New, from the Far North

Hi KaiparaEcoVill. Have you tryd raw pheasant meat? It's really good! You can either do it in lemon juice like a raw fish, or just eat it straight off the bone whyle the meat is still warm. There are a lot of pukekos here as there is about 100acres of Raupo and other wetlands. At least with so many pukes, it gives the other water birds a chance, as the preditors such as Rats, Stoats, Harrier Hawks and Possums are bizzy eating the pukekos. You know your doing alright on pest control when lots of the pukeko babies survive. Nature has a ballence and if you are improving the sircumstance of the property, then you end up being able to start hunting some of the bird species without upsetting nature too much. The biggest threat is the giant Tunna (eel) deep in the swamp holes. Some of them are bigger than me. Straight up. This opening weekend, 1 mallard drake that I shot landed on the other side of the pool I was shooting from. I didn't have my retrieving dog with me on that day so I had to cross the swamp to get it. By the time I got around to the other side, I noticed my dead duck was diving upside down. I thaught that's not right, and with a closer look, a Tunna bigger than my leg was dragging my kill to the dark detpths of the hole. I had to fight it off with a six foot length of Manuka! to get my duck back. When I first put my decoys out, they were trying to pull them under too. As I am a bare foot hunter, I always make sure to keep my toes moving!!! when I'm walking through there. I don't kill these eels as they are our Toanga and some are over 150yrs old. They have a different type of fat anyway. I much prefer smoking 1 from the stony bottom rivers and streams up in the Mangataniwha Ranges. VM

Back when I fished for eels (or tuna, as you correctly point out they should be called) we threw the yellow-bellies back and kept the silver bellies. I must start doing that again, they will be moving upstream soon .....

LongRidge;394565 wrote: we threw the yellow-bellies back and kept the silver bellies. .....

I have no idea why you would throw the yellow bellies back? They are also verry yummy.

We haven't lived in the Far North, North of Keri Keri for long but one bird I do see a hell of a LOT of are Pukeko. They are every where.

They are everywhere up here, but they are pretty cool birds. So funny to watch!

In Thames, they were the ones that tasted muddy, and Thames mud did not taste very wonderful.

I caught a nice fat silver X yellow belly from the Ratea river just 5min's ago. It's a stony bottom river that comes out of the Mangamuka gorge. Very clean stream. We get both here and these ones all taste great! I have a nice little fire going. Might go get some Koura (freshwater crayfish) now, to go with my cup of Kawakawa tea.

We have heaps of fresh water crays in our creek behind the house but they are just tiny babies. My dad's yelling in my ear "look in the weeds, look in the weeds, that's where you'll find the adults". Mmmmmm I'm hungry now

I'm gonna build that nice little smoker soon and smoke me some manuka honey eel! We have plenty of washing machine bodies on the property from the previous owner and an old little fridge. Either of those should do.

Hey VM need your opinon on a trapping matter

Major problem with wild cats where we live, they hassle our cats, come inside house though cat door to raid cat food bowl.

I use a possum cage trap & drill holes in some cat biscuts & thread them onto a thin wire which I then wrap around the trigger hook

I have had good success with this method, but at the moment there is 1 that is still getting away with it

This particular cat has been caught in cage once, but on the way to paradise the cage was dropped allowing the door to open & the cat to run away laughing[!]

Have you any ideas or ways that I could use to encourage this cat back into trap?

Cheers Mate

That's the way Leone. You can build a smoker out of anything. I always like to install a chimbney to an external fire, so you can monitor the heat. Good luck! Let me know how it goes. I am happy to help with any info you may need on your build. The big Koura often like to hide under the bank or a big rock in the deepest part of the hole.

Clarry. You could try a different type of trap. Timms traps work well on cats but you need to be carefull if your neighbours or you have pet cats yourself. Otherwise could you staple or tie the cage down somehow so it doesn't tip over? You could try catching a Myna bird to use as live bait? hehehe. All else fails, a good high powerd slug gun sorts them out. Wild cats are awefully destructive in the bush, so it is good you are keeping on top of them. Do you skin them? They have beautiful fur.

Another thaught. How about a snare over your cat door?

Cheers

yeah snare had entered my mind

Our 2 pet cats complicate things some, but not impossible.

I liked the cage trap as friendlys can be released

Snares are reasonably gentile provided you check it regularly, although getting a wild cat out of 1 can prove to be a challenge. Have you thought about converting your cage trigger hook mechanism into a false floor setup? You just need a piece of ply wood on a hinge so when they stand on it, it shuts the door. May be easier for those wiery felines that are too smart to grab the hook. Another method is a 44 gallon drum with half the lid cut out and a floor set up on a swivel about a foot below the half lid and a counter weight that springs it back up once the puddy cat has fallen in. Put the bait on the side of the floor underneeth the half a lid that is left. That way they have to jump down onto the floor to get at the bait. Too late mate, your in. Let me know how you get on. VM

Turkey update: After all the negativaty on this site, I have decided to let the pukeko nest be. Instead, I have put some duck eggs under her. Good luck Honey Turkey!