Pest control impact monitored Volunteer Derek Kelsey with a tracking tunnel. In May Forest & Bird’s Pest Free Hibiscus Coast Project carried out a second round of pest animal monitoring in parks and on private land where they manage predator control. Staff and volunteers used 238 tracking tunnels and wax tags to detect pest animals, with a focus on rats and possums. The wooden tunnels were specially made by the Hibiscus Men’s Shed. This year, geography students from Ōrewa College also learned about pest animal monitoring from project manager Jenny Hanwell, and installed two monitoring lines. In May, only 18 percent of the monitoring devices showed evidence of rats and just one percent indicated possums were present.