Predator Free Masterton

Does it cost to join?

The traps and protective timber tunnel are available to Masterton households for a donation. Your donation helps to keep the programme going. As a guide, the cost for materials to make a wooden tunnel and trap is $20.

You can donate through our Give-a-Little Campaign:

https://givealittle.co.nz/org/waip2k

or direct debit into our bank account:

Account name: The Pukaha to Kawakawa Trust

Account number: 02-0608-0063691-00

Reference: Predator Free Masterton

Resources

Join our Facebook group!

Report a catch: Catch Reporting Form

About us

Whakaoriori Predator Free Masterton is a volunteer community effort to protect and encourage native wildlife in urban Masterton by targeting rats.

Why Predator Free?

We want to bring back native wildlife. With your help we can have the kereru, tui and morepork, lizards and other native species make their homes here again.

Rats are destructive. Eight percent of house fires are caused by rats chewing through electrical wires!

How does it work?

We are creating a community of backyard trappers. We want people to put rat traps in their backyards, keep them baited, and report catches. Simple!

Is it safe?

The traps are placed in wooden tunnels with wire mesh at each end to keep out domestic pets and little hands.

The bait for the trap is peanut butter or other pantry items. We are not using poison for this project.

The Plan

Successful trapping in one in five backyards is estimated to reduce the rat population to below 5 percent of current levels.

Our plan for the future is to connect our urban backyards with rural properties and beyond.

You can help by joining Masterton’s backyard trapping movement!