The poor old Possum! Some fool brought it into New Zealand in 1837 to establish a fur trade. It was well suited to Australia. There were predators and hardened trees that kept its numbers in check and all was dandy. In New Zealand there are no predators and the trees were rather too tasty. Added to that they took a liking to native bird eggs and chicks. The estimated number of Possums in New Zealand in 2009 (taking control programmes into account) was approximately 30 million. The same paper estimated a population of 47.6 million had control programmes been absent. (http://www.envirolink.govt.nz/PageFiles/159/720-NLRC104%20Possum%20numbers%20inNZ.pdf).
Control programmes would never be able to eradicate the Brush Tailed Possum on the mainland of New Zealand, but there has been success in some of our off-shore islands where bird populations have boomed. Control programmes mainly use bait stations but snap traps and other mechanical devices are also widely used; especially in urban areas. Around Wellington many of our bush tracks have bait stations – usually characterised by black L shaped tubes. These have been in issue for dogs in some places, especially where less responsible owners let them roam off tracks, off the lead; or when stations have been located too close to tracks. More expensive bait stations (like the one in the picture above) are less likely to spill bait onto the ground and are therefore less likely to cause problems for track users.
Snap traps and so called humane traps are effective in killing a possum instantly (see above), but need to be cleared once sprung. Other traps such as the self-resetting traps by Goodnature will let the animal drop to the ground and reset itself up to 25 times. These traps use a gas cylinder to fire a bolt when the animal triggers the mechanism.
The cache you are looking for will resemble a bait station but it is not a bait station. However, there are bait stations in this forest and probably near-by given the tell-tale pink markers near this cache. Be careful with your dog!! Dogs must be on a lead in this forest park.
There is a trick to opening the cache but it is not too complicated. Just exercise a little patience. There is no need to force anything.
The cache does not contain a pen, so please bring your own. There is room for a few trinkets and TBs once you get it open.
Walking instructions: If you want to take in the growing series of caches to the Crows Nest and on to the Skyline series then start at Silverstream Road either behind the childcare centre (where you will get a bridge) or at the listed waypoint (where you will get a plank... hopefully!!). The plank is very close to Critter Cache I, then if you follow the tracks you will reach "Hunt Me Down" (GC19V87). Then follow the track to the left and upward to reach this one. After that there is Critter Cache IV (there was no particular order - GC5E6ZG), then onward to "Just Because" (GC5EFQB), then the Crows Nest (GCMFFT). After that the skyline caches await.
If you want a shorter route and less hill, park at Hunterleigh Park Way and the current cache is not too far away.