STOATS AND WEASELS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 569, 26 July 1909, Page 8

STOATS AND WEASELS.

LETTER FROM THE 80UTH ISLAND. AND SOME DEDUCTIONS. "(By R, C. Biiuce.) ■In my previous letter I gave expression to. • tho belief that stoats and woasels were not destructive to owe bird life, but thr.t very great 'difference' of opinion existed in reference, to the question, My belief was based upon such knowledge as I possess of n very J urge district oil tlic I West Coast of this North Island. But from information which I have recently l-cceived from sevßral authentic soureiw, J knr thai in ckutain i,ocAMTii:s, the stoats and wonnele are really destructive of our bird life, and, if this is so, it is probably attributable to environment. 1 have had a long and most interesting letUir from Mr. Olnu«ton, of Motueka, who, in his profession an mining engjneor, has had quitti exceptional opportunities for tho • observation of bird lifi> 'n the forests of the South Island. lie tells mo that, when camped by a lake in Olaj/,0, there were large numbers of wild clucks nesting close- to liiK, tent, and that he and his companion frequently "saw the itoikclk in tho -act of killing the ducks' young, and, during our camping there, wo must havo killed quite a dozen stoats and v/caseli. for interfering with the. young waterfowl." In tho - following remarks, Mr. Claiisten presents a strong cas« in reference to tlio stoats and weasels. Mr. ClaUHton eocs op to say:— Th 9 Indiptmcnt Agalnßt tho v/oaeoi. • "R-3 weasels, I wan ongincer to ,thn antimony mines at Queen Charlotte Sound lawt winter, and was located. for a few wceka at Resolution Bay, aiuj pvery night we could hear the weasels killing tho birds in. tho trees ovorlmnging the hquso. Wo oftcii used to see the weasels chasing the birds in the tops of the Kiatai trees, principally the malto malco and tui and other.email birds. Nearly.' all these beautiful birds liii'vo Bone—the result of the attacks of wcaeclo; • Why, during the, last few days, my wife and ■ I'.Jia vp Been wodswls lip the birch trees after tho' t,uh'! nests! On'hearing the.cry of tho tuis, my wife went to see what .was wrong, and thcro saw a. .weasel hunting'high up in the tree. It is simply marvellous at what a rapid rate a weasel can run up a supplejack vine or branoh of a tree. I once had several (locks of quail in my paddock; roosting quite icloso to my house in fuchsia trees covered with lawyer vines, and. nearly all these fine birds have been taken during tho last few weeks. I sometimes find tbo remains and feathers under tho tree. I agree with you concerning the destructivencss-of rats, but there are no "chances of a rat living down hero,'as there are too many wcaseJs. -' You could not go many paces along the road here without seeing one weasel or more, and.l have soon as many as six together. Mr. James Heath, who doos my packing to' the' Mount .Arthur mines; told-.me''that some months; ago he heard a quail making a terrible noise. He .happened to have agun in his hand, so he went round the hedge to see what was and, 'to his surprise, found a quail on top of a fence-post, and a weasel running around the bottom. Ho tells me that.the bird was just going to fall to ,the weasel when, ho gave tho' vermin tho contents of his gun. I was on my way to Mouiit Arthur last autiimn with the s-amo Mr. Heath, when we noticed a weasel dragging something from , the stream, 1 and. on examination, found it to be.a young half.: grown blue mountain duck, ouite warm, with its.life drained.out through flio neck. -In-my' travels last summer and this, I also found ma.ny kiwis freshly killed, and also 'found the q;gs sucked. It -may be : &aid that the .bird itself had. dealt with, the eggs, but I have seen the weka ■ suck egijs, and I know the difference., Mr. John Salisbury told Pe that he saw several kiwis' eggs similarly dealt with during a journey in tho Karamea district last summer.. I cannot, however, say that I have found a'weka killed by weasels, but I am told, on good authority, that wokas were here in thousands onco/'but the.weasels have killed them-all out. Quail are still .very plentiful all about this district, but, unfortunately, so also are tho weasels. ■ Bheasants/used, to,be very thick, too, I beI lievo,' but not'.one is .to. be seen now. Of eourso, other imported birds are to be found -in hundreds in this -district, and it is suspected that the weasels ..must kill .more of them than ouaiL As to other, bird lifo, I am afraid tfio poor old native quail is pretty, well extinct now, and I wink, people are making a mistake in importing tho litt'e grey owls, as thoy, will destroy our'native birds." . ',■-.'■•.'

Different Environment: North Island and '.> South. ".'.-■ .

■From Mr. , Clauston's letter/ as wellasfrom other authentic sources in the . South Island, I have arrived at'the conclusion that the evil reputation; of the stoats and-weasels would appear to be well deserved,.but the question* immediately arises as to the reasons why these animals should prove so dostru* tivo in certain areas in the south win Ist, m this large district, we have never had any cause for complaint. It is therefore quite ■reasonable to assume that tho tree-climuing weasels in the South Island have been forced to hunt, in the trees in consequence of a .shortage in their natural food supply, in tho form of rats and mice. From all that I bail learn in reference to the question, Ido not j believe that where rabbits are' fairly numerous the stoats and weasels have any 'appreciable effect in thinning their numbers. I have' been recently informed by experts that a weasel will kill a rabbit, and then lire upon him for. a .week 7 .without looking for another victim. My own opinion, and that of other friends in this district, is that Australia would perhaps be wise to assume the attitude of waiting developments,. as it is quite possible that she may'eventually obtain from us a more valuable and matured opinion in the years which are to come. "Communion with Nature." The introduction of either flora , or fauna generally results in conflict with native -species, and considerable periods of time may elapse before old Dame Nature, working upon well-understood lines, lias finally adjusted the balances. But the whole ques-tion-of tho preservation of our bird life has now received the attention which it so well deserves. •' In .preserving our bird life; wo take tie young' people into the -forest and place them in "communion with Nature," thus giving effect to a crystallisation of Shakespeare's philosophy. In this : grossly materialistic age, the pursuit of the "almighty dollar',' appears to constitute only too frequently the chief «nd' of man, and under such circumstances the study, of Nature in the forest has at once an elevating'and refreshing effect, as .'■ '.' .' . ' ' "Naturo is but. a name. .. ' For an effect whose cause is God." ■