The cat and the rat

About a couple of months ago six rat traps and two stoat traps appeared at Ferndale Park.

I can only assume that this trapping programme is our city’s contribution to the lofty Predator Free Taranaki 2040 campaign.

I take our dog on a daily walk around this park and with my personal background in natural resource management I have taken a keen interest in the effectiveness of the traps.

So far the traps have only caught one rat, which incidentally has not been removed and has now decayed almost completely.

Since I know that there is nothing wrong with the trap design or their placement I would have expected a much higher initial kill as the bush and stream environment around this park seems ideal for rats?

So what has kept this naturally prolific rodent at such low numbers without any traps ?

I am posing this question now before the trapping enthusiasts claim that the trapping programme has produced such a low rat density.

In my neighbourhood every other household has at least one cat and one of my neighbours has five.

Despite this high density of what some cat haters claim to be ‘‘Natural Born Killers’’ we are surrounded by many native and introduced birds.

Could it be that our domestic moggies find hunting rats far easier and have done this job for free and that this additional trapping effort is little more than an expensive ‘‘feel good green wash’’? Herb Spannagl, New Plymouth