Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Biosecurity team can assist residents to control possums on their property with advice and by making traps available.
Where necessary a wider control operation will be carried out to reduce possum numbers to low levels.
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For more information you can also refer to the Frequently Asked Questions and the notice provided to Napier Hill residents in November 2008.
You can purchase a Timms trap from Farmlands at a price subsidised 50% by the Regional Council. Information on using these is in an Environment Topic.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is proposing to carry out a possum control operation over Napier Hill starting in February and progressing through to June 2009.
This operation is one of the Council’s HUB programmes to increase urban biodiversity and improve lifestyles in the city. It will have widespread benefit for Napier city as the reduction of possums will result in increased native birdlife and tree health over a wider area.
The focus will be on reducing possums to a low level over Napier Hill, especially in the steep gullies, and we will be working with Napier City Council as their staff will do control work in their parks and reserves.
You can read the notice provided to Napier Hill residents in November 2008 about the operation.
The operation will use a variety of safe, proven control methods. The control methods being used in this urban area have been used very successfully and safely in similar operations in Auckland and Wellington.
The appropriate method for private property will be selected in discussion with the owner/occupier and the success of the operation will depend on community support. Traps will be checked daily removing all possums from the property.
Methods include live capture traps, Timms Trap, Possum Master and bait stations. For more detail see the notice provided to Napier Hill residents.
You can find out more information on the bait that will be used in this Greater Wellington Regional Council info sheet.
If you have any concerns with regard to young children or pets, please discuss this with the Regional Council’s contractor when he calls.
The Regional Council contractor is Rural Pest Services. The contractors will carry ID cards. They will contract all property owners/residents whose land they would like to access and will need your signed permission before they do any control work. They will advise residents on the control methods and safety aspects. All control methods will be locatable by GPS so they can be maintained and retrieved at the end of the operation.
If you know you have a possum problem now (perhaps a particular tree or route favoured by the possums in your neighbourhood) please let the contractor know when they contact you as the information will be valuable in planning the best placement of traps.
The Regional Council will aim to maintain possum density at a low level with the assistance of Napier City Council and residents. Residents can assist by regularly servicing a bait station or kill trap on their property. These are can be purchased at Farmlands at a price subsidised 50% by the Regional Council.
Similar operations will be managed in the future in other urban areas. You can find more answers on the FAQ page.
If you require any further information please contact Biosecurity Officer Dean Roughton by email or phone (06) 833-8088.