The next day I took out the paper and put in new ones. I changed the bait to rabbit meat to attract stoats.

After three nights the paper is taken out.

When we look at the paper what do you think we find?

Today we are rodent monitoring.

We can estimate the numbers of rats and stoats in an area by using tracking tunnels.

Rats and stoats love to run through these tunnels especially if there is food in them.

Here I am setting up the tracking tunnel.

The pink pad in the middle has ink and there is cardboard either end.

The rat walks through the tunnel and leaves it's footprints on the cardboard.

Peanut butter is spread on the entrance of the tunnel to attract the rats.

Hi there everyone in Room 1.
I enjoyed reading all your comments on the blog.

Since I last saw you I've been camping. I used all of the things that you found in my pack. The job I had to do when I went on this trip was rodent monitoring.

Kia ora Room 1 school students!









I loved coming to meet you. Do you remember all the things I had in my pack that I take into the bush? Now my new friend Bruce joins me in my work, look he's showing me which track to take!

What an amazing day at work!

Can you guess what we are doing with the kiwis?

Write some comments telling what you think is happening.

I had an amazing day out in the bush with John and Mr Seff the kiwi dog.

Mr Seff can follow the scent of a kiwi to where they are, instead of having to try to find them by radio tracking and looking in all of the places they could be.

She is also useful at finding birds whose radio transmitters have fallen off. Mr Seff is also good at helping John to find new kiwis.

Mr Seff would never try to hurt a kiwi (she likes sniffing them out and being praised too much!) but just in case she always wears a muzzle over her mouth when she is working.

This is John with a kiwi. Mr Seff found it's burrow then waited patiently outside the burrow until we got there.

I want a dog like Mr Seff, but it would be hard work to train him!