''The Number-8-Wire Pest Project'' is Invercargill student Steve Morris' attempt to get more ''tools in the toolkit'' when dealing with New Zealand's pest problem.
A third-year Southland Institute of Technology environmental management student, Mr Morris (48), has sent out a survey for the past month to gauge support for what could be an attempt at creating the ''infrastructure'' for innovative Kiwi solutions to be used in the pest control battle.
''Some of the best ideas start with people who do stuff in their own sheds and they never know who to talk to to get those [ideas] recognised,'' Mr Morris said.
''We have to embrace everything we already have. But what we need is more tools. The more tools we have the more effectively we can deal with the problem.''
The response he had received to his survey, which he had emailed to 35 potential respondents about a month ago, had buoyed his hopes for the project, he said.
He said he had expected to get 20 to 30 responses, but with two more weeks of the survey on the Survey Monkey website to go, he had received 165 responses already.
And those who had responded to the survey had engaged with it.
''Of about 165 respondents, I've got about 900 comments to wade through,'' he said.
Inspiration for the project came from a public meeting in Invercargill during which a Te Anau trapper noted many in pest control were using the same single-kill traps that had been used since he began trapping in 1958, Mr Morris said.
And his own work with the Bluff Hill/Motupohue Environment Trust showed him the trapping environment was always changing.
Rat numbers, which had been under control in the area, were ''through the roof again'', he said.
Although he would not finish analysing his survey results for some time, trends were already emerging. Respondents were hungry for more information on pest control and for a platform that would encourage and assist in the development of new pest control methods.
Mr Morris said he planned to create a website that could allow Kiwis who were working on their own pest control solutions to share knowledge and to attempt to connect with investors.
''If we can get it off the ground, it will be something that loads of people can get involved in and potentially grow exponentially.''
