Phill Waddington is on a mission: to build the ultimate trap for killing stoats, arguably the biggest threat to New Zealand's native bird population.
He is being funded by the Department of Conservation, which is desperate to get a return from money it has spent trying to control the pests.
The
Petone artist's so-called Waddington Backcracker is designed to give stoats no chance. It has four spring-powered bars that hammer against metal blades inside.
Mr Waddington will build a set of traps for testing in the bush within the next few months.
He said DoC had found that other traps cost too much or did not work well against stoats. Its hunt for the right poison or a biological control method had also failed.
His trap is baited with egg and set by pulling an external lever. This avoids the risk of getting fingers caught in the mechanism and reduces the human scent, which stoats do not like.
Mr Waddington has been making traps for about 30 years, going back to his days as a part-time possum trapper.
His stoat trap idea was prompted by a report that kiwis were facing extinction within six years.
But it is also a spin-off from his other mission - to preserve a patch of bush in Stokes Valley, near Wellington.
He bought the 22ha block in The Glen seven years ago to save it from developers and has poured all the proceeds from his work as an artist into it.
He has closed off a track because vandals, plant thieves and cannabis cultivators were causing too much damage. Mr Waddington also has been trapping possums, rats and feral cats to save what he says is a unique stand of bush.
Although surrounded by houses, the block has native birdlife that is flourishing to the point where wood pigeons are moving in.
He said DoC, the Botanical Society and Forest and Bird were interested in supporting his efforts because it was a good place to study the effects of urban development on native bush.
The Queen Elizabeth Trust has supported his bid to have a conservation covenant registered on the land to give the bush permanent protection.
- NZPA
nzherald.co.nz/environment
