Gary Freedman and his son Tom, who is a student at Cashmere High School, make a great trapping team with help from their cocker spaniel Arnie.
Freedman said when Arnie races off to check the traps “he lets us know if there’s something in there.”
When a trap has caught something, the father and son team have developed an easy routine, sharing their jobs.
“It’s really handy with two because it makes everything a bit quicker,” said Freedman.
The trio are members of Whaka-Ora Pest Project, a community trapping initiative covering the parks and trails around Lyttelton Harbour.
“One of us can do the trap, and the other person can be on the app, logging the catch on TrapNZ. By yourself, you have to take the gloves off, get into computer mode, and then flip back to nature,” said Freedman.
Tom, 17, is so fast at logging the catches, Freedman barely notices him doing it.
He said without Tom, he would probably forget to record the catches online.
They’ve recorded excellent results so far.
Said Tom: “It’s really satisfying when you get something.
“You know you’re doing it well, and it’s working.”
He has a message for young people in New Zealand.
“I urge everyone, especially young people, to do something like this because it feels so good,” he said.
“The world so often feels a little hopeless with climate change and everything that’s happening in the world. But these things on a local scale can make such a difference.”
Joining the pest project was a no-brainer for Freedman too.
The 50-year-old works in sustainability and has even brought in and piloted New Zealand’s first fully electric airplane.
Over the past five years, the Freedman family has helped replant Steadfast Reserve above Cass Bay with native trees.
“All of these trees you see here are the riparian planting we’ve planted over the last two or three years. We’re so proud of how this has come up it’s phenomenal,” said Freedman.
To protect the plants and encourage native species to come back, he knew the community would need to start trapping in the reserve.
So when he ran into pest project co-ordinator Katie Dunlop while walking Arnie, it didn’t take a lot of persuasion to sign up as a local trapper.
Tom was immediately keen to help.
“I’ve been involved with the sustainability council at school for a while, and we do a bit of trapping,” Tom said.
“But it’s awesome to do it in your own backyard.”
He loves seeing all the birds return to the valley.
“It does feel like there are more birds here since the planting, and we need to protect them.”
The pest project works in city council parks and reserves to support the work already being done by Predator Free Port Hills.
The group is also tackling invasive plant species around the harbour to ensure native plants and animals can thrive.
The community trapping project took months of careful planning and research.
In October, she ran a series of information evenings for locals who signed up to become community trappers.
Freedman and Tom were impressed by the resources provided by the pest project for the volunteers.
“Tom and I went along to the training, and we learned how the different traps worked and some of the reasons we’re trapping. It was really useful,” said Freedman.
Each member receives a backpack, a handbook detailing safe trapping techniques, a high-vis vest, a hip pack, and all the tools needed to clean, service and change out baits in the various traps.
Said Dunlop: “WOPP has been able to learn from all the years of experience that other predator control groups have built up throughout the country.
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”
-By Lily Duval
