America is wild - even in the cities.

Us Kiwis tend to think New Zealand is the wildest place on earth, but this trip was an awesome reminder of what a wild place America is. After just one day in the Massachusetts woods we’d already ticked wild turkeys, red-tailed hawks and hummingbirds off our list. And while we didn’t spot any rattlesnakes, cougars or mountain lions in California, customers told us that’s who's doing most of the scavenging from under their Goodnature traps this time of year. We even found wildness smack bang in the middle of Boston’s brownstones, with a visit to a few of Boston’s 56 (!!!) urban farms. We loved seeing first hand the difference even a city block of biodiversity can make, to both mother nature and humans.

Squirrels aren’t cute for everyone.

While squirrels might be adorable for some, for many farmers, ranchers and homesteaders in the USA they’re a much bigger pest than rats or mice. We heard horror stories across America of squirrels tearing barns apart, destroying ceiling insulation, and chewing through tractor wiring.

To make things worse - there’s also a total lack of pest control options out there for squirrels, and the options that do exist - shooting and live capture - are so time-intensive it’s often easier to just do nothing. Every farmer, rancher and homesteader we met on our travels couldn’t wait to get their hands on our Grey Squirrel Trap Kit. And we can’t wait to offer the world a smarter, humane, toxin-free way to deal with their squirrel problem!

Heat waves are the new normal

If you want to feel first-hand just how ferocious climate change has already become, spend a day on a Kansas ranch in August. The heat was so intense it fried one of our cameras, and had us melting in our tick-proof long pants by 10am. It was confronting to hear how normal a 100 degree f / 40 degree c summer’s day has become in so many parts of the USA. The heat has really got us thinking about what a climate-proof trap might look like as the weather continues to get more extreme. Watch this space!

Goats on wildfire duty

As wildfire season gets longer and scarier every year, particularly in California, farmers and ranchers are finding all sorts of smart ways to protect the land - including goats. California’s wet spring causes an explosion of undergrowth, and as it dries it becomes kindling for wildfires. The wetter the spring, the greater the fuel load waiting there is come wildfire season. Goats are amazing scrub eaters, making them the perfect undergrowth clearing machines - so amazing in fact that a herd of them can clear an acre a day. They’ve become such a popular method for wildfire prevention that you can now rent a herd of goats by the week but it comes with a catch - it’ll cost you a few thousand dollars and there’s a three month waiting list. One of the horse ranches we visited had a full-time family of goats on scrub-clearing duty, and it was awesome to see how three animals could play such a massive role in preventing wildfires.