Activities+and+Games

Here are some games you might like...
Garden Gnomes [] Top ten games link

Weta are at risk of being eaten by introduced predators like rats, stoats, cats and hedgehogs.
Big heavy animals can squash weta. Weta adapt well to living in a modified habitat. Female weta lay 100-300 eggs so if you build a home they like and weta live there, their numbers will grow! Saw a small log in half

Did you know?

 * Weta are at risk of being eaten by introduced predators like rats, stoats, cats and hedgehogs.
 * Big heavy animals can squash weta.
 * Weta adapt well to living in a modified habitat.
 * Female weta lay 100-300 eggs so if you build a home they like and weta live there, their numbers will grow!

How do weta motels work?

 * Weta live in holes but there really aren’t that many holes in trees. That’s why weta dig under stones or chew through rotten logs to make their homes.**
 * Chisel out the weta gallery**
 * Weta motels are no-fuss homes for weta. They find one, crawl in and relax. You can place a weta motel in a tree, under a tree and even on a fence post.**

Build a 3 star weta motel
A 3 star weta motel is simple and fun to make. Experiment! Weta don’t care if it’s a crooked little house! Drill a hole for the entrance tunnel
 * Start with a small log and saw it in half.
 * Chisel out the weta gallery and drill an entrance tunnel.
 * Nail or bind the two halves together and nail on a roof.
 * Hang or tie the motel in a tree in a shady spot at about eye level.

Build a 5 star weta motel

 * Try making this** [|**5 star weta motel**]**. It’s great but takes longer to make than the 3 star model.**

Handy hints for making weta motels
>> A completed 3 star weta motel Weta like to enlarge their rooms or galleries and they like deep galleries and wood that isn’t rotting.
 * Weta like motels that are made from willow and aged pine (rather than fresh pine).
 * Entrance tunnel holes should be 18 mm or slightly less in size to stop mice (10 mm is too small), and quite long and sloping down from the top or the side.
 * Weta don’t like vertical tunnels heading up from the bottom.
 * [[image:http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/74296/weta-motel-3-star-223.jpg width="223" height="191" caption="A 3 star weta motel."]]
 * Weta prefer motels without windows but they will live in motels with windows as long as their gallery is deep.
 * The windows should be made from perspex or plastic from a bottle with shutters that can be closed. They should be removable for cleaning because they go mouldy.
 * Weta will live in motels with more than one gallery but you’ll probably get more weta if you have more single room motels.
 * In the forest weta move in within three months and after a year they have about four weta in each motel.
 * Weta like motels and backyards that don’t have rats!

Did you know?
A lighthouse keeper’s cat once wiped out every last Stephen's Island wren. New Zealand was the only country in the world to have flightless perching birds. Now they’re extinct! Most pets don’t kill as many birds as that, but when we add up all the native animals that die because of pets, it’s really quite a lot.

1. Take this quiz to find out how conservation friendly your cat is:
Read each statement, give your cat one point for every true answer and then add up your score. The cat in this quiz might be your pet or one that comes into your backyard. Print-friendly quiz (PDF, 39K)

Quiz: The more points your cat scores the more conservation friendly it is
Tally up your total score and check it below.
 * Your cat can’t have kittens. A vet desexed it.
 * Your cat is fed good food at regular times.
 * Your cat doesn’t go on holiday with you. It goes to a cattery.
 * Your cat stays inside at night.
 * Your cat wears a collar with bells that jingle.
 * Your cat can’t find a place to hide that is close to where the birds feed or drink.
 * Your cat can’t climb all the trees near your backyard.
 * Your cat has special toys to play with.
 * Your cat hardly ever hunts.

2. Check out your cats score
Your cat isn’t conservation friendly yet. It will catch birds, lizards and weta quite often. Your cat could be a little friendlier. It will still catch some birds and lizards. You have a conservation friendly cat! That’s better for the native wildlife near you.
 * 1 – 4 point(s):**
 * 5 – 8 points**
 * 9 points**

3. Help your cat get a higher score
Give your backyard wildlife a better chance. Tick the things you have done or the things you do from the list below and then find out a way to do the others. > **Why?** Kittens without homes become wild cats. They kill native wildlife and have more wild kittens. > **Why?** Because hungry cats go hunting. > **Why?** So they don’t wander off and become wild to survive. > **Why?** That’s when birds are most active in the garden. > **Why?** That’s when wildlife is on the prowl. > **Why?** Because less birds are caught by cats with bells. > **Why?** Because cats hide in places like bushes, then jump out to catch their prey. > **Why?** So that your cat can’t climb them to get at the nests.
 * Take cats to the vet to be desexed so they won’t have kittens.
 * Feed cats balanced meals at regular times.
 * Put cats in a cattery when you go on holiday.
 * Feed cats inside, an hour after sunrise and an hour before sunset.
 * Keep cats inside at night.
 * Fit a collar with bells to your cat
 * Place bird feeders, bird baths and nesting boxes at least 3 m away from a place where a cat can hide.
 * Put animal guards around trees that have nesting birds.

media type="custom" key="6178897" width="100" height="100" align="left"

[]