Frequently Asked Questions

Having problems after a trap.nz update

trap.nz often has updates, however, despite vigorous testing, sometimes there can be issues that are found after a release that is unexpected.

Here are the steps to take if you find that your trap.nz phone app is not showing as you expect it to.

1. Access the menu by the three lines at the top right of the screen.

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2. Click on the Logs tab

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This will show any records that are still in your phone. (this step is to ensure that in case of records not synching you have access to them if needed), ensure you have done this for all of the projects you have completed work in during the last week.

3. Click on the Export logs tab at the top left side of the screen

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4. Click on the export your collected data and email it to yourself, then click on the export debug log and email it to yourself.

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5. A pop-up will appear showing the options, if mail is not one of them, check the “more” section.5.png

6. Once you have exported the logs to yourself, go back into the menu and click on settings

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7. Then click on advanced settings.

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8. Then press and hold on the Hard reset.

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9. You will receive this message, ensure you have completed all of the steps a-c then click Perform reset.

The app will refresh and the projects should appear as you would expect.

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If you still have issues with the app after completing these steps contact support@trap.nz

 

 

How can I tell the difference between the types of rats I catch?

Three species of rats are present in New Zealand and all of them were introduced here.

Ship and Norway rats

The ship rat (Rattus rattus) is the most commonly found rat in New Zealand and is the smaller of the two European rat species. It has a tail that is longer than its body, and ears that cover the eyes when pressed forward.

Ship rats are widespread around New Zealand on the three main islands and on many offshore islands.  

The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) is different from the ship rat in that the tail, which is about 18 cm long, is thick and shorter than the body, which is about 20 cm long, and its ear doesn't reach the eye when pressed forward.

Norway rats are more typically associated with human activity and found in urban areas but they have also existed on more than 60 offshore islands.  

Kiore

Kiore is the Māori name for the Pacific or Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans). An adult kiore is approximately 4 cm shorter than an adult ship rat, but looks very similar and the two species are often confused. The tail of a kiore is shorter than the body. 

rats fact 1.png

 

How can I tell the gender of the rat I just caught?

rat facts 2.png

How do I tell if I caught a mouse or a juvenile rat?

 

A young rat will have a much larger head in proportion to the rest of its body.

Baby rats are born with short tails and these tails remain smaller than the overall length of their bodies; baby mice are born with long tails and they keep these long tails throughout their lives. Mice tails are at least as long as their bodies, if not often double the length.

It is important to note that rat tails are also much thicker than mice tails, though this may not be evident when a baby rat is firstborn. However, as these rodents age, you will soon be able to tell the difference between them based on their tails alone.

Understanding the difference between juvenile and mature possums

Understanding the difference between juvenile and mature possums

To avoid confusion when distinguishing between juvenile and mature possums, the key detail for juvenile possums is their weight, which is less than 800gm, which indicates the back rider/adult threshold.

The gestation period for a joey is 17 to 19 days. It crawls into the mother’s pouch, where it stays for five months before becoming a “back rider”. (A juvenile possum, often referred to as a backrider is any possum under 800gm.)

The joey is weaned at about 6 - 8 months, though some will stay with the mother until it is one year old. https://www.predatorfreedunedin.org/resources/possum-facts

 

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Why can't new members see installations?

When a new member is added to a project without any permissions, they have limited access.

As a basic trapper they can:

A Project Administrator can update the new member's role to Advanced trapper to allow view only access to all installations via the website, or Manager complete access via the web and the app. If security and privacy is a concern, it is better to specifically assign installations to the trapper.

Read more about what the different roles mean and how to change members roles. 

Can I record ad-hoc kills on Trap.NZ?

In the event that a pest is killed by something other than a trap (e.g. roadkill, killed by cat/dog/firearm etc.), it can be useful to record this data as part of your project.

Currently, there's no direct way of recording these in Trap.NZ, but clever folks have found a way around it.

To record ad-hoc kills on Trap.NZ

  1. Create a trap in your project (anywhere in your project is fine)
  2. Call it something like "cat" or "dog" or "firearm" or "ad-hoc" etc.
  3. Give it trap type "Unspecified"
  4. Record "catches" on that trap

If you want to record multiple kills on this trap, you can do this on the website by changing the "Strike" count field.

The Proximity alert isn’t loud enough, how can I get it louder?

If you are finding the proximity function alerts are not loud enough try these steps

 

1. Select Settings

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2. Select sounds and vibrations

 

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3. Select Volume

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4. Here you can set the volume of your various apps, ensure “media” is set high

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If this doesn’t work you can also try the following

 

5. Select Advanced sound settings

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6. Separate App sound

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7. Select the App (trap.nz)

 

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8. Now select the device you are wanting the alerts to play on. For example, the alert could play through the Bluetooth in your vehicle

 

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How do I use the map tools?

Moving around the map

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Understanding the toolbar 

There is a toolbar at the bottom of the map. You can see the name of each tool by hovering the mouse over the icon. The first map tool section will vary depending on what part of the website you are looking at.

map_controls.png

map_controls_point.png Draw a point Visible for Traps, Bait Stations, Monitoring Stations, and Points of Interest
map_controls_line.png Draw a line Visible for Lines and Points of Interest
map_controls_polygon.png Draw a polygon Visible for Projects and Points of Interest. See "Drawing a polygon" below.
map_controls_edit.png Edit features Use to edit something already drawn on the map
map_controls_delete.png Delete features Use to delete everything already drawn on the map

Drawing a polygon

  1. To start drawing a shape on the map, click on the polygon tool to activate it (you will see the blue around the icon get slightly darker).
  2. With the polygon tool active, click on the corners of the area that you want to manage.  This will define the boundaries of your trapping project.  
  3. On the last corner, double-click to finish the drawing. The outline of the shape will complete and change to green.image-1631841292901.14.36.png

Editing the polygon shape

If you didn't get the shape quite right you can change it:

Starting over

If your drawing has gone wrong and you'd like to start over, you can do this at any time by clicking the "Delete features" tool.

Why don't the project stats on the main project map update immediately?

The project stats on the main project are are updated daily, not in realtime. If you have just added some data into your project, it won't show up in this stats box until the next day. If you want to check whether your records have saved, they will be saved in other areas of your project (e.g. to check if a trap record has saved, you can click on that trap, and a list of saved records will be visible at the bottom of the page).

The reason they are not updated in realtime is to improve site performance. As Trap.NZ has grown over the years, the site has become slower, and we found that updating this project stats box daily instead of in realtime improved site performance hugely. 

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Is my project data shared?

None of your project data is shared without your permission (please see our privacy policy). However we very much hope that you will give us permission to share summarised data from your project. Sharing summarised data from your project helps the national dataset grow and allows New Zealand to make more informed decisions about how we manage pests.

Each project has two privacy settings which are accessible by going to the My Projects page, selecting your project and then clicking "Edit":

  • List this project publicly 

    Ticking this lists your project in the Trap.NZ directory.  This allows others to find and request to join your project. The name, organisation, contact details, description, links, and location fields will be visible to the public. Personal details will remain private.

  • Share summary data

    Ticking this allows us to share summarised data from your project (e.g. the number of traps, catch counts, baits used, the approximate area managed etc). Information is aggregated at a 200m x 200m grid level.  This makes it difficult for anyone to determine the exact of traps and stations.

Detailed trap or station information such as names, notes, photos and "recorded by" fields are not shared. Likewise, profile information such as member names and addresses are not shared. These are private to your project.

How can I find what app version I have installed?

When you're logged in to the app

It is much easier to find the app version if you can log in to the Trap.NZ app. If you are unable to log in to the app, then check out the next section to find the app version number another way.

  1. Select a project - the project map will load
  2. Tap the hamburger menu in the top right corner

    Hamburger menu

  3. Click "About"
  4. The version number is listed under the "App" heading

App: About menu

Finding the app version on Android

It is much easier to find the app version if you can log in to the Trap.NZ app. If you are unable to log in to the app on your Android device, then you can find it by:

  1. Find the Trap.NZ app icon, either on your home screen or in your app drawer
  2. Long press on the Trap.NZ icon until a pop-up menu shows
  3. Click on "App info"

    Android - Trap icon app info

  4. Scroll down and click "App details"
  5. The Google Play store will open on the Trap.NZ app page
  6. Click on "What's new"

    Trap.NZ - What's new

  7. Scroll down to view the "App info" section
  8. The version number is shown next to "Version"

    Trap.NZ App info - version number

 

Finding the app version on iOS (Apple)

 

What coordinate system does Trap.NZ use?

Trap.NZ uses WGS84 (EPSG 4326) projection

Helpful links

How to bulk load tracks and traps from DNR Garmin?

Rodney Bethel, a Senior GIS Analyst at Palmerston North City Council, has kindly provided us with a document describing how to bulk load tracks and traps into Trap.NZ.

> Loading Tracks and Bulk Loading Traps into Trap.NZ from the PC

Table of Contents
  1. Download DNR Garmin
  2. DNR Garmin Setup
  3. Preparing the Shapefile for conversion
  4. Converting Shapefile Tracks (Lines) into GPX
  5. Importing GPX Track file into Trap.NZ
  6. Preparation for “Bulk Loading” Predator Traps into Trap.NZ:
    • Trap Preparation
    • Create the CSV from DNR Garmin Conversion
    • The Trap NZ CSV Template
  7. Importing CSV Trap file into TRAP NZ 

 

How can I enter GPS coordinates for installation locations?

If you have GPS coordinates, you can enter them into the Manual Coordinates box when adding an installation. Then click the “Find using manual coordinates field” button to place the location on the map before saving the installation.

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Note that the coordinates must be in decimal Lat, Long:
e.g. ​-41.545769706106, 172.15099409223

Or in NZTM format (New Zealand Transverse Mercator):
e.g. 1763693.1614139 5459118.2077669

If the coordinates are in another format or projection you will need to convert them first.

How to convert coordinates

LINZ have a handy converter here:
https://www.geodesy.linz.govt.nz/concord/index.cgi 7

For example - If your coordinates are in Degrees Decimal Minutes (DDM) e.g:
172 03.4 E 41 20.8 S

Then you will need to convert them to Decimal Degrees (DD) first:
https://www.geodesy.linz.govt.nz/concord/index.cgi?IS=WGS84_G1762&IH=-&PN=N&IC=M&IO=EN&ID=S&OS=WGS84_G1762&OH=-&OC=D&OO=NE&OD=H&YEAR=now&OP=4&CI=Y&do_entry=Enter+coordinates&ADVANCED=1

Pre- Authenticated Member

What is a pre-authenticated member?

 

This is a person who has created a trap.NZ account but has not verified their account.

 

To verify their account they will have to access the email address they provided when creating their account and find the email from trap.NZ, here you will find a  link you will need to verify your account.

 

If you can’t find your trap.NZ verification email. They are often in your spam folder.

 

The administration of a project will be unable to assign any installation to pre-authenticated member.

I'm stuck, how do I get support?

If you do get stuck or have a curly one, send us a message via the contact form. Please include as much information as possible, including:

How to find the app version number

When you're logged in to the app:

  1. Select a project - the project map will load
  2. Tap the hamburger menu in the top right corner

    Hamburger menu

  3. Click "About"
  4. The version number is listed under the "App" heading

App: About menu

 

How to find your app device information

Android

Settings > About phone

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about software.jpg

 

Apple / iOS

Settings > General > About

iPhone device information

 

Why can’t I import data? it says I’m not using the correct file encoding.

If your CSV file is not being accepted and it says “Source file is not in UTF-8 encoding”, you may need to download it using another file code. In the case below ANSI needed to be substituted with Windows 1254

 

CSV file ANSI.png

 

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Starting out with trap.nz

a) Create a trap.nz account 

https://trap.nz/user/register

(it's a good idea to note down your username and password on your phone or somewhere handy)

For video help click the you tube link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wslsQpLdKgM

 
b) Join an existing project 

Hopefully, there is an existing project close to the area you are interested in trapping. In this case, we recommend that you contact the project administrator(s) to see if you can get involved.

Go to the "Find projects" page, accessible from the "Find projects" link on the menu bar at the top of the site.

For video help, click the youtube link here https://youtu.be/CxH3axNkr78

 

c) Create a new project

 If you'd like, you can create a new Trap.NZ project.

Go to "My Projects" and click the "Create a new project" button near the bottom of the page.

For video help click the you tube link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozNCAAqJlfU

 

d) trap.nz Mobile phone app 

 Login to the app, select the project from the list then add your installations

For video help click the you tube link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNuHsNTCHEQ&list=PLhb73jmTWJsnCLTq4CJXpkUmwHXpxBDAH&index=4

e) add catches using the trap.nz Mobile phone app 

Add your catches to your project

For video help click the you tube link here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWlvEaAIyVE&list=PLhb73jmTWJsnCLTq4CJXpkUmwHXpxBDAH&index=6

 

If you would like more comprehensive help https://help.trap.nz/

App Open Beta testing

Trap.nz Open Beta Testing allows Trap.nz app users to experience the next level functionality early. It comes 'warts n all' so may have bugs, but this is your chance to help identify and fix those, why feeling like a next level trapper!

Android

Leave the Android beta testing programme

Apple iOS
Join on an Apple iOS device

Leave the iOS beta testing programme


! Please be aware that we can provide limited support where a beta release has been used and data quality has been effected. 

 

One off Android beta installs

Occasionally, we release app beta installations for instant access (bypassing the Play Store process.) The listings are available for a short time, therefore the following may have already expired:

 

v6.3.6 (QR / NFC)

 

By default, Android will prevent this until Internal app sharing is enabled. This can be done with the following instructions:

 

  1. Open Play Store.
  2. Navigate to Setting. (Click on the account profile picture. which is located at the top right corner of the screen)
  3. To Enable Developer Options. (Goto > About Section. and Tap seven times on the Play Store Version)
  4. Once you get the “You are now a developer!” prompt, you will see the “Internal App Sharing” option in the General | User Controls Section. 

 

App wont open - says “Login requires network coverage”

The app occasionally has an issue where it will not open and gives a message that it requires network coverage, even when you have reception.

This is a reply from an app user who found this worked for his Android phone

 

In our case this issue turned out to be about SSL certificates. The certificates installed on the Android device did not pick up the recent (2020?) changes to the root SSL certificate providers.

To test if you have the same problem as us, try the following:

Open a browser on your device and navigate to https://trap.nz
→ Trap NZ website should open OK
In the browser, navigate to https://api2.trap.nz
→ If you get an invalid SSL certificate error. Then you have the same problem as me.

SOLUTION:

On older versions of Android, the only way to update root certificates is via official Android software updates. You can generally do this by performing an ‘over the air’ Android software update from the Android settings menu, but in our case, we had to follow the manufacturer’s instructions (Zebra in our case) and manually load an updated Android OS image via a PC.