fun activity! Organising a vole hunting competition can be a fun and engaging way to collectively eliminate pest infestations. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you organise your competition and maximise your vole catch rate: **Pre-event planning** 1. **Set up the competition area**: Define where the competition will take place and make sure it is within the village to prevent conflicts with neighbouring land or private property. 2. **Determine the date and time**: Choose a single day and time for the competition, ideally during peak vole activity (usually early morning or late afternoon). 3. **Set the rules**: Establish clear rules, such as: * Contestants must capture voles within a designated area. * Only certain types of traps or capture methods are allowed (e.g. humane trapping, hand catching or hunting). * Each participant must provide their own traps/equipment. * Create prizes for categories such as most catches, fastest catches and most creative methods. 4. **Work with local experts**: Consult with local wildlife experts, pest control services or farmers to understand vole behaviour, habitats and possible areas of high activity. 5. **Get necessary permissions**: Get permission for the competition from local authorities or landowners, if required. **Event Day** 1. **Contest Registration**: Set up a registration area for participants to register, provide basic information (name, contact information, and capture method), and distribute rules and maps. 2. **Assign Areas**: Assign designated areas to participants by random draw or facilitator assignment method to prevent overlap and promote fairness. 3. **Contest Start**: Start the contest at a specific time, using a loud signal or sound to mark the start. 4. **Monitoring and Recording**: Designate referees or volunteers to monitor the contest, record the number of voles captured, and verify the successful captures of participants. 5. **Prizes and Rewards**: Award prizes to winners and encourage participants to share their tips and success stories. **Maximize Capture Rate** 1. **Identify High Activity Areas**: Whenever possible, set the contest in areas where voles are widely active and nesting is dense. 2. **Use Effective Capture Methods**: Encourage participants to use proven methods such as humane traps, cage traps, or hand capture. 3. **Provide Appropriate Equipment**: Allow the use of bait, attractants, or other tools to attract voles. 4. **Encourage teamwork**: Promote cooperation between participants to develop strategies, share knowledge and help each other to maximize catch rates. 5. **Keep it safe and sustainable**: Ensure that the competition is conducted in a safe, humane and environmentally friendly manner, avoiding the destruction of vole habitat or harm to other wildlife. **Additional Tips** 1. **Promote the event**: Promote the event through social media, posters and word of mouth to attract a large number of participants. 2. **Provide educational materials**: Share information about vole biology, habitat and impact on crops to increase community awareness and involvement in vole management. 3. **Evaluate event success**: Record the number of voles captured, participant feedback and any areas for improvement to reference for future events. 4. **Recognize participants**: Show gratitude and recognize participants for their contribution to protecting village crops, even if they did not win the competition. By following these guidelines, you will successfully host a vole hunting competition event that helps control pest populations and promotes community involvement. Good luck and have fun!