Re: Vermin
 

Oh and on rats and mice ....the bloody blue bait blocks DON'T work - set a couple and they haven't been touched depsite droppings all around them.

Re: Vermin
 

I read somewhere that artificial sweetners or beer are a safe alternative for killing rice and rats. Supposedly they eat or drink the above and then blow up and die. Seems a waste of beer but if it works! :eek:

Re: Vermin
 

...wrong sort of rat....that'd be a 'love rat' - a sub species of the human male, habitat - cheesy bars, prey - anything in a skirt that breathes, if you feed it a combination of beer AND sweetners 'only for girls - real men eat sugar' they will blow up (or fart a lot) :D

Re: Vermin
 

I found the best way to get rats to eat bait is to have it in a tub under the sink, the buggers chew through the tub and eat the lot! :blink::unsure: Blue poop everywhere! Unfortunately that's when they chew through the water pipes to the dishwasher and filtered water as well :(:frown:

Have you tried putting peanut butter on the bait? Apparently they go mad for the stuff. We've had no problem getting them to eat the bait, you do need to hide all other food stuff away as well so they're hungery. We also have an old fashioned trap but i hate the thing.

Re: Vermin
 

Same as stoats, in that they kill young birds, eggs, etc.... I've not had much of a problem with them (touch wood!) but one of my chooks was bitten by something, probably one of them, when she was sitting on eggs, and a neighbour has lost several young ducks to them.

Alot of people get problems with pukeko around flat grass areas, they eat young and eggs as well, but we haven't had any problems with them and i think they're lovely!

Re: Vermin
 

They're not getting any food from us....maybe next door......I'll try the peanut butter trick as I used to bait mouse traps with it in the Uk and it worked a treat. My cat and i had a running comeption who could kill the most....but since the flight over here he just looks at the mice with in difference! Perhaps the Department of Conservation had a word with him at the airport about not endangering local wildlife ;)

Re: Vermin
 

I have that problem with mine as well Wooly!! I've one pommie cat and a kiwi one and both of them seem to look the other way! :confused:

In fact my daughter walked into her bedroom and spotted a mouse on her bed that quickly dashed off it when she walked in......the cat was led on the same bed not far from the mouse!!! Garfield anyone??? :rofl:

I think my neighbour sends her skinny cat up occasionally as she's sometimes in the chook pen chasing the mice and rats for me, unfortunately she hasn't trained (or shamed!) my cats into it yet!

Re: Vermin
 

Oddly enough I'm not afraid of praying mantis, we have bright green ones here in Egypt and they can be huge. The way they look right at you is rather cute in a freaky way :rofl:

Re: Vermin
 

OK ticking that off my list of places to see should we ever land in New Zealand.

:scaredhair: :scaredhair: :scaredhair: :scaredhair: :scaredhair:

Re: Vermin
 

http://www.naturespic.com/NewZealand/image.asp?id=15089

:scaredhair: :scaredhair: :scaredhair:

Re: Vermin
 

Not to open a new thread, I thought to revive this.

I goggled for ticks and the only one in NZ seems to be cattle tick. So there should be no lyme disease nor meningitis in NZ caused by those?

Re: Vermin
 

Tee Hee, a smidgen of political sattire methinks :rofl:

Re: Vermin
 

Cut down the amount you feed your cats :) that should incent them...

Re: Vermin
 

Oh dear just how bad are the mozzies? I hate them, they love me - am I going to be eaten alive? What do people recommend to deter them?

Re: Vermin
 

saw a dead rat when walking home thru Botany precinct the other night..:unsure: and we have seen a few cockroaches in the rented flat we're in at the mo..
saw a wuhu bug in the Coromandel.. fascinating... in fact spent an hour in the library reading a book on all the wildlife of NZ. cant wait to see a Weta!
jax