Outlawed too Late.

Cromwell Argus, Volume LXI, Issue 3167, 15 June 1931, Page 6

Outlawed too Late.

STOATS AND WEASELS

BIRDS' WORST ENEMIES

NEXT THING A BOUNTV

Tht) removal of the protection on stoats and weasels in all areas of not less than fifty acres of native, forest signifies, in the opinion of those who hav<4 the interests of native birds at heart,, the biggest step won in' many years (says the Wellington 'Post ). For seventeen years the acclimatisation societies have been fighting for he removal of the protection on .these pests. In their case it was the ground nesting sporting- birds, such as quail, pheasants, and partridges, which it desired to safeguard ; but of late years the societies have realised that they have a common cause with the native bird protectionists, and though '.he plea for the removal of protection has certainly baen strongly urged' by the societies for many years, there is no doubt that the combined campaign for the extermination of the vermin mentioned has carried more weight. - NO LONGER NEEDED. One of the chief reasons why the Department of Agriculture has waived its objections to the removal of protection is that the purpose for wliich the stoats, weasels, and ferrets were imported, the destruction of rabbits, nas been largely fulfilled, both by the vermin themselves and by many other agencies, if there were ihe same danger to-day to pastoral industries that existed some twenty-years ago the native birds would, have remained the sufferers. It is no exaggeration to say that at one stage, especially in Canterbury and Central Otago, rabbits literally' ate the farmers out. To-day the position is .-very jdifferenti Thousands .of pea rifles are rusting in idleness because there are no rabbits to shoot, and on farms where the animals were once a scourge, to-day there, are either none or they are so iew as to excite comment when thev are seen.

The main reason lor the disappearance of rabbits was the high prices paid for skins, resulting- in lucrative crapping, poisoning,, and ferreti lg operations, carried out -so extensi\3ly that on blocks which were once soug'.it after the sportsman would bQ lucity now to get half a dozen in a morning's shoot, j lawks have helped, and there are some who contend that rabbits m both islands have also suffered an epidemic of some kind, which even to-day prevents their rapid spread. It is certainly strange, considering the remarkable fecundity of. this animal, that half a dozen rabbits seem to remain half a dozen Jo-day, whe/re formerly they would have been hundreds in a couple of years.

FEATHER BETTER THAN FUR. Like many other animals introduced into New Zealand, stoats have developed new characteristics. Few instances, it' any, arc to Land of tbeii

having climbed tiees in England il'i-»i birds, but they do so in New Zealand. especially at the time when the young oirds in tiie nests arc plump enough to cut but too youny to fly. In'Ji'O? duceel to kill rabbits, stoats and weasels much prefer teauier to fur, .** many people have found to their cost, and tney can exist quite well without rabbits as food, a lacfc that is shown iji their, plentiful presence in Fiordland, where there is not a single rabbit, but where the native birds pa\ toll. In a sanctuary at Raugitikei a stoat was seen on nine consecutive occasions to climb a tall pine, going to a height of over 100 feet, it is .stated, and coming down with young tuis in its mouth. How many nests were in the tree tould not be told, but on the tenth day - tho stoat did not return, having- probably cleaned out the lot. A stoat was also seen visiting all the sparrows' nests in a tree opposite Marton railway station. Every nest in the tree was apparently \isited, and the stoat aid not- emerge from the hist one, evidently going to sleep there. Another instance is given of a bluebird's nest ill a hawthorn fence in which there ware lour young ones. A boy saw a mother .stoat and four young- ones making away from it, each apparently carrying one of the inmates. Instances could be repeated, but there is no doubt of the reliability of the evidence m the foregoing cases. A strong and fearless swimmer, the stoat will cross rivers in flood that hold up good riders* The übiquity of such a murderous little beast makes it a scourge to all kinds of birds, and the j ground-nesting kinds have no chance against it. Wingless birds are ' cas\ victims, as also arc the tamer nativt birds, such as robins and huias. Wokas have long- since disappeared. Some m the native birds, such as fantails ad warblers, have learnt to) build thcii : nests at the extremity of long- supple branches and fronds, unable to "bear the weight oB their enemies, amongst . which must be enumerated the rats. ' If weasels and stoats do any good ill the forest, it is in the destruction oi rats, but to what extent these are Killed is hard to determine. TRAPPERS HELP. IU is confidently stated by acclimatisation that opossum trapping has done more for the native bin 1 * tnan is generally realised, through the number of vermin that is taken in the traps. It is perhaps a coincidence that where native birds have been noticed to increase, trapping' has been carried on. An interesting table has been compiled by the Wellington Acclimatisation Society, wlii/-'h issued its trappers with •'diaries, printed ,"n columns for records of everything caught in .the traps. Ninety-seven trappers filled in these diaries. The opossum '.skins they took totalled 17 per cent of the district catch. The diaries showed that for the O>54Q opossum skins taken, th"re were also taken 2,132 rats, caught in the opossjm traps. Worked out at the same : 'o-

portion for ..the total number of skin* taken in l:ho distiict, 12,1658 rats would be accounted lor by the traps. in addition to the rats, there were also aught the following other vermin: 1.123 stoats, jii? cats, 1,228 ferrets, and 3.52 hedgehog*. The latter aro deemed 1 to raid nests on the groan!. There, are \vei\v i'vw weasels in the Wellington district, but a large number of ferrets. ; TOO WELL "DUG IX." So strong has the feeling been against stoats and weasels amongst all sportsmen, and also amongst farmers in all but thickly-infested rabbit districts, tfaatl for years -their protection has existed only in name. However, its removal will, no doubt;, rctsult in more .open destruction of these pests, but it is very problematical whether they will ever be g-ot rid oft as completely as the rabbit. Stoats are hardy .little beasts, unusually immune from disease, and weasels are nearly as fortunate. Ferrets suffer from a sort of, distemper or tuberculosis which sometimes sweeps away whole communities of them. In country such as that of the Fiords, and in other ted forest regions, all bo very hard to get rid of, and alley will continue to clear out native "birds. There has already been noted a marked diminution of native birds in and south of VVestland. It is imposisbie, apparently, to exterminate stoats and woaseljs on closely-ranged Eng- : i,sh. game preserves*, where gamekeepers aro always at work. In New Zealand the removal of protection will do a good deal, but the vermin will increase in tangled growths and out-of-the-»vay spots unless a bountv is offered for t.-hei<- destruction. This will tfrobablv be the next objective of all those wtv'h the interests of the birds at heart.