FOREST GROWTH DESTROYED

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21198, 23 June 1934, Page 14

FOREST GROWTH DESTROYED

DEER IN THE RAKAIA GORGE STALKERS SEE FT.W HERDS One of the outstanding impressions gained by Mr J. Roy Smith, the secretary of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, on a stalking trip up into the headwaters of the Rakaia river, was the remarkable beauty of the open glades of native bush, which, stripped of their dense undergrowth by deer, resemble very great park-like forests. In the forests which cover the low slopes of mountains, where they verge on to creeks or rivers, the bush, once noticeable for the thick masses of undergrowth which originally was a feature of all that country, is now in most places eaten free of that growth. The result is that one can look through the still densely planted woods and secure unusually fine vistas of open woodland, not at all characteristic of New Zealand native forests. In some areas there is thick undergrowth, but there are other parts of the hill forests where the deer have apparently congregated regularly and there eaten off a good deal of the young plant life on the forest floor. The result is those really beautiful glimpses of open woods seen through the large trees. Mr Smith saw no signs of the deer having barked the trees. No Large Herds Mr Smith, who returned from the Rakaia on Thursday, said that he had had an enjoyable trip, although the heavy snow conditions, particularly on the shingle fans high up in the gorge, had made stalking difficult and hazardous. There had been heavy snow earlier in the month which had settled down on the shingle slides and frozen. The icecovered boulders had made climbing slow. The stalkers saw no large herds, the greatest number of animals seen together at the one time being seven, and the indications were that they had generally retired to the remoter regions in the alps. It was not the roaring season, and the hinds and stags had not separated, otherwise it would have been possible to carry on extensive stalking of the stags. In all Mr Smith and his guide, who were out for five days, saw deer and shot 10. Two were stags (one a spilcer and the other a sevenpointer) and eight hinds and calves. All were in excellent condition.