Predator Free NZ (“PFZ”, and “NZ” is New Zealand) is apparently a science-oriented trust whose goal—a worthy one—is to keep non-native predators, such as the common brushtail possum, out of New Zealand, as they destroy native wildlife and have other bad effects on the ecosystem. (The possum, for example, destroys native New Zealand birds and carries bovine tuberculosis, and it’s a constant battle to destroy them). But, like apparently all science in New Zealand, the organization is getting infiltrated with indigenous “ways of knowing” and “lived experience”, which in the case at hand appear, at they so often do, not to be based on real science at all. Real science means you use data to test a hypothesis, not simply adduce “lived experience”.
A Kiwi who apparently gets PFZ’s newsletter sent me a copy that started this way, already showing, by the profusion of Māori words, that there lies danger ahead. (Although there are some translations, they don’t mention that “Aotearoa” is the Māori term for “New Zealand”):
Kia ora NAME REDACTED,
It’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. For the 50th year, Aotearoa is coming together to celebrate te Reo Māori. Learn some kupu (words), set your tārore (traps) and keep protecting our manu (birds) and other taonga species.
Keep an eye on our instagram this week; we’re learning some sayings featuring native manu with Hēmi Kelly from Everyday Māori.
And this newsletter links to an article that touts trapping predators using the Māor lunar calendar, a method for which there’s no evidence at all. There are three links given at the end of this article, but they are not scientific references: they’re simply expositions of the Māori lunar calendar, with a few undocumented assertions about when to trap based on the moon. In other words, there’s no “science” as we conceive of “modern science.”
Click on the headline below to read the piece:
The article shows 30 phases of the Māori lunar calendar, and says that the author (Cam Speedy) knows that these phases are associated with hunting and fishing. But experience is not science. A quote from Mr. Speedy:
As a hunter, I have always recognised similar distinct patterns when night shooting. Sometimes, there is just nothing doing; other times, there are critters there, but they are very shy or just too fast. Sometimes, it’s simply all on – critters everywhere that hold in the light.
It is the same with fishing – fishing is more productive at ‘bite time’ – when the moon is directly above, especially when that happens at dawn (Tangaroa phase) or dusk (Tamatea phase).
Deer are also more active at ‘bite time’. With over 40 ‘deer roars’ under my belt, I now plan my roar trips to coincide with the end of the third lunar quarter (start of the Tangaroa phase) – when hind cycling and stag activity is much higher – and I make sure I’m looking over hot spots at ‘bite time’.
As I began applying maramataka [JAC: lunar calendar] principles to my predator trapping, my diary notes started to speak for themselves – for example, the serviced traps were fresh for the ‘Tangaroa’ moon phase (seven to 12 days after the full moon) and out-performed other traps.
. . .I have consistently found that traps serviced a day or two before the Tangaroa phase catch more pests.
If you also start to layer in weather influences (most critters stay home during cold, wet stormy periods to re-emerge once the weather fronts clear), take note of and follow wider seasonal patterns in animal behaviour (eg., mating, breeding and dispersal) and understand seasonal diet changes, you will transform your trapping success.
And indeed, Mr. Speedy might be right, but there are no data supporting his assertions. He calls this approach “holistic”—always a red flag in these type of articles. As my correspondent emailed me:
As far as I can find with search engines, this is an article with no evidence base to it at all – even CHatGPT agress (below). Given that many of the species we target (mustelids and, regrettably, hedgehogs) have not been in New Zealand for more than 150 years, and have been seen as an existential threat to wildlife for a far shorter time, it’s a bit rich to claim centuries of experiential learning!
And so my correspondent asked ChatGPT the question below, followed by the answer:
Does maramataka improve pest trapping?
The bot’s response (bolding in the last paragraph is mine):
Yes, maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, can play a role in improving pest trapping, especially in agricultural or ecological contexts.
Maramataka is based on the phases of the moon and the positions of other celestial bodies, and it dictates the best times for planting, fishing, hunting, and other activities. Some people believe that certain phases of the moon, as well as specific days in the lunar cycle, can influence pest behavior. For instance:
- Feeding and Activity Cycles: Some pests may be more active or easier to trap during certain lunar phases. For example, it is believed that during the waxing moon (when the moon is growing in size), pests such as rats or insects might be more active, making them easier to catch or trap.
- Moon Phase and Tides: In some cases, particularly in coastal areas, the moon’s phases can affect the behavior of pests that are tied to tides or certain weather patterns. For example, high tide during a particular lunar phase might affect the movement of certain pests in coastal areas.
- Cultural Knowledge: In Māori culture, there’s a deep understanding of how animals and pests behave in relation to the moon’s phases. Traps or hunting methods are sometimes planned around the maramataka to align with times when pests are most vulnerable or more predictable.
In short, while there’s no definitive scientific proof for maramataka’s direct effect on pest trapping, the knowledge embedded in the lunar calendar could help guide better timing and more effective pest management practices based on natural patterns observed over centuries.
Again… round of applause for PPC(E) for keeping us appraised of this Southern nonsense.
“with no evidence base to it at all – even CHatGPT agress (below). ”
And as you ID, that is the problem. B/c of the nature of LLMs, nonsense gets sucked into the vacuum like a precious ear-ring you have to fish out later.
But we can’t fish it out in this case! Our lovely kiwi friends are in bad shape.
D.A.
NYC
Well, experienced hunters and fishers do get environmental cues, for example, about when and where to hunt or fish. They learn these over time or as knowledge passed down by others. It isn’t science in the ‘test the hypothesis’ way, but I feel it is science ‘broadly construed’, at least loosely so anyway. They do rely on evidence, though it is not formally collected nor tested exhaustively against other methods. Still, the knowledge of what works, accumulated by experience is, I think, what you mean when you speak of “science broadly construed”. Unless I’ve misread you over the years.
These folks are making claims that aren’t based on scientific evidence and they try to equate two methods. That’s where they go off the rails, IMO.
Whenever I see the phrase “Kia ora!” in a greeting, I say it in my head in the voice of Bart Simpson (“Cowabunga!”). Normally with the additional “dude”. That’s how seriously I take all this 🙁
Argh I mixed up my memes. That’s TMNT, not Simpsons. I’m ashamed 🙁
There is an irony here. If the Māori can point to a couple things that are scientifically correct in their traditional beliefs and brag that their ancestors were smart people who discovered real knowledge, the only reason we could agree is because we can confirm it with our vastly superior Western methods of scientific epistemology. Any of their claims that can’t be confirmed are lore only, nothing we can take more seriously than their creation myths.
I once read a book about eastern philosophy that hypothesised why the Chinese, historically so innovative in technology, never progressed to science. The proposed explanation was that their language was so poetic, and hence ambiguous, that complex ideas could not easily be passed down the generations by writing.
As far as I have been able to ascertain, the Maoris never had any writing at all.
There is a very short list of peoples who did have writing.
Give me that old-time religion: Babylonian Astrology, not any of this pre-literate¹ new stuff.
. . . . .
¹ And these days, post-literate.
They also had a view that certain things were beyond human understanding and felt it foolish to go that far.
They thought the Earth flat and square.
It was mentioned that some of the trapping is done for insects.
I don’t know how that is done down there for invasives, but if you are using light traps to attract insects to a sheet or to a funnel trap, the best time to do that is when there is no moon, not when there is a waxing moon. This is well known.
What puzzles me is that Mr Speedy uses the word “critters”. It’s not one I’ve ever heard used in NZ except in an attempt at a kind of sly humour. It makes me doubt his credentials – has he been getting his Maori lore from reading American critical-race theorists?
I’m reminded of something fifteen or twenty years back, when some scientists warned about declining polar bear numbers and polar bears migrating to other areas. Local natives in areas these bears were migrating to were saying there were more polar bears than ever, hunt away!
Got into an argument with an acquaintance who insisted that the scientists had to be wrong since the natives had to know better because, well, native. The idea that the local natives might not have the full picture since they’re dealing with the bears migrating into their area and not aware that this was a migration from areas that were being abandoned altogether was rejected.
This isn’t an uncommon phenomenon, German fishermen were yelling and protesting when scientists told them that the herring spawn was dying off (warmer water temperatures led to earlier shrimp spawns which the herring wasn’t accustomed to; they arrived too late, and their spawn starved to death) and they had to stop catching herring.
The result was the complete collapse of herring fisheries in the baltic.
But it is interesting how people who’d normally go ‘Listen to the scientists, ffs!’ do a complete 180 when it’s not ‘Fisherman’ or ‘Hunter’ but ‘Fisherman (Native)’ or ‘Hunter (Native)’.
Kia Ora. This is all about language. Matauranga Māori is not science. Agreed. But it is a collection of observational knowledge and has value as such.
Second, Māori language is an equal official language of New Zealand and Māori words and phrases are widely used and understood by most of the population. It is in everyday use on radio and TV and in schools.
New Zealand is a bicultural country, formed by treaty between Pakeha and Māori, not by conquest, and we are proud of that.
And we are proud of and value both cultures.
We value science as science, and mataurange Māori as matauranga Māori.
You clearly have NOT read my many, many posts on the dilution of NZ science and how Matauranga Maori has weakened it (and no , MM is not just a collection of observations and knowledge; it has superstitions, morality, myths, and erroneous word-of-mouth assertions. As for the language, it should always be translated, and lots of Kiwis do not know the words. (I now many because I read this stuff.) Moreover, most Maori do not speak this language on a daily basis and most do not understand all of it. Yes, you can value both cultures, as you should, but you do not seem to realize that there is a huge fight IN YOUR COUNTRY about whether mataurange Māori should be taught as coequal to science. I feel weird telling a Kiwi to bone up on their own country, but you should start by reading about the effects of the Listener letter, which you can find in Wikipedia. My post, by the way, is not at all all about language. Did you even read it? It is bout making unsubstantiated empirical claims.
I grew up in Australia and NZ in the 70s and 80s, I had relatives in both.
My info might be out of date in terms of life experience but I try to keep abreast of the situation/s down there.
Voting with Professor Coyne here on all points.
I find it surprising, Helen, that “most NZers understand Maori”. If so, they’re fast studies indeed! B/c as of my last visit… very, very few people do, and I’m yet to meet a fluent speaker personally (though they surely exist – a “community language” shouldn’t be so hard to find.).
Perhaps you mean all NZs know a handful, possibly a dozen Maori words? I’d believe that, but “bilingual nation”… I’m sorry no, I’m going to need some extraordinary evidence for this extraordinary claim.
I might also say, people often “fudge” answers to surveyors, to be politically correct, and more importantly – people boasting language proficiency they don’t actually have – is common. As an actual Japanese and Russian speaker, I’ve often been amazed at how people “pad” their language resumes.
So let’s control for that.
haeri mai to WEIT, though.
best,
D.A.
NYC/ (formerly of Remuera, Auckland)
I’m Maori, have lived in NZ my whole life and my work in the public sector slightly overlaps with the NZ science system. Jerry’s account above is in my experience an accurate description of the debates happening here.
Regarding language, the fact that Maori is an official language tells you nothing about how many people actually speak it. Yes it is a shame that most Maori – let alone anyone else – do not speak it, despite hundreds of millions (if not billions) invested by the government in language revitalisation. A few words sprinkled throughout public messages by earnest public servants or NGO staff will do nothing for language acquisition or revival and certainly doesn’t aid understanding by foreign born residents or that those living outside the Wellington beltway.
Not by conquest? The Right Honourable Sir George Grey KCB had a rather different view. And AIUI, today many Maaori and allies proclaim “The Treaty is a fraud”. And don’t forget The Honourable Sir James Prendergast GCMG, “a simple nullity”.
Conquest by arms : conquest by fact :: potayto : potahto.
I would say that after the Maori Wars of 1845-72, the British can claim Right of Conquest, even if they couldn’t at the time of the Treaty of Waitangi. The revolting Maori (and their settler-allies) abrogated it by rebelling against the Crown.
(I do like our host’s turn of phrase, when Māori words appear, “there lies danger ahead.”)
I prefer the “Land Wars”; like the difference between the “French and Indian War” and the “Seven Years War”. What is the usual Anglo Canadian term, and the Quebecois term?
Probably all cultures want to claim various achievements to boost self esteem of youngsters. And okay at, say, early school levels. To me real issue is mediocre research at supposed research universities. Maori academics are not alone in producing lightweight research in NZ. Just examine what’s produced in numerous disciplines, particularly in the Arts and Social Sciences (and, of course, Education and Nursing, but they are two of the weakest disciplines worldwide).
Likely a guise so those with rifles, traps and poison can do their job.