Wanaka helicopter pilot Peter Garden recalls one celebrated evening, late in the project, when the ''Mad Ratters'', as they called themselves, sat down to rat in a red wine sauce.
Mr Garden said programme leader Prof Tony Martin was keen those facing some pretty difficult working conditions would at least eat well.
''So we had, at various stages, Michelin-rated chefs.''
One was Gerard Baker, who devised the recipes for the television programme The Hairy Bikers, and another was French chef Jerome Viard.
''We caught a few rats in the area that hadn't been treated and he [Mr Viard] decided he was going to cook them up as stew.
''So we had rat stew at one stage.
''It's not what you would call really very appetising but he had made a sauce up which included several bottles of quite heavy red wine and that helped it go down.''
