This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Date: . 9-11 August 1996 Members: Andrew McColgan aka Woody (leader) Andrew McLellan aka Pooh Kate Hunter James Roberts Kelvin Smith
Route In: Walls Whare, Cone Saddle, Cone Hut - Friday night at 9pm. Route Out: As above, 5pm Sunday. Pens: Weka Holding Pens situated 30-35 minutes downstream from Cone Hut on large grassy flats. Turnoff to pens indicated by a plastic rubbish bag tied to a tree.
Reason: Simply to look after the wekas ie. to stop them escaping; to stop anyone letting them out; to feed and water them. Duties: Washing and scrubbing out water bowls twice a day. Preparing the morning and evening meals. Washing and scrubbing out food bowls twice a day. Replenishing self-feeding containers. Filling in digging holes made by the wekas around the fence line. Providing leaf litter for natural food, and in an attempt to stop boredom. Checking traps. Food: Morning Meal - consisted of cooked oatmeal, raisins, crushed peanuts. Evening Meal - consisted of chicken feed, eggs, including shells, grated cheese, any leftovers. Snacks - chopped up rat (from traps). Accommodation: —_ One large, green army tent (provided) complete with large black polythene groundsheet.
This tent also stored the food for the wekas. Objective:” ~~ ~ To re-establish a rather cheeky, intelligent, native bird back into the” ~~ Tararuas. To those involved in this project from WT&MC I wish to thank you for all your time and effort. : Andrew McColgan_ ' Assistant Chief Guide