At four years old, Taane Mills went looking for a taniwha.

His dad had told him one lived at the back of the forestry on their farm, so Taane put a big bone in the family’s pig trap and came back the next morning to see what he’d caught.

No taniwha. But there was a wild border collie puppy waiting for him.

It was one of many early trapping adventures for Taane, who has grown up on a farm in the Ōtuwhero Valley, near Marahau at the top of New Zealand's South Island. Rat and pig traps have been part of life for as long as he can remember.

Now 11, Taane has his own traplines, is helping protect whio and other native wildlife in the valley he calls home, and wants to get more kids doing the same.

It started with $10 rats

Taane's first trapping enterprise came after selling daffodils from the back of a truck and getting a taste for earning his own money.

A man down the road was supplying live rats to Canterbury University and offered Taane $10 for every rat he could catch. So Taane and his family got hold of some live-capture traps.

From there, checking traps became part of growing up. “After that I was always checking the traps along DOC tracks and along the start of our driveway,” says Taane.

As he's got older, those early adventures have turned into something bigger.

Today, Taane spends his time exploring the bush, cutting tracks and working out where traps should go. He's learned from his dad, books, online resources, talks and other experienced trappers around him.

But ask him why he does it and his answer is much simpler: “It's my home and whio are cool.” Fair enough.

Making room for more whio

Whio are particularly special to Taane. One of his favourite things is hearing their distinctive call while out hunting at night, and protecting them has become an important part of why he traps.

In fact, when Taane recently started planning his own children's book about his trapping adventures, he was asked what his main character was afraid might happen.

His answer? “Something will kill a whio.”

And the biggest moment in his story? “Seeing the whio”.

Stoats, ferrets and rats are all threats to native wildlife, so keeping their numbers down gives birds like whio a better chance. Taane has already had some memorable catches, including his first stoat and ferret. But catching pests is only part of the fun.

“I like walking in the bush and looking at the birds. It's cool to get up to the top of a hill and look where to put the next traps.”

There are less glamorous parts too. The hardest bit? “Gorse.” Every trapper will understand that one.

Learning by doing

One thing that's clear talking to Taane is just how much of his knowledge has come from getting out there and giving things a go.

He learns from his dad, other local trappers, conservation talks, books and online. Then there's the practical stuff: getting the loppers and saw out, making tracks, checking traps and learning to read the landscape.

His enthusiasm has even found its way into a PowerPoint presentation – another achievement he lists among the things he's most proud of. And now he's working on something even bigger: his own children's book.

Tentatively titled The Pig Trap, the book will draw on his real-life trapping adventures on the farm and in the valley. When asked why he wants to tell the story, Taane wrote: “to get more kids into trapping.”

That might be the most interesting part of Taane's story.

Bringing other kids along

We asked Taane what he'd say to another kid who wanted to start trapping. He didn't give us a list of tips. Instead, he offered to show them. “I'd ask them if they would like to come up the valley and see how it's done.”

Then he'd ask what school they go to and see whether he could bring Traps for Schools there.

His book has the same goal. Taane wants kids to finish reading it and feel like they want to go trapping themselves.

It's a pretty good reminder that kaitiakitanga doesn't always begin with a big conservation plan. Sometimes it begins with knowing your own backyard, caring about what lives there and deciding to do something to help. And perhaps inviting a mate along next time.

The valley Taane wants to see

Ask Taane what he'd like the Ōtuwhero Valley to look like in another 10 or 20 years, and once again, the answer is straightforward: “To see heaps of whio, take people up and show them how to trap and see heaps more other native birds.”

For a country working towards Predator Free 2050, there’s something pretty exciting about that. Because Taane’s generation won’t just inherit the places we’re trying to protect today. Young trappers like him are already out there looking after them — and bringing others along for the ride. Every new trapper adds up to something bigger.