'A nasty place at the moment': Lord Howe Island tense as rat baiting begins

After 20 years of arguments, the eradication plan that has split families and divided neighbours will finally go ahead

For the past few weeks little plastic boxes have been popping up on Lord Howe Island. By mid-May the boxes will be filled with poison-laced grain pellets as part of an ambitious attempt to eradicate rats and mice from the world heritage-listed island.

They cover the island like a net, 2,400 points laid out at 10-metre intervals throughout the accessible, human-occupied areas and running along waterways.