how do people catch natives?

[K R Brown]

can you buy nets etc sim to eel fyke catch bullies we have been using lil net with bucket etc i've heard you can get nets etc

[preacher]

I just use a $5 net from the warehouse...

P.

[supasi]

Depends on what natives you want to catch.

By far the easiest is at night with a spotlight.

Bullies are easily caught during the day by placing a net downstream from a rock and lifting the rock. Usually you will get a net full of detritus and occasionally a bully or two. This is also a good way to catch Koura.

At night bullies can be caught by quietly sneaking up and gently placing a net next to fish and using a small stick you chase the fish into the net. They are really easy to catch when blinded by the spotlight.

Kokopu are a bit more difficult. Im sure Stella will pipe up with her methods soon, LOL

[nativelover]

the warehouse always has good nets

[Stella]

haha, Supasi, you did a good job!

All I could add to that is midwater fish (inanga, smelt) are best caught by holding the net underneath them and lifting it up vertically - they don't see it that way.

Traps can be effective but risky for the fish. Sometimes there are cheap ones at the warehouse or similar, but hand nets are great.

(I have the ranch sliders open and the lights on, Maxine the giant kokopu is getting a wonderful feed of big moths tonight!)

[Stella]

(big moth #4 down the hatch!)

[Zev]

Pics or video of said giant moth eating fish in action?

[Stella]

She is actually pretty useless at the moment. Not used to feeding off the surface, and really dislikes getting duckweed in her mouth.

I will get her trained up and take a video sometime.

She has had six now, but the supply has dried up a bit. I hope to get some kind of UV lamp for collecting them over summer - free food! And hopefully she will accept cicadas this year.

[preacher]

Maybe you could promote Kokopu as an ethical and environmentally safe pest control solution for homes Stella

P.

[Stella]

I saw a UV bug trap used to catch adult mayflies etc which was a modded standard solar garden lamp with a UV LED. I am really keen to con someone into making me one for summer.

Imagine that over your pond, Preacher, it would be CARNAGE! :lol:

Also keen to take a pot of mealworms spotlighting one day to see if I can feed wild kokopu. Now that would be satisfying!

Hmmm, we are just a little off topic......

[preacher]

Pond... With all this rain tonight I have a lake. The pond was beginning to overflow earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if I have a 5yr old chasing fish across the garden in the morning. I KNOW those Galaxids can get out because I've found them half way down the garden in the leaf litter puddles before.

[Caryl]

My dad used to have to rake the goldfish off the lawn back into the pond after a downpour :lol:

[rong]

Moth traps - I run two of them most nights to feed geckos and native frogs.

One I made from an old desk fan (2 speed model cos it needs to be slow speed or the fan chops up the moths) fixed inside a bucket with a 60w clear bulb above and a large rain shield above that to keep the electrics dry, a hole in the bottom of the bucket to take a kitchen sieve, and a hole in the kitchen sieve to let the moths thru into a plastic jar fixed underneath. The plastic jar also has small holes in it to allow air current to pass thru. The holes in the jar are made by heating a nail over the kitchen stove and piercing the jar with the hot nail.

The 2nd moth trap is a bug catcher from Bunnings ($100) which catches small flies as well as moths but is not allowed to get wet (ie its not wet weather proof) so stays under the porch at home. It also has a faster fan which unfortunately chops many of the larger moths. I replaced the collecting jar it came with with a sieve and plastic jar same as the trap above. The jar above also has a self closing flap so that the moths don't escape when removing it from the sieve. The self closing flap is the lid of a margarine container cut into a star pattern in the centre so that the points of the star open downward when the jar is pushed up against the sieve. The margarine container lid is cut to fit inside the lid of the jar and the jar lid has the centre cut out of it so the moths can pass thru.

I hope all that makes sense.

Ron.

[Zev]

I hope all that makes sense.

Ron.

Errr.... I think pics are in order here

[Stella]

Sounds very cunning! but yes, photos would help clarify.

I caught two big moths for my giant kokopu last night.

For a week I have had a UV light to attract moths, and found no moths. I give it back and that night two moths bumble in randomly through my window :roll:

[rong]

Pics may take a bit to organise - will try tho. Moths think a bright light is the moon and navigate by it (eg keep it over their left shoulder) but as they get closer they end up circling around it, spiralling in closer - so doesn't have to be uv to work - does have to be a moonless overcast night tho. Ron.

[rong]

The bug catcher from bunnings with modified light (the fluorescent circuit died after a while) and sieve and catching jar. This jar has another jar inside to separate the larger moths from the small moths. Ron.

[Stella]

INSPIRED!

[rong]

This shows the home made bucket moth catcher in situ - it is out there in all weather. The light is mounted under the lid. A fan sits inside in the middle to suck the moths down, a kichen sieve (minus the handle) is screwed on over a hole in the bottom of the bucket, two slits in the side of the backet at the to lets the light out and the moths in. A wire hoop holds a plastic collecting jar in place underneath. All basically very simple. The key points are a slow speed on the fan, all electrical connections are hidden inside the fan housing (the top of the fan housing is sealed and waterproof (the fan throws off any water that does get in out to the side anyway)).(The standard light fitting on top is silicon sealed also). The large polycardb sheet is a snug fit on the outside of the bucket, tucked up under the rim of the bucket and held with a couple of wire pins. The hardest part was finding a steel rim that would fit inside the bucket and a steel bracket to take the mounting rod. The rim is a pizza/pie base cutter and the bracket came out of an old photocopier ( I am one of those hoarders that pull those sort of things apart and keep the pieces just in case they come in handy one day). Ron

[rong]

Showing the fan inside the bucket, plus the steel rim, arm bracket, and the hole in the sieve that the collecting jar fits over