COVID-19 level three may have temporarily stopped us from getting out into reserves to track predators, but you can still take part and contribute to science in our local area at home! We even have some fantastic prizes to be won by getting involved.
We have leftover chew cards to monitor what pest animals you have visiting your backyard to give away. They won't last another season so lets get them used up! We would appreciate being able to build a bit of a 'pest map' of what is found on private properties across Kaipātiki since so much of Kaipatiki’s beautiful green space is actually privately owned. We want to identify what areas are the safest, and which might need an injection of new traps or bait stations to control rodents, possum, hedgehog and other pests that are so damaging to our native biodiversity.
Drop into our next toolshed on the 12th September to pickup yours. Read our how-to guide here, place out your card and collect in again after 3 days. Take some good images of it and share on our facebook page so we can help identify any bite marks you find.
There are lots of other ways to get involved in Citizen science month - now extended out into September! Every single piece of information collected helps us better protect your neighbourhood. These include - A five- minute bird count (and logging any local Kaka sightings on iNaturalist!) - Do a bug count - Go for a walk and log pest plants on EcoTrack - To monitor your own stream at home, register an interest in a stream workshop - email here.