Eradicating pests in your own backyard will be made easier with Predator Free Bay of Plenty's Tauranga Trap Library.

The Sunday, December 11, Predator Free BOP is hosting an open day for the Tauranga Pest Trap Library.

Unlike a regular library with books, the Tauranga Trap Library will provide an arsenal of free traps that can be hired for three months – giving pests in your backyard their final chapter.

'We've got a collection of traps here that deal with most pests – possums, stoats, ferrets, hedgehogs, even stray cats, wild cats, feral cats – so that's what the Pest Trap Library is for,” says Predator Free BOP co-ordinator Luke Judd.

Breaking barriers

Luke says a big deterrent of people trapping is the cost of traps. 'They range anything from $40-$150 so if someone sees a possum in their backyard they might just go: ‘Well hopefully it'll move on – I can't be bothered having to buy the trap, setting the trap or what if goes away?'

'Hopefully offering it for free will be removing that barrier for people to start entering the trapping world.”

The aim of the Trap Library is to eradicate pests from BOP backyards says Luke, and to 'bring bird song back so that we can have native birds in our backyards”. 'The goal of the Pest Trap Library is to provide traps for those pests that aren't rats, like the possums and the stoats.”

Tips and tricks

Once you have trapped a pest, the rest will be up to you, says Luke. 'We provide as much support as we can – we have instructional videos, tips and tricks and we also try remind people how can they dispose of the animals afterwards...we try make it as easy and safe as possible.”

Predator Free BOP also offer bait tips to get your trapping going. '[For] Stoats you would probably want to use something like an egg as bait, possums apples; rats – peanut butter and Nutella, so you're not having to go out and buy a specialised lure.”

Due most of these pests being nocturnal hunters, creeping around while we sleep, Luke says anyone with a suspicion should hire a free trap. 'If they've seen droppings, or if they've seen their veggies being eaten or their fruit trees being attacked, if they've got signs of suspicion then I'd encourage them to get a trap because either you catch nothing and just return the trap or you catch something.”

The Tauranga Trap Library will be open at 31B Glasgow St, Tauranga, on Sunday, December 11. For more details, visit: https://www.predatorfreebop.nz/#intro-home