Traps ordered after $14K grant

PREDATOR Free Arrowtown hopes to have an ‘‘iron ring’’ of traps around the township within the next 12 months.

The community trapping group has ordered 100 Doc 250 traps after receiving a $14,000 grant from the QEII National Trust’s Stephenson Fund.

The group’s coordinator, Ben Teele, said they would add to a growing network of traps for catching ferrets and other predators on the upper slopes of the hills overlooking the town.

The group would have more than 400 traps in the field by the end of this month, and that number was expected to exceed 500 by the end of the year.

The goal was to have traplines completely encircling Arrowtown.

‘‘We want to have an iron clad control line above and around the township.’’

Since it started with 10 traps less than two years ago, the group has grown into a small army of volunteers who install and maintain the traplines.

Mr Teele said the Arrowtown Golf Club and Millbrook Resort were already on board, and he planned to approach The Hills Golf Club for its help to complete the circle.

The group had also benefited from fundraising at the Arrowtown Long Lunch and a golf tournament at Millbrook Resort last month, which would be used to buy more traps.

❛ We want to have an ironclad control line above and around the

township