Playing the gamekeeper

With our pheasants now in residence at Tui Ridge, we’re into the first 2 critical weeks that can make or break the operation. Each day, the birds must be visited, those which have escaped the pen need to be walked back in, the feeders restocked and water troughs checked. My turn was yesterday so I escaped work early, got in the car and drove. Along the way I joined a conference call with our CEO, CFO, MD and various Heads of State; and was asked to mute my phone as they could hear “wind and car noises” heh heh. After listening my way through 45 minutes of exec talk, we arrived at a natural conclusion and I got to leave the car, open gates and drive through crops to the holding pen. On the way I disturbed a rather large hawk and nearly drove over a wild cock pheasant. Speaking with Malcolm the part-time game keeper, the hawks haven’t really discovered our young birds as yet and with the big guy keeping to his territory he probably keeps other birds at bay. Close to the pen there’s also a magpie nest; and a nesting magpie will not tolerate any predator in the vicinity. I checked the traps (no kills) and walked the pen boundary. Only half a dozen birds were outside. They walked into the hopper enclosures and either used them or I pushed them through. As the escapees were reluctant to move away from the pen (probably because of the peeps and cheeps from their mates), it was pretty easy to catch them up. Malcolm arrived soon after and we filled 2 feeders and replaced the empty ones in the pen. They’re going through 25kg of pellets per day. In 5 days the 1000 Litre tank is about 70% full – I don’t know if it was completely topped up at the outset to be honest, but with us having the driest summer in the past few years I wouldn’t be surprised if they are consuming more than they would if conditions were cooler. With feeders topped and water supply all checked I tried to get some photos on my phone. Under the canopy of pines and with a low sun angle, they aren’t particularly great. Malcolm told me that he’d trapped a ferret that morning; overall we’ve nabbed not all that much vermin; a couple of ferrets, some hedgehogs and a rat I think the count stands at.

Really thrilled to see all our little charges looking so healthy.