THE highly-successful Indian myna bird eradication program is being rebooted for 2013 with the Cairns Men’s Shed and Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch announcing that orders for traps are again being taken.
“The Men’s Shed stopped taking new orders for traps late last year to deal with a back-log of requests they were just so popular,” Mr Entsch said today.
“But they’ve now caught up and they’re keen to start selling them again.
“These traps are clearly an effective way to address the myna bird issue and it would be great to see more businesses and organisations come on board by putting traps around shopping centres, schools, parks and other public spaces.”
This year, the Men’s Shed has also kicked off a myna bird trap hire program. Cairns Regional Council has purchased 10 traps to get the program up and running and it’s hoped there will be at least 20 available for hire in the future.
“People will be able to hire a trap on a weekly basis and return it when they have no further use for it,” said Jim Melvin, Men’s Shed member and Secretary of Remove Indian Mynas (RIM).
“There will be a $60 deposit plus a weekly hire of $10, with a minimum hire of two weeks. We believe that this will provide another option to the community in lieu of outright purchase of the traps.
“It will also eliminate any problems for people with limited storage around the home.”
As of late 2012, official RIM figures showed that more than 16,000 birds had been caught and euthanised. The current estimated count is between 20-25,000 birds.
“Unfortunately a number of trap owners haven’t been involved in the data collection aspect of the program, so it’s difficult to know exactly where the tally stands,” Mr Entsch said.
“But in order to accurately report on its success, I’d urge those with traps to send a quick weekly or monthly email to RIM just to let them know how they’re going.”
Anyone wanting to order a trap can contact the Cairns Men’s Shed on 07 4053 5045 or email cairnsmenshed@gmail.com
