PESTS. RABBITS VERSUS STOATS AND WEASELS

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 58, 6 September 1905, Page 7

PESTS. RABBITS VERSUS STOATS AND WEASELS

INTERVIEWS WITH PARLIAMENT TARY REPRESENTATIVES. ' THE NATURAL ENEMY PROBLEM.. When ferrets, polecats, stoats, and | weasels were introduced to New Zealand to cope with the rabbit pest about twenty years ago it was found that they j did not confine their killing to rabbits, but that ground game and poultry-yarda } suffered as well. The 'ferrets and stoats displayed dispositions to desert the hilla where the rabbits were thickest and to frequent the towns or the plains. Outcry was made against any further imporI tations, and demand was made to Parlia« ment for repeal of the protective lafra on behalf of\he animals, it being urg6d that they were ineffectual to decrease rabbits to any great extent. Gradually the f errata and their congeners -J died *away> and soon the agitation against 1 them died also. Importation ceased; but it now seems that in somfe districts breeding of the several varieties has been continued, and in Maryborough the runholders hare been so impressed by the mult of experiments and observations that several of them have formed—a syndicate to acquire and liberate between 250 and 750 ferrets every year on runp in the south-eastern part Of the Marlborough Province and in North-east Canterbury. Having ih memory tha strong objections made years ago to similar proposals, an Evening Post reporter made enquiries amongst members of Parliament who represent rajibit-ifi-fested*districts to ascertain their opinions and those of their constituents regarding the latest move. These enquiries elicited a consensus of opinion that the smaller order of carnivcra were decidedly ussful as an, adjunct to cope ■with tne pest ; though the Minister for Lands (who has for formation of his opinions the benefit of advics from the practical officers of <fh© Stock Department) expressed an opinion that systematic poißonihg was the effective reanedy for tho rabbit pest. The" enquiries fur-thor made it seem that different varieties of 'the- carnivoxa better suit certain districts. In Otago tho stoat and weasol ar6 favoured and the ferret is looked upon as a failure ; but on the seaboard of North-eastern Canterbury, and Southeastern Marlborough the ferret evidently finds favour with •runholders. Once ifc was regarded as a menace to 'the town communities that ferrets, etc.,' should bo -let lbosfe in large quantities; but nowadays, if members of Parliament a%e to -be ■taken as voicing the opinions Of fhe populace, tlie natural chelny is tolerantly regarded by all feavo sportsmen anxious for the -preservation of ground game ; while ithe'averago runholder looks upon 'him <m 'a boon. .The protection 'laws in respect of the natural enemy were etilte in fores. Apropos of t!i« sportsman's view of the subject-, Mr. T. Mackenzie, M.H.R.; is of opinion that where there ap no rabbits there should be no protection for stoats or weasels. Tne ca6C from the runholders' point of' view wrs put by 'Mr. Rutherford, M.H.R., who painted a, moving word pictur© of the woas of the tame-bred ferret whin deprived of his daily biscujt and turned out -to hustle for his living in recesses where the irabbit has hie dwelling. N The lion. T. Duncan, Minister for Lands, assured our representative thaii there Was much evidence that stoats andweasels (in Otago and other places) had baen of great assistance in coping with the rabbit pest. , The experience .in th» South was lhat tho ferret was not much use in cold climates; he wandered down to the waimer plnius an£ ' a» round the settlements. The MinisteiT'SS aofc think it would be advisable 'to liberate ferret* in any quantity near settlements. But weasels were different. . , There wertr weasels near his own place at Oamaru, nnd he had never known them to interfere with poultry; and he had knownthem tb be nfe»r one farm for seven years. One thing they did was to clear tho fats out, and they also got a few birds that rfsted on the ground. He did not" think thoro would be any difficulty in dealing with stoats and weasels, though he did not think there would be need for liberating many of them. His advices were that poisoning properly carried but wa« the. man thing needed, and that there wai' very little to l)c feared from rabbits where systematic poisoning was gone in for. Iv conversation with Mr. Rutherford, M.H.R., the Posb feportcr learned that the movement to again liberate ferrets was originated by a syndicate of runholders in Northern Canterbury and Soulh-eartern Marlborough — Messrs. W. Trelove, Murray, Thomas, E. Rutherford, and E. Parsons. They wero largely influenced in their decision to fight tho rabbit pest by means of the natufd enemy through the experience of Mh Bullen, of Kaikoura, who pradticallj cleared his station at Green Hilto froir the pest by use of ferrets and weasels—' after a thorough rabbit-poisoning proeesa had been carried out as preliminary. In country where burrows were plentiful the ferret had been found specially, useful, la addition to Green Hills jtatiofc

St. Helen's station had been so effectually cleaned of-- the ''nuisance that its sheep-carrying capacity — which fell from 50,0U0 to 20,000, solely. through the increase of rabbits on the run — had been again raised to the original 50,000. Tho Molesworth and Tarndale stations, in Central Marlborough, were othere places that had been greatly relieved from the pest by use of stoats and ferrets. Speaking of the fear that ferrets might eventually become a pest themselves and a menace to the townspeople, Mr. Rutherford .was emphatic in discounting the possibility of such a disaster. He was one of a syndicate of ranholders that years ago raised £2500, which sum was spent (plua, a £2500 Government subsidy) in importing ferrets from England Where were those ferrets now he asked ; and when the pressman failed to answer, Mr. Rutherford said they were extinct. The fact was that ferrets in a ■wild state bred very little in New Zealand; 'and unless they were turned out in fresh batches every year they soon died out. There was great mortality whenever a bitch was." turned out owing to the changed circumstances of living ' that ensued. Iv captivity the animals were fed on biscuits and milk and a little meat, and wnen they were forced to fare themselves many of them died of starvation through failure to adapt themselves to their new surroundings. It was sometimes the case that a person walking on a run some time after a batch- .was. liberated found some"thfrig clutching at his boot, and on looking down he saw a ferret in the last stage of starvation -seeking for human pity and succor 1 Some, of, the fer4;ets. did adapt themselves, and these effected the good work of which he had spoken; but gradually they died out, and there waa little' natural incre&so. to replace them. They "did their best work in killing oh* the more knowing rabbits ; it was only possible to poison a certain number, of rabbits, and. then there were "those who would never take poison. The-only way-to-deal with these was by use of natural enemies and the gun. Trapping could not be Utilised, for the lerreW, and weasels were trapped and killed as often as the rabbits,'. He was a firm, believer in the efficacy of the natural enemy as a means for keeping down the rabbit pesfc. - ■' Fortunately for myself," quoth Sir William Russell, "I know very littls about 'labbtlsr Our 'practice in Hawkes B*y has always bsen-to meet our danger halfway; and so, .by wire-netting and persistent killing, the rabbit has never been-' allowed to get numerous. Probably Mr^ Buchanan could give you practical information on. Ac subject of the "natural enemy; mine, -would bo merely theoretical." Mr.-.W.. C. Buchanan, -M.H.R., said he went. to England in 1874, (when the rabbit had commenced to be a nuisance in the Wairarapa) so that he might study the ' habits and" ' characteristics of the natural enemy of the rabbit. After close investigation, -and after taking -the- opinions of English students of the question, ,h.Q.> became, convinced that the natural r enemy Tvas-the'best remedy for the rabbit pest, and his experiences in the subsequent years had confirmed that impression. ' Stoats, ferrets, and weasels were introduced to the Wairarapa, and they iad done their work very well. On -Mr. "Buchanan's, "own . homestead he had , not eeen a rabbit for four or five years past, though it was possible there might be .odd ones. .. The stoats and' weasels were Still thero to prevent increaso of rabbita, though the ferret had a tendency to -disappear. There had beer no complaints against the .stoats and weasels round" about Mr. Buchanan'3 place for a long time past, and it had been shown that rats were often responsible for depredations 'which were blamed against weasels -and stoats. In England Mr. Buchanan never heard a single complaint of Ihefu'kflling 'fowls.' '. * - Mr. Thomas Mackenzie, M.H.R., mem--fcer *for "Waikouaiti, replied as follows to thre3 questions submitted <to him : — In _jepjy jto. yotrr firet question, as to whether ferrets are- likely to successfully copo with the rabbit plague : My own \>pinion is that alone they are not likely to, but with trapping and the enemy, I know> that in -come •disUicta they -have bean pretty, well got "nifdeV "notably about the Moa" Flat country and the Bine (Mountains. (2) As to whether the remedy is likely to prove worse than the disease : That I am Inardly competent to give an opinion upon. "ri»at they will be a most unjnitigated nuisance is almost certain, nnd ■what developments they may make afterwhen the- rabbit does not keep -'them going, is more than I can tell. (3) " T think "that where- there are no rabbits "there ehould he no protection of ferreta and weasels. Speaking g-enerally on tha ''question, one cannot but deplore t'he necessity for the liberation of sucji vermin in this country, and "they have been liberated in many instances where they are not required at all. Years ago on the western side of Lakes To Anau and iManapouri, where the -country will never be required for sheep or cattle, but •wnero at that tuns' onr choicest and "rar£s"t native game abounded, these vile -brutes were rowed across the lake and lei loose. All our native game, I think, will suffeTj and if tho Government permit the shooting of our birds at the Game time- that tn« natural enemy is deotroying them, I fear within a short w tlbW all our most charming birds will disappear. In brief aresweT to a general question, A£t. Herdman, M.H.R., member for Mpunt }da, said that stoats and weasels (not ferrefs) had been liberated in various parts of that district, and there was i>o doubt .that they were making a difference in tho rabbit pest. That was the opinion of many of < the farmers and . runholders whom he had questioned.