Rocky Bay Rat Trial

You may have seen recently that there have been adaptations to the operational rat pilot due to Omicron disruptions. In the adapted pilot design, there are three separate operational trials to answer the specific questions that island-wide eradication poses. This week, we will outline how each of the trials works and what will be learned from them.

The Rocky Bay trial will run through the months of June and July in collaboration with the Rocky Bay Ratbusters. The trial is designed to understand rat behaviour around bait stations, if interactions differ between bait station designs, and if service frequency influences rat behaviour or bait take.

“We want to learn how rats interact with different bait stations to best inform the islandwide eradication plan,” says Rat Operations Manager Markus Gronwald. “We also have questions about rat bait consumption in areas with well organised, intense community rat control and if it differs to uncontrolled sites.”

To answer these questions the trial is split into three distribution segments. A network of Te Korowai o Waiheke bait stations will intersperse with a selection of residential Rocky Bay Ratbusters stations included in the trial. A third batch will be distributed in an area that has had little or no previous rat control.

The Rocky Bay Ratbusters will continue their pulse quarterly as per their usual practise while Te Korowai o Waiheke stations will be serviced every week. Trail cameras will monitor the stations during the trial and at its completion, the footage will be analyzed and findings revealed.

"Rat activity around bait stations that have been in the area for years may differ to activity around devices that are relatively new in the environment. "The camera footage will allow us to evaluate rat activity around the bait stations over time. We want to achieve zero activity, which is not always easy when rats can immigrate from unmanaged areas into areas with ongoing rat control."

Thank you to Rocky Bay Ratbuster for joining us in this trial, we look forward to learning together.

If you have further questions about this or any other trial, submit them here. They will be answered in the upcoming webinar with Rat Operations Manager, Markus Gronwald on Wednesday, March 16th at 5:30 pm (details on the Facebook event page). Alternatively, you can send enquiries directly to our community liaison rob@tekorowaiowaiheke.org.