Steps to a pest-free Garden
 

1: Use Timms traps for catching rats and possums.

2: Use DOC 200 traps for stoats, rats and hedgehogs. Hedgehogs do not deserve their Mrs tiggy-winkle reputation since they eat eggs and chicks of birds that nest on the ground.

3: Put bait stations on posts or trees a metre off the ground to stop dogs accidentally coming into contact with bait.

4: Use Brodifacoum bait for rats and possums and RatAbate for rats.

5: Check traps at least once a week. Check and top up bait stations every two days initially.

6: Try a self-setting trap to catch rats and stoats from Goodnature. A possum trap is being trialled. See www.goodnature.co.n

7: Complete an NZQA course on pest control. See www.nzqa.govt.nz

8: Plant flowering native plants to attract native birds.

9: Put a bird feeder in your garden to top up the food your plants provide.