After a couple of false starts it appears that spring is finally here. I base this assumption purely on the rate of grass growth and plenty of young bunnies hopping about because weather-wise I would have said Spring was here three months ago.

Big haul - busy time of the year.

Among the many chores that we schedule for spring, pest animal work is often left out as things like pasture management, lambing and property maintenance take priority.

For those of you that have the time or a pest issue that just can’t be ignored any longer, early spring provides a last opportunity to put to use much of the possum and rabbit information provided in the previous Rural Living pest articles.

Possums have pretty much gone to ground over the last couple of wet months and are now emerging with another round of new young in search of all that spring brings. Pine trees were budding very early this year so many of you will have missed the boat on targeting possums in among your pines. Almost all other budding plants are well worth targeting however and you will find possums visiting very specific plants night after night until something else becomes more attractive.

I am taking a lot of calls about damage to roses at the moment, so keep an eye on anything fragrant and keep the Timms traps well baited and operational around ornamental type plantings. If you have willows or poplars on your property it will be worth checking them regularly for damage from now on as both become hugely attractive to possums when they are budding and producing new shoots, making them a great place to target a large portion of the local possum population.

Rabbit control becomes progressively more difficult from this point on as more and more young are born and there are simply more rabbits to deal with. Most female rabbits I have killed in the last couple of weeks are either heavily pregnant or already have the first litter of the season out and about so I wouldn’t put the rabbit control off for too much longer.

Poisoning is pretty much a no-go with so much new growth about; so focus on burrow fumigation, day and night shooting and the all important removal of cover. Raising piles of posts, sheets of iron etc well up off the ground will make them a lot less attractive and useful to rabbits and will allow you to see what is happening under them. 

As soon as it’s dry enough, get out and burn all of your brush/trimmings piles as these can hold huge numbers of rabbits. It’s probably not the most PC suggestion I have ever made but I for one would prefer to focus on keeping properties pest-free than worrying about the level of ice melt in 200 years time.

That’s it for this month. Make the most of your spring and don’t hesitate to drop me a line if they’re getting away on you.

Please help us to provide the advice you require by sending all pest animal questions to: info@coastalpestsolutions.co.nz