Missing traps myna drama on the Tweed
TWEED residents have snared thousands of indian mynas in traps as part of a shire-wide effort to reduce the population of one of the world’s most invasive bird species.
But there’s just one problem – residents have been so zealous in their efforts to catch the birds, referred to as ‘flying rats’ or ‘cane toads of the sky’, that the Tweed Shire Council is missing 50 of the traps it has been lending out since its program started in 2008.
While some of the humane bird traps may be gathering dust on garage floors, the council’s program leader of pest management Pamela Gray said there were many keen to trap the problem birds but not enough of them to go around.
She called on those who have the traps to return them to the council along with a record of how many birds were trapped, so other residents can continue with community trapping.
“There’s such good uptake in the community,” she said.
“There’s so many people coming on board, it would be great if people who aren’t using the traps could return them.”
While it’s hard to assess numbers of the introduced birds, Ms Gray believes the trapping in Tweed has gone a long way to reducing the effect the species has on native birds and animals.
She thanked trappers for their efforts to turn the tide on the myna, which is found in most of the shire and indeed the nation.
The indian myna (or common myna) causes problems for native species due to their competitive and aggressive nesting habits.
During nesting season they take over hollows and other locations that would otherwise be used by native species such as lorikeets, rosellas, kookaburras and sugar gliders.
The pest birds have even been known to kick animals as big as possums out of their hiding holes.