Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC)

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Haʻikū Residents bring back quiet nights through MISC Community Coqui Control Program

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Susan Frett


Haʻikū communities are taking back their quiet nights from noisy, invasive coqui frogs, with tools and training from the Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC). MISC is currently working with five Haʻikū neighborhoods –Haʻikū Hill, Haʻikū Mauka, Haʻikū Makai, Lower Kokomo and Akoa/Ala Olu/Makaio. The program is ready to assist and empower more Haʻikū residents in the fight against this invasive species to protect their way of life and health of our native ecosystems.

Ha’ikū residents support each other in controlling coqui frogs on their properties with support from MISCʻs Community Coqui Control Program.

MISC recognized that in addition to strong support from the County of Maui and State of Hawai’i, containing and eradicating coqui in Haʻikū would require strong engagement at a neighborhood level. MISC launched the program to support and expand on existing community coqui control efforts by residents. MISC provides training, equipment, and citric acid solution (a food additive mixed with water). Community members provide boots on the ground – removing vegetation, hauling hoses, and dousing infested areas with citric acid solution. And it’s working. According to Haʻikū Hill team leader John Phelps, “Spraying each month has reduced the number of frogs on each property from hundreds to only a handful.” Neighbors working together can be more effective than independent control efforts, as coqui can quickly move into untreated areas or reinfest properties without a consistent effort. Participants report an additional benefit: the program is a good opportunity to get involved and meet their neighbors. MISC follows all social distancing and mask-wearing protocols whenever working in the community and all control work is conducted outdoors.

A Haʻikū residents sprays citric acid to control coqui on his property.

MISC provides different levels of support, depending on community need and participation. Individual residents can receive free powdered citric acid to control coqui on their property once MISC has confirmed that coqui are present. Residents can also borrow a 9-gallon walk-behind sprayer or a 100-gallon sprayer that fits in the back of a pickup truck. MISC provides training on how to effectively use the sprayers. 

When three or more neighbors agree to work together across their properties, MISC provides a 100-gallon sprayer to participating residents every six weeks and helps residents with spray operations if needed. For larger groups of neighbors (at least nine committed households, plus a person  who serves as a point of contact) MISC provides a reservoir of pre-mixed citric acid during the specified control week on a six week rotation. Participants report that having mixed citric acid in advance has been a “game changer” as it allows the team to focus directly on control activities. In two neighborhoods, the community groups proposed using a pipeline to effectively treat a larger area. MISC and the residents worked together to design and install the systems.

MISC provides a variety of sprayers to residents wanting to control coqui frogs on their properties.

Over the years, MISC has been able to eradicate 21 coqui populations on the island. Abe Vandenberg, MISC Coqui Field Coordinator, says the key to those successes has been persistence and consistency. He emphasizes the importance of community efforts, noting record levels of participation last summer, “Local engagement is a huge help to the island-wide coqui control strategy. As more community members help remove coqui from their own backyards, they allow MISC staff to take on more challenging work in the gulches and other areas with difficult access. Working the process of small wins will lead us toward the biggest possible success –  a coqui-free Maui.”

  • For more information about the program, visit: https://mauiinvasive.org/community-coqui-control-program/ 
  • To get involved, call MISC’s Community Coqui Control Coordinator Susan Frett at 808-633-6646 or email skfrett@hawaii.edu. 
  • To learn more about coqui, including environmental impacts, visit: https://mauiinvasive.org/coqui-frog/
  • To submit a report, visit: https://bit.ly/Coqui-Maui-Public-Report-Form or call MISC at 808-573-6472.

Filed Under: Community, Community Program News, Control Work, Get Involved!, Home Slider, Invasive Animals, Press Release Tagged With: Citric solution, community coqui control program, coqui, coqui frog, coqui frogs, maui, MISC

Coqui Community Engagement Questionnaire Results

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Susan Frett 2 Comments

Mahalo to everyone who responded to our Community Engagement Questionnaire that MISC sent out in April. We have heard a lot of great feedback and ideas from the community. 

The goal of the questionnaire was two-fold: first, to determine how we could assist people during the stay at home order and secondly, to gather feedback to improve the coqui program in the future. 

Thanks to one respondent, we learned of and are responding to a new pocket of frogs near the reservoir off Kokomo in Haʻikū. Recently she sent this update:  “I woke up at 3 am and took a moment to listen outside. I didn’t hear any coqui! I will listen again this evening. Mahalo to you & the crew!” This report highlights our need for community members across Maui to be our ears on the ground. Mahalo for letting us know about these frogs! 

As the weather continues to warm into the summer months the frogs will be more vocal. Please let us know what you are hearing especially if you hear them in a new area. We cannot always respond to reports right away but do prioritize responding to reports of frogs in new areas. Please report if you hear frogs where you haven’t heard them before. As one respondent said: “This neighborhood does not have coqui frogs YET.  If I were to hear one or more I would immediately inform my neighbors and urge ACTION!” Thanks for your enthusiasm! Don’t forget to report it to MISC too! 

Report coqui frogs using the MISC Coqui Report form.

Coqui Crew in Action, May 2020

Sixty-seven people responded to the questionnaire, 36 from the four existing neighborhood groups that have organized spray weeks and 31 from the wider Maui community. Between April 17th and May 9th, 633 pounds of citric were delivered to 17 separate locations in East Maui to people working to control coqui in their own yards. We will continue to deliver small (1.28 lb) and large (50 lb) bags for as long as our baseyard is closed to the public. Get in touch via the coqui report form to request citric if needed.

No Contact Citric Delivery
No Contact Citric Delivery, May 2020

A frequent response to the questionnaire was a variation on the theme “Bring the Big Sprayers” with people requesting everything from borrowing one of our 100-gallon sprayer tanks to the crew treating the gulches again. We will have the 100-gallon sprayers available again once our baseyard is open to the public. The crew has been out Monday – Thursday doing work on outlying populations and new pockets to keep those from getting out of control. 

Some of the responses were really cool suggestions for educational campaigns. Ideas included  reaching out to landscaping companies, translating our information into the languages most often spoken by those in the local landscape industry, sharing coqui related research, alternatives to citric acid as a control method, and continuing to do outreach to other areas of Maui about the risks posed if coqui continue to spread. 

Additionally people requested help with green waste removal, training on how to properly use citric acid, and information about what sprayers are most useful for personal use. Six respondents asked for help with neighbors, varying from developing new neighborhood coqui control groups to motivating people who don’t currently control coqui on their properties.

As a result, MISC is developing new online resources, looking into options to support the disposal of green waste created by coqui habitat control work, researching additional options for our equipment loan program, developing new handouts about coqui control, and planning new training options to help get more people involved in the coqui control effort.

Coqui-Free Neighborhood Sign
Community Coqui Control Sign

Thank you again to everyone who responded to the questionnaire! The questionnaire is still accepting responses here. Additionally, please feel free to reach out to the Coqui Community Engagement Coordinator, Susan Frett at skfrett@hawaii.edu or 808-269-2728 with additional feedback or questions.

 
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Filed Under: Uncategorized

Social media posts help MISC catch coqui frogs

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Susan Frett 2 Comments

Hand captured coqui frog
Coqui frog captured by hand (example image from April 29, 2020)

Updated May 18, 2020

Late in the evening on May 12th, 2020 people across Maui started reacting to a video posted on Facebook of coqui frogs calling in the plants outside a large nursery in Central Maui. The notifications for the MISC Facebook page were flooding in as people sent messages, shared the video, and tagged MISC in their comments to the video on other pages.  Many people also filled out the Coqui Report form on our webpage. Mahalo for all of your reports!

Early the next morning, before MISC could even start preparing to respond to the location, we learned that one of our awesome, longtime staff, Darrell Aquino, had quashed the outbreak! Darrell’s daughter, a former MISC Coqui Crew member, had seen the video on Facebook and let him know about it. Being a take-charge person, as well as an experienced MISC coqui field supervisor since 2005, Darrell went out to the location at 10:30pm on the 12th.

As all who watched the video that was shared or have heard coqui in person know, the males emit a loud two-toned call. By listening and whistling back to the frog, Darrell was able to track down and hand capture a single frog in the plants for sale outside the nursery. Additionally, Darrell learned from the local security person that the store manager captured a second frog. 

Darrell sharing his knowledge with the coqui crew January 30, 2020

Mahalo to Darrell and the nursery store manager for their quick action! The area where the frogs were found is currently quarantined – plants are not being sold from there.

Mahalo to Darrell, and the nursery store manager, for their quick action! The area where the frogs were found has been treated with citric by HDOA and is currently being monitored throughout the evenings by store staff. Nursery employees will report any additional coqui frogs to HDOA who will respond if needed

Mahalo to the Maui community for taking action and drawing attention to this incipient invasive species threat. Unfortunately, other invasive species are not as vocal. We all need to be vigilant to limit the spread of all invasive species. 

You can help! Prevent the spread of invasive species on Maui

  • Purchase locally-grown plants whenever possible – pest species hitchhike on cargo moving long distances.
  • Inspect all new plants and landscaping materials brought on to your property.
  • Isolate new plants and landscaping materials for a few days and inspect them again.
  • Do a self-test to inspect for little fire ants, check out this video to learn how. 
  • Report MISC target invasive species 
  • Support funding for more inspectors and rapid response at the county and state level.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: coqui crew, coqui frog

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Maui Invasive Species Committee (MISC)
Office: (808) 573-6472
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PO Box 983, Makawao, HI 96768

Acting Manager / Public Relations: Lissa Strohecker
E-mail: miscpr@hawaii.edu

Special Projects: Teya Penniman
E-mail: miscmgr@hawaii.edu

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