Nearly 50 rat trap boxes were built at a free, do-it-yourself backyard trapping workshop in Chingford Park hosted by the Dunedin City Council’s City Sanctuary project on Saturday.
Among the registered participants, Ted Menzies (15), of Mornington, said he loved native birds and wanted to do his bit to help protect them from predators.
The year 11 King’s High pupil said he had been trapping at home for 18 months and had caught 11 rats.
"I thought if I put a trap in my yard, I could make a bit of a difference," he said.
"I was trying to convince my mum for quite a while to get a trap and it wasn’t until she lifted up the lid of our compost bin and saw a rat in there that I finally convinced her that we had rats around.
"But everybody has rats around their property.
"I’m very, very sure that that is the case."
City Sanctuary project facilitator Kate Tanner said nearly 100 people came to the park in the morning for a trapping workshop where City Sanctuary staff showed traps that worked in an urban setting.
The workshop had a particular focus on pet and children’s safety, including using non-toxic baits, to target possums, rodents and mustelids around the house.
In the afternoon, 30 people had registered to build rat trap boxes, but more showed up.
They built their own rat trap box, were shown how to use it, and then sent home to trap in their backyards.
City Sanctuary is one of three Predator Free Dunedin projects.
It is being delivered by the city council.
