Ditch (left) is shown boundaries by Garth Cumberland, chairman of the ADRG, a group that manages pest control on 1000ha covering 47 individual titles. Photo supplied.

This makes a lot of sense as the types of pest animals we deal with are extremely mobile and their daily travels are not restricted by any form of fencing.

This problem has been exacerbated with the now common subdivision of large farms into smaller lifestyle-type blocks and many find that treating pest animals on their land has a minimal and short lived effect. Animals will quickly move back in from outside the boundary, leaving many feeling that good money has been spent for very little return.

The reinvasion issue is a complex one and exactly how it affects you depends on what pest species are present and what part of their habitat requirements your property provides.

All pest animals require a certain level of cover i.e. nesting and den sites, and a range of suitable feeding areas e.g. seasonally available vegetation, grasses, seeds etc.  Seldom are all of these requirements provided by one property but even in situations where they are, the animals quickly increase in number and simply must spread out onto adjoining lands.

In either scenario everyone suffers eventually.

Engaging with your neighbours improves the economy of scale in terms of the size of the area and the number of animals that can be treated at one time; this dramatically increases the overall controlling effect and best of all it significantly reduces the cost to treat each property.

As an example of this, I provided rabbit control to a 15-acre, equine property where they had serious problems. Multiple visits were required to achieve the desired results and the cost to this property was just over $800.

As rabbits were known to be prolific in the immediate area we began talking with adjoining landowners and by the following April we had 14 neighbours prepared to share the cost of another round of control.

Great results were achieved on this operation. Dozens of burrows were fumigated and more than 200 rabbits were shot, 60 possums were also accounted for and were an added bonus when engaging a professional night shooter.

The resulting cost to each property was a little over $80 and the control effect was such that they are unlikely to require my services for at-least another year.  Future control on these properties is only going to be maintenance and the costs will continue to decrease each year.

Working with our neighbours is a skill that many of us have lost in these modern times. Sharing the cost of effective pest control might be just what is needed to get us and our environment back on track.

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