With many people experiencing high levels of rats and mice this winter, a new piece of Kiwi technology has arrived on the scene to deal to the problem.

After success with the conservation estate, Wellington company Goodnature has partnered with Farmlands to retail its A24 Rat/Stoat and A12 Possum traps to rural New Zealand.

Powered by pressurised CO2, the traps automatically reset to perform multiple kills.

Having developed the trapping systems initially for the Department of Conservation, director Stu Barr says the company saw demand for them in rural areas.

“With over half of our online orders being sent to rural delivery addresses, we thought we need a rural partner and Farmlands was a good match for us.”

Already the success stories are coming in.

Otaki lifestyle farmer Stephen Forsyth found one morning his Hilux truck wouldn’t start.

“I looked under the bonnet and a rat had chewed through the wiring. It was going to cost me a fortune to fix and so it was war.”

He bought a Goodnature A24 from his local Farmlands and on his first night had a decisive victory. “I was gobsmacked. I found five dead rats beneath the trap the first morning.”

Ironically, Stu says the multi-kill trap’s intended success can cut both ways.

“The trap is designed to drop the dead pest out once it’s killed, which means there’s quite a high chance of the dead being scavenged.

“Customers will often not see everything that’s been killed – and sometimes even nothing.”

Stu says a trapping trial is underway on Wellington’s South Coast where blue penguins are currently nesting.

“We have eight rat traps along 600 metres and each trap has a strike counter.

“We’ve clocked up over 80 kills, yet seen less than 40 dead animals – and most of those ones seen disappear in a few days.

“So we set up cameras and sure enough the local cat population are happily patrolling the line for free dinners.”

Goodnature see wide benefits of the traps for rural-users.

For instance, beyond keeping the “home-nest” free of rodents many farmers and communities want to keep the nests of ducks, game birds and native birds free from stoats and rats through the spring.

Also calf-rearers see an upside to dealing to feed-loss with a non-toxic method; and on the poison-front the trapping system is a good means to preventing the costly vet bill for saving dogs and cats which have eaten poisoned vermin.

While vet bills can sting, but spare a thought for a woman in Stephen Forsyth’s area, whose new Landcruiser suffered a similar fate to his Hilux.

“The Toyota people told me rats had got in behind the dashboard and that cost $22,000 to fix,” says Stephen.

“They’re a brilliant trap,” says Stephen.

“And what’s also handy is you can buy separate mounting brackets so you can move traps around your property. I’m going to use the trap to see if I can deal to stoats I’ve been seeing.”