Boffa Miskell Ltd | Pest Animal Management Plan | Wharekirauponga Compensation Package | 30 May 2022 9 (as per the trap setting checklist in Appendix 1) and using large, fresh meat lures (preferably rabbit) and placing traps in locations within preferred ferret habitats. • Weasels have a typically patchy distribution and populations are subject to rapid fluctuations in both numbers and extent (King et al., 2001). They can be found in farmland and scrub, on the margins between forest and open country (King, 2005; Strang et al., 2018). In New Zealand, birds, invertebrates and reptiles are a larger component of weasels’ diets than in other countries (Strang et al., 2018), but primarily they eat mice and insects (King et al., 2001). Mustelids will be controlled across the WAPMA, primarily via trapping. Secondary poisoning is also an effective means of controlling stoats and potentially other mustelids from the landscape, particularly trap shy individuals. The use of toxins via secondary poisoning to suppress stoats within the project area will be considered as mustelids are often poisoned via secondary poisoning when they scavenge rats, possums or other animals that have been killed with baits containing 1080 or brodifacoum that have been either ground laid in bait stations or aerially dispersed (Alterio & Moller, 2000; Gillies & Pierce, 1999; Murphy et al., 1999). Further, the toxin PAPP may be used as an additional direct control tool for stoats if deemed necessary. 2.5 Hedgehogs Hedgehogs are mainly insectivorous but have proven to be a major predator on eggs of riverbed breeding birds such as banded dotterel and black-fronted tern and have been known to kill and eat chicks of a variety of ground-nesting birds as well as native lizards (Department of Conservation, 2021a). There have been over 11 reported events of hedgehogs predating on Southern Bell Frogs in New Zealand, this was observed through a mixture of scat and stomach content analysis as well as direct observations of hedgehogs eating live frogs (Egeter et al., 2015). This suggests Leiopelma species, including Archey’s frog may be potential prey items of hedgehogs within their range. Hedgehogs are commonly captured in trap networks targeting rats and mustelids, which also means that traps triggered by hedgehogs are no longer available to these target species until the trap is checked and cleared. Reducing the hedgehog population will consequently increase the effectiveness of the trap network as well as reducing predation pressure on some native fauna. Hedgehogs will be controlled via traps and have also been shown to be effectively controlled after aerial 1080 drops. 2.6 Feral cats Although the control of feral cats is a controversial topic in some areas, their control is crucial where threatened native species, including lizards and frogs, are present. Cats are generalist predators and are significant predators of New Zealand’s vulnerable native fauna. Their diet typically consists of small mammals such as rabbits, hares and rodents, birds, and their eggs, and, to a lesser extent, lizards, and invertebrates. Feral cats also have negative indirect impacts, such as through competition for food and space, as well as through the transmission of disease (Medina et al., 2011). Feral cats are usually solitary and sparsely distributed, with measured home ranges in excess of 200 ha (National Pest Control Agencies, 2018b). Young males are often driven out or leave their kin group when they near sexual maturity between 1 and 3 years old and disperse across the landscape. Feral cats live in most
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