Killing animals is not something every person wants to be involved in so a conservation group has come up with a way of taking the squeamish aspect out of pest control.
The Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group is trialling possum traps that can be checked and the contents reported using a smartphone.
The group has the goal of eradicating possums from the entire peninsula and manager Cathy Rufaut said they were moving into a critical phase.
They would be tying to clear the area between Portobello and the more densely populated border suburbs of Dunedin City.
That would require a lot of co-operation from residents.''
For many people in town there is a squeamish aspect to pest control and if we can work with them in terms of still having a trap on their property but them not having to be too involved physically in it, it is a chance where we might be able to form more relationships with people.''
The app meant rangers would come and set the trap on properties and residents would only have to check the trap and scan a QR code (similar to a bar code) on the trap if it had a carcass in it.
One of OPBG's rangers would be alerted and could then come and clear it.1Ms Rufaut said that would save the group a lot of time because rangers would only have to visit traps that contained possums.
The Dunedin City Council's digital office has helped fund and support the project but Digital Office Projects manager Josh Jenkins said the project was in ''limbo'' at present, pending trials.
The app had been developed at cost by Dunedin company Pukeko Technologies following a council-sponsored event called Create IT that matched IT companies with people who needed solutions.
Ms Rufaut said they would be testing about 20 of the traps from April before seeking more funds to take the project further.
''It needs a field trial to see how it runs. The intention is to roll it out in April or March and see how it goes then.
''It is an idea and it has been developed in theory and in principle but it needs a pilot run to see if it actually works.''
