Wax Tags - Peanut

Minimum order quantity of 100 wax tags.

Traps.co.nz developed the patented peanut WaxTag (NZ Patent 516900) to detect rodents on offshore islands. WaxTags are a plastic tag that contain a lump of non-toxic wax. Pests are attracted to the peanut butter smell in the wax and bite it to determine if it is palatable. The resulting bite-marks allow the animal that bit the tag to be identified. Animals that commonly bite the tags are mice, rats and hedge hogs.

In New Zealand the Department of Conservation has sucessfully eradicated rodents from islands resulting in a dramatic increase in birdlife. However rats can be reintroduced onto islands from visiting boats or they can swim from the mainland or other islands if they are close enough. Research has shown that the peanut butter WaxTags will detect the presence of reinvading rats indicating that rodent control measures need to be used.

For research results regarding Wax Tag use on islands:

• Testing island biosecurity systems for invasive rats
• Rat invasion of Tetiaroa Atoll, French Polynesia

Peanut Waxtags have also been shown to be more effective for the detection of mice when compared to tracking tunnels.  

For the reserach paper regarding this research:

• Strategies for detection of house mice on a recently invaded island.  

Peanut WaxTags have also been shown to be an efficient device for estimating the density of rats and mice in wetlands.

For a presentation describing the results of this research:

• Monitoring introduced mammalian predators in the Whangamarino Wetland 

See also the Plain WaxTags for possum monitoring.