Te Koutu wildlife

Swamps teemed with frogs and tadpoles while kotare above waited patiently to swoop down on unsuspecting prey. Noisy pukeko made untidy nests in the dense raupo, and fantails flitted among the manuka while the shy matuku

stood still and erect perfectly camouflaged against a background of rushes and sedges. Pied stilts picked their way along the muddy flats while water rats hid among thedebris and undergrowth.

Koura freshwater crayfish

Night hunting for koura or ‘hi koura’ was popular with the kids, who used long manuka sticks baited with threaded worms to entice the koura out of their holes in the banks. As soon as a koura attached itself to the bait the stick would

be slowly drawn up to the surface and grabbed with bare

hands or netted.

Koura Tau

Setting a ‘tau’ in the lake was the most popular method of gathering this delicacy. During the summer months bundles of raurauhe were cut, tied together and left to dry. These were then tied to a long main line and dropped into the lake bottom at about six metre intervals. Marker poles stood in the lake to identify the place of each family’s tau. After a few weeks the ferns would be carefully drawn up out of the lake and shaken onto a korapa. In no time a large quantity would be caught and taken home for the ‘weekend lunch or dinner.

Next: Washing on the Ohau