mehulkamdar
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/04
Posts: 3688
Loc: State of Ill-Annoy USA.
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: ALAN_MCKENZIE]
      #125085 - 25/01/09 01:37 PM

Alan,

My hat's off to your father in law and his friend. I do wish that if I ever reach that ripe old age, I would be able to hunt like he does. Here's wishing him many more years of great hunting!

--------------------
The Ark was made by amateurs. Experts built the Titanic.

Mehul Kamdar

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ALAN_MCKENZIE
.400 member


Reged: 24/03/04
Posts: 1214
Loc: Western Australia
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: mehulkamdar]
      #125108 - 25/01/09 07:45 PM

Thankyou Mehul,I shall pass on your kind comments.
Al

--------------------
"Dogs always bark at their master"
Sir Seretse Khama.25th June 1949

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JohnWilkes
.300 member


Reged: 19/01/09
Posts: 113
Loc: SA
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: ALAN_MCKENZIE]
      #125221 - 27/01/09 07:49 PM

A top effort,running trap lines/bait sites is hard work and you cant do it if you don't love it.(I know, I'm stupid enought to do it for a living!) so hats off to these two gentlemen volunteers,over the three score years and ten and still going strong. A great example of true, dedicated practical conservationists rather than the wolly thinking "PC" item that gets all the exposure and undeserved
credit.

--------------------
Horses for courses
Guns for game
Hounds for grounds

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muzza
.224 member


Reged: 30/08/08
Posts: 5
Loc: Noo Zeelund
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: JohnWilkes]
      #132761 - 19/04/09 06:10 PM

These two old guys - Rex is indeed nearing 80 and Bob is closer to 70 than 80 I suggest - are the driving force on conservation work in that 1000 acre block. Its part pine forest , mostly gorse and scrub and all bloody steep. They started with a bulldozed , central track and have hand-cut kilometres of tracks on many of the ridges to install their traplines.

Most of this work has been funded by various conservation grants , but no really big amounts of money has been forthcoming. They just keep on chipping away with what funding they have , and obviously they get results.

My small boy and I help them out with some goat control there several times a year , and we often take a quad ride long the main track emptying possums from the killtraps and bagging the odd goat or feral sheep.

The unfortunate thing really is that these two guys are not getting younger , and so far there doesnt seem to be anyone as dedicated as them coming along to replace them.

The reason for no mention of deer in the article is because there are no deer in this block , nearest deer are at least ten kms away on the other side of a hydro dam , and only open hill-country pasture between. It would be brilliant fallow country tho - I suggest it all the time .....

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ALAN_MCKENZIE
.400 member


Reged: 24/03/04
Posts: 1214
Loc: Western Australia
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: muzza]
      #132787 - 19/04/09 10:47 PM

Just for the record muzza they are both on the wrong side of 70 and are therefore heading for 80 +
They pay all there own costs,except for major items which are supplied by donors.

Al

--------------------
"Dogs always bark at their master"
Sir Seretse Khama.25th June 1949

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muzza
.224 member


Reged: 30/08/08
Posts: 5
Loc: Noo Zeelund
Re: NEW ZEALAND PEST BUSTERS HONORED [Re: ALAN_MCKENZIE]
      #132980 - 21/04/09 05:01 PM

No arguments there Alan - I still think Bob is more like 74 than 77 , and Rex is certainly more like 77 than 74 , hence my comment.

I know exactly how they fund their operations , I am a member of the local Forest and Bird Branch , and have assisted with building materials , and traps from a nearby project , as well as any pest control work we have done in the area.These guys are a living example of how to acheive a lot on very little funding.

I take my hat off to these old blokes , long may they be able to carry on

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