Now, with six Goodnature traps and over 180 kills under their belt, they’ve become passionate advocates for hands-off, humane pest control. Their trapline spans their rural home, family bach, attic, veggie patch.

Smart, humane, and deadly effective

“We originally used conventional rat traps inside wooden tunnels,” says Tom, “and they worked, but when we got our first Goodnature trap at the bach, the self-resetting design and automatic paste made it a no-brainer for hands-off control.”

Once rats made it into the ceiling during winter, they added more traps, including one mounted on a stand for quick redeployment. It worked. “We had them under control in less than a week.”

They now run:

• 5 A24 Traps

• 1 Mouse Trap

• All synced with the Goodnature App

The data speaks for itself: 184 kills recorded, and most of them during the colder months when rats seek warmth and food around the house. Their Coromandel trap alone has taken out rats, stoats, and hedgehogs.

It’s all about location, and a bit of meat paste!

The key to their success? Placement and pre-feed. One trap sits permanently near the garage, close to a small river, and consistently logs the most kills. Another’s in their native tree nursery. The third sits under a lean-to. The fourth is their “roamer”, an A24 on Trap Stand that moves between the veggie patch, house ceiling, and anywhere else it’s needed.

“I like to pre-feed around the trap when setting up or refreshing paste,” says Tom. “Make a trail on either side of the trap. That’s how we’ve caught multiple rats in one night.”

Their bait of choice? “The meat paste is my favourite".

For the birds, literally

The motivation goes beyond rodent control. Tom and Carly are restoring their land with native trees, Kauri, Kowhai, Titoki, Pohutukawa, and their favourite, Puriri (which flowers and fruits year-round). It’s all part of a mission to bring more birdlife back to their patch of Aotearoa.

“We already have Kotare and Piwakawaka around, and longfin eels in the river that happily dispose of our trap kills. But we’d love to attract more Tui and Kereru, and maybe even get Kaka passing through from the Waitakere Ranges.”

What they’ve learned

Their biggest tip? Start small and stay consistent.

“We didn’t even realise we had a rat problem until we started trapping. But once you start seeing the results, it’s pretty motivating.”

And as for setup? “So easy to set and forget. We genuinely can’t praise the traps enough.”