The sudden rise in mustelid populations is directly related to the food available to them. Plentiful supplies of food triggers dormant fertilised eggs stored inside the females to start to develop. The best way to control mustelids is to control their food source and rodents form a large percentage of this.

enviroMate 100^{TM '}s role in rodent control is therefore effectively facilitating the control of mustelid populations through the ongoing limiting and decline of resident rat populations

Mustelids soon find enviroMate’s that are targeting rodents, first with pre-feeds then with contained acute doses of poison. The mustelids come to prey on the live rats and mice that are coming to the regular but small “dinner” the enviroMate 100^TM is programmed to release to the rodents, over an extended length of time prior to the “last supper!”

As the time of the “last supper” draws near species specific traps such as; SA kill traps, modified leghold traps, cage traps, DOC 200, fenn’s etc, ……. are brought to the enviroMate 100^TMs sites then set and maintained for a week with fresh meat baits.

In more remote locations , further research may conclude enviroMate 100^TM loaded with fresh mince baits containing Papp toxin may suffice. As a last resort 2^nd generation toxin can be loaded in the food compartments of the enviroMate 100^TM with possum excluders fitted to allow only rats access to the “last dinner”. This having the net result publically suggested in DOC research, as well as dramatically reducing residue toxin burden to the environment.

One single 1080 pallet not eaten by a possum, has enough available toxins in it to kill up to 20 rats if they share it and do not take it away and hoard it.

Eco-land Ltd suggest it is pointless to randomly place stoat traps here and there around the landscape while rodent populations run unchecked. Stoat and rodent pest operations must work in tandem to provide lasting environmental gains.

Cats role as the final predator in the food chain must be considered in an operation to target rodents and mustelids. Cats act aggressively toward stoats and weasels and they prey on the same food as stoats ; mice, rabbits and rats as well as other moving things, but because they are known to kill mustelids, they are the last to target. Planning an intense multi pest operation of speed and diligence is important to efficiently and effectively lower these predator populations simultaneously within a short time frame

This is a real and recent operational experience:

At Kauri Cliffs In early summer 2019, enviroMate 100^TM were placed strategically across the landscape. The goal was to assist the permanent pest controller, Troy, deal with the yearly (historic data anticipated) surge in transient possum’s, rats and mustelids. The first 14 days of deployment targeted possums then rats, with pre feed then toxin. The next 14 days they continued to targeted rats to the point of “no bait take”. Then DOC 200 trap lines were baited with fresh foods by Troy and maintained every second day. Initial stoat capture was high, including several mature adults, but capture dropped away quickly.

Where cat presence was identified through carcass scavenging, cats were also targeted using SA2 traps and cage/ box traps