On Friday 11 November Whaea Jo and ten of our Woodstock students visited Kukutaaruhe Gully to discover what is living in one of our local gullies.

Harlem: My favourite part of doing the Bio Blitz was probably going down into the gully and seeing the long finned eel, short finned eel and the giant kōkopu. Going down to a bank to find a trap with a dead rat inside it. When we found the rat one of the HCC staff there cut the rat open and we got to see its stomach and its intestines. Then he cut open the stomach and we got to see what it ate. It smelt awful but it was worth it.

Jack: We were lucky to see the eels and kōkopu. Disecting the rat was a highlight. It was good to see that it only had peanut butter in its stomach and not birds or eggs.

Victoria: I liked learning about the kōkopu and eels in our local streams. It was interesting to hear people talking about pests, bugs, soil and our local area.

Jack: When we dissected the rat there was peanut butter in its belly. It’s great that the traps are there to trap the pests.

Max: I liked seeing the different traps and learning about the native birds and fish that live in our gully.

Did you know that the eels swim all the way to Tonga and Niue to lay their eggs and die there? Their babies swim all the way back to the Waikato River.