I am Weasel! - Not

[davidb]

yes there was one instance where a PhD student was doing their research and had radiotagged a number of kiwi. from extrapolation (as obviously the dog didn't only go for radiotagged kiwi) we can estimate that the single dog wiped out 400 kiwi. Dogs are a far bigger threat to kiwi than mustelids. Kiwi are pretty large and hardy in comparison to many other natives, which is why they have been doing so well in Northland. Of the mustelids stoats are the biggest threats, not only do they kill for fun but they can swim over a km. You can tell the relative hardiness of different birds by looking at when they became extinct on the mainland. Many native snipe and other small ground dwelling birds became extinct when the kiore arrived 750 years ago, then saddlebacks etc went when the larger rats arrived, it is thought that mustelids caused the extinction of huia and are definatly the cause of the decline in kakapo on the mainland. Whio too, are primarialy threatened by stoats and feral cats. And I havent even got into possums.... possums eat invertebrates, endangered endemic mistletoe, rata and various other trees, they eat birds eggs and I have even see photos of them eating baby birds- vicious little bastards. Hedgehogs are underrated as a pest IMO too. I have caught many a hedgehog in traps surrounding dotterel nests, as the hedgehogs have a great sense of smell and just walk over and eat the dotterel eggs. They are also a big killer of native inverts along with rats. Ill leave pigs, deer and feral cats for another day haha!