DESTRUCTION OF HARES

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29190, 28 April 1960, Page 19

DESTRUCTION OF HARES

Cause Of Erosion

Anything which destroyed or reduced the life of the vegative cover of New Zealand's soils w’as a menace to production and promoted erosion, said Mr T. R Beatty in h>s presidential address to the New Zealand Catchments Boards’ Association yesterday. Therefore the conference should give full support to the Rabbit Destruction Council in its endeavours to have the Rabbits Act amended to make it mandatory for rabbit boards to destroy hares as well as rabbits, he said. “What is gained if we allow the hare in to take the place of the rabbit? Too many people do not appreciate the fact that the hare can multiply rapidly and will do so once the rabbit is removed. It is quite common to get three leverets in a nest, and up to five are often found,” said Mr Beatty. "Those rabbit boards, which have reduced the rabbit population to a low level and conduct night shooting, are killing three hares for every two rabbits with no apparent reduction in hare population. The hare is a tougher proposition than the rabbit It has been found in mid-winter in the snow on the Fraser Basin, Central Otago, at altitudes up to 6000 ft.”

It was futile to endeavour to prevent erosion and promote cover on tussock grasslands by asking farmers to reduce domestic stock numbers and at the same time ignore thc noxious animal ponulation. The ill-effects of overstocking were the same whether by domestic animals or noxious animals. The remedy with domestic animals was comparatively easy—remove some or all of the stock for a period. With the noxious animals it was not so simple and was a very costly matter as was found from experience with rabbits. The transformation that took place when vast numbers of rabbits were removed from glazing runs and farms was well known. It was safe to say that one of the greatest contributions to the restriction of wind erosion and the recovery of grazing on the grazing runs and farms of Otago had been the destruction of the rabbit under rabbit boards, and the killer policy, said Mr Beatty.