OATS POISONED WITH 1080

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28765, 10 December 1958, Page 25

OATS POISONED WITH 1080

Use By Cheviot Rabbit Board

Oats, treated with 1080 poison, will be laid today on unoccupied Crown land below the railway bridge and on the Cheviot side of the Waiau river, by the foreman of the Cheviot Rabbit Board (Mr F. Crosado). The board has issued a warning that fishermen and others having any reason to go on this land should exercise great care with dogs and other animals. All shooting and hunting for rabbits are prohibited for two months, and on no account should any rabbits be taken for consumption, nor the poisoned bait or any carcases be handled during this period. A sack of oats will be used as bait, and Mr Crosado said he would not have to do any preliminary feeding. That was where 1080 was preferable to strychnine. Another advantage 1080 had over strychnine was that it deteriorated fairly quickly, but strychnine stayed potent for a long time. No chances would be taken with the 1080 poison. Though the board’s intention to lay the poison had been advertised, he was going to warn individual farmers in the area to keep their dogs tied up. said Mr Crosado. The only persons from other districts likely to visit the area would be fishermen, and they, too, would be warned. The land on which the poisoned oats would be laid was an island of about 500 acres in the Waiau river. It was covered with gorse and broom. About two-

thirds of the island was swept clean in flood times, but there were some high points where rabbits would be safe, and these rabbits would begin breeding again. It was hoped to clean them all up by laying the poisoned bait. All carcases would be buried.