THE RABBIT NUISANCE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1142, 21 March 1884, Page 3

THE RABBIT NUISANCE.

' | .Mi «/-.-• »3M ■ a, '1 ,( Iw mjr last paper on -tto subject,..! ;i estirfltited—l ttiiuk I : may,*ay demon* f atrated—thatour direct annual lossya | frpm-this caii'-e are L1,’649,000. Oiti* j indirect; ilossoa^fijc.ifl.. depreciation,, of >J property alone,amounts to L 3,000,000. 1 As an additionkrpjfidf ;6f the abive, I 1 (jiiote the'fbllo^n!' 1 report of sales of 1 p.Wpral leases in Otago and -Sopthfahd 1 held in Dunedin on February 28th, 188,4 :- J " ‘ 698,850 were. adyertjsed fop, sale by . public auction' in runs of diffe ent areas,' 517,000 acres' were Idj,' for I 4 and 21 years for a total TeoW of 1:345, No-1 otter/twas“ rpade ifor’ : 181,8(j0 acres on account of j*b its , • These 69 8(8)6 acres should‘ carry ’ ope sjieep t6 four y -acie». eqdhl to 474,712 sheep, An average price obtained for pastoral country in the,, Otago sales- in 1881 and 1882, where the rabbit&wferC; ’ comparatively speak ii g, scattered, was about Is 9d per sheep. At this rate the above country?, shbdld yield a rental of L 16.282. The State is the largest proprietor of rabbit country in New Zealand (see Rabbit Inspector’s report for 1883, via, 993,600 acres), and yet there is no law to compel the State to destroy the rabbits on its lands. The private ' properties adjoining these areas of public {wastes are under the law, andthese properties, no matter how many rabbits have been killed in the winter, are continually re-stocked front the Government lands. It is sufficient, to mention one or > two instances to show how all arc ! affected in this way The Moa Flat 1 Station in Otago once clipped alrout , 120.000 sheep, producing ,300 bales i wool. It now clips, I believe, 45,000 1 sheep, which produce 500 bales wool!. ' Messrs Cargill and Anderson, some -, seven yeais since, cl pped 25,000 to 30.000 on the Mt. Benger station, ! adjoining Moa, Flat. They now, I i believe, clip 10,000 sheep, and have , spent meantime some L4OOO or LSOOO in destroying rabbits. The taxpayers are generally the ( losers, because the rabbit has been , allowed to increase upon their lands. | It has been considered a question for * the squatters The squatters who j once held the rabbit country have lost , their occupation of sheep keeping on ] these, lands, and, < f these, large a> eas ’ of the (jublio > estate have been re- | turned to the Government worse f than valueless; the rabbit, meantime, has become established on the Western Ranges, from whence the who ! e of I the South Island may lie stocked. It ' must be said that original!''' the , rabbits spread over Southland from i Government propei ty. 1 do not say 1 that any one in the past has been to blame' in the matter. Want of experience has brought matters to this piss, but we shonl 1 not go on with om eye< shut t<> the responsibilities of the future. The rabbit must bo attacked and destroyed on the Western Ranees, and the abandoned area should be cleared of the rabbits upon it, and the land,' relet at its full value. Inaction means ruin, both publicly and privately. The plan hithertoot letting things slide, which has resulted in the -beep and squ tters disappearing and the rabbit appearing in their places, tells us that the same thing .will be repeated in the future when the present leases fall in, and again vast at eas will bn returned to the State useless. T’-e State should accept the responsibilities of ownership and come under the law like ot h er proprietors. A deep injustice is done to ail those who adjoin the Government rabbit country. .Shifting the onus upon others is neither fair nor sensible. In the Chief Sheep Inspector’s report ol 1883 it is suggested—and I believe the suggestion has been adopted, in some cases, by the Otago Waste Lands Board thif certain ’rabbit; areas should be let to people, free of rent, on condition that the rabbity are kept down upon these lands T> rnymind this appears a most,pernicious system. , If means the encouragement and per- . petnation of the pestir mead- any- 1 thing .to get rid of the responsibility. This plan cannot an-wer. hecuise one who is willing to take the land upon must, in ‘ the * first, place, •find it worth while to have it. He certainly will not clear his land for so ad a landlord, ns he will be char j fed rent ay soon s he has killed the rabbits j oi the land will be, let to ino'her'after'ho has taken the pains to clear it; or he will not make any great efforts to destroy the rabbits, as the surrounding country re stocks the lidding as, quickly as he, c ears it. IChe tenants’ interests are not id- ntical j with the landlords. Sooner or later the question “ Wliat ‘ •must bo done With the rabbits upon the public estate?” must he faced J ofil‘ present means are evidently i quite ineffectual to clvck the rabbit ' In the winter we work-hard, on pri- ‘ vata properties ; during the summer ! tjie rabbit is left in undisturbed poss- , esion of country, the rt suit, the fol- > lowing winter, dicing that, n»twith- , standing all our late efforts, the pest, j is wofse than ever. The ‘’Rabbit < -Nuisance Act” is on the one hand i very oppressive, and on the oihrr I impossible to carry out, and g neraliy ' ineffective. Ttis'dpp>esSive—llec'nUse, a jat any time, the busiest time of the > * yeiir, when .wages are prohibitively 1 (high andicropa are ih.urgent need of ;j harvesting, Wr -flocks are' required' to ; be mustered for various reasons—in i

the thick of work the landholder may f< WofoetUto destroy the rabbits upon k Ills holding I ms impossible t : 6 cany c out front October to March, because 1 ti the weather generally is too hot to i fi fallow dogs to work for toore than toi r b hours a day, a'nd eveti then barfly; and d iat all times men and'dogs are at a *< great disadvantage where tb-Ve are hj many rocks, touch Scrub or fern, or overgrowth of auV 'description I s l I lestrtiction hy means 'of poison is very a useful where the'rabbit is established v in nittnbers, and the grass is scarce ; in t frosty weather, wheft the grabs is o frosted the rabbit eagerly takes the b poisoned grain ; cold weather is also s htofe favourable becahse the warmer fe the Weather the more quickly the a phofephdrus evaporates. Therefore, a Ipdisoning cAbnot be carried on sue- q oewffully in the summer. Destruction t by ‘means of gases are very well when hj the burrows cAn be found,but the same a Veasohs that prevent the "dogs from n finding the fa'diit also prevent men I from finding the burrows, viz,, rocks, t tiarub> overgrowth; and even where c there is ho overgrowth I have walked t toiles over rabbit country, seen lots of t rabbits, but scarcely any burrows, c Even if the most ravish expenditure a 'wero proposed-, 1 do not believe, with r the use of our present means, that if d the whole rural adult mAle population s •Of New Zealand were emp oyed only In rabbitting for the favourable months tl bf the year, they could or would stamp n 'the rabbit out. d If this he SO, 'or partly so, it is clear v that 'We require louse other rtreans. 1< We want an Agent, which after we d have poisoned the land in the winter t the winter rrftmths, will hunt where t the rabbits are not numerous enough t to take the poison; Gfchen dogs, on n •'account of the heat, cannot work ; in t 'the brtsy months, when labour cannot t be obtained; and in districts where 1 the natural features, such as rocks, £ scrub, fern, and overgrowth are r 'against the means we are now using f would be always pursing, worrying, r 'frilling, and destroying the rabbit. I Such an agent is found in the natural r ‘enemy who must find his food ih the A 'r.'bbit every 36 hours at least, and t 'whose nature, until its appetite is n appeased, is ferocious, and who kills t for tbe sake of sport! Such an Agent's I interests are identical with ours : our r ends a r e the aairie : —tbe destruction c of tbe rabbit. Where the natural s "enemy is used, no hunting should be a ‘carried on after September, or.wilfmly s or inadvertently, or even in spite of the s greatest care, it will be killed, bv as s 'the ferret is the natural enemy of the t rabbit, so is the rahbiter the natural 1 'enemy of the feiWt i I That the use of the natural enemy e \vas deemed wise and necessary is r ‘evident because the ferret was im- c ported for some time by the Govern- t brent of New Zealand, And only aban- a Honed because of the great loss in the 1 importations and failure of success in c the breeding establishments (see Chief 1 1 nspector’s for 18*3). But surely this t is a poor reason for ceasing operations 1 'in this direction. The failure was "owing to the mismanagement: and r ’mismanagement only. To whom was r ‘entrusted the charge of thefee delicate 1 animals for the voyage 1 To the » carpenter of the shin ! Little wonder f that failure Uccurr d. I et me contrast c the increase in prL ate ferrerties with a that ih the Government ones, in order i to show immistakeably that misman- f aaernent is the 'cause of failure in 1 breeding also 1 * ' , t ■Extracted from the Annual ! Re tort on (. tue Rabbit Nuisance, 1883 Statement of the number of ferrets , imported by the Government-- j Number of ferre's shipped, 1458 ; landed, I 376 ; cost, £1177 ; number sold, 136; re- [ ceipts, £9O ss; increase, 122 ; turned loose, # 2 ; distributed, 152. . Statement ot Ferretrv on Starborough 1 Station, M[arlboi'ough— ( 1882— Number of females. 10; number ( turned out, 76; N.B.—Besides in- j Creasing breeding stock. ( 1883— Number of females, 54; number , tu ned out. 494; N.B—Besides iu- . creasing breeding Stock. 1 1884— NUmber of, females, 115; number ! turned out. 702 ; sold 200, additional i increase, 860; total, 126 )■ Total amount from 10 females in three years, 2099. Many stations in Marlborough i.re breeding ferrets, Richmond Br 0k and Flax bourne are each turning out about 800 this year. For the present we must go on With the Babbit Nuisance Act, or a better one, until we have the natural 1 • nemy in sufficient numbers to be of practical Use when let loose. Only a few p ople are breeding ferrets, all ioten Bred should do so. The natural enemy has been slghally sucCes-ful When Used iu Marlborough. It enquiries Were made by tbe Government, full information coOld be o >tained as to the cost of rearing per head; the average iniChea.se, and thb result when turned loose. If tbe ferret were used generally, thousands--'would be inquired. The Government alone would went immense numbers to turn \ipou their surveyed and unsurveyed lands throughout NeW Zealand eVery rear. The animal is only to be obtained now in small numbers. If the Government required them, the price Would rise far beyond their value. To wait for tne natural increase of tho e we have to cope with the rabbit pest, would he hopeless. The rabbit has tbe start, and would keep it. We Should therefore lose no time in importing the natural enemy in thousands from 8 nrope, but' not in tie Waj we have hitherto done, I he time

for experimenting has passed; we k ow that the ferret is I can lie imported; <*ur mun importations sh'duid therefore be .ferrets. in the j first plA'ce, the stoat and weasel, beirig , Vnnnli baldier, should also he intrb- s dimed Vhilo we aie itoportlbg the 1 ferret, and 'our future operations t Siiould he guided by what we learn. i A snitt sufficiently,large to indbce responsible and reliable men (who are 1 accustomed to the trade of carrying wild animals to and from all parts of the world) to enter into arrangements nr contracts for delivering the hatural 'eneuty, at per head, in New Zealand should ho hiade available. Kvery Steamer leaving Kngland should carry a shipment. Free, passages lor the | animals, the attendants, and their re quit- ments should be offered the contractor, as the 'Government can make better terms witu the shipowners. and a jjraVfl pleniftiit o£ difficulty be removed from the way of tlie contractor - Enquiries in Europe shqu'd be made, through the Directors of the Zmlogical Gardens of London, Hamburg, or the“Jardin des Plantes,” Paris, for the addresses of men who conld be recommended to undertake this work, ami lor further information. “ JAih- , radii,” the wild beast dealer in Lon- ( don, and other experts might be con- ( salted. I After entering into a contract for t the delivery of th u animals, establish- * ments should be prepared, in accordance with the recommendation of j well-informed people, in convenient i localities, where the animals should be 1 distributed upon arrival. The at- * tendants who have been sent out with them shMld, if possible, be induced < to remain to take charge of them. The i more widespread the establishments the less risk fiom epidemics would be ! As I have before said, the inmates of Benevolent Asylums, Industrial Schools, and certain classses of prisoners should be dUCouraged to breed the ferret (or other natural enemy, if possible) hy a promise of a good bonus for all reared past a certain age. From the men who come out with the ihimals, suitable ones should be chosen to instruct people who are willing to undertake such work, and to inspect the places where the animals are kept. Ferrets should be sold by the Government to such people on credit Or for cash, on certain conditions, such as selling the increase to the Governtnent at a stated price. It would be necessary that the receivers should find securities, so that there should be some guarantee for their suitableness, thus saving the Government from loss. Should loss occur from distemper, then one half the cost should be exacted. A certain responsibility must rest with the recipient to ensure due care. A very lucrative additional means of livelihood would thus be atfbrded to the industrious, and marIteislbr both public and private requirements Would be established. Pamphlets giving directions as to the treatment of ferrets should be circulated. If we adopted this plan of exterminating the rabbit, large huniherS of men now employed as nib hit ers could be employed on reproductive work, and the mbhey that is now wasted in following fee useless a systetn would be distributed among the indnstmns poor, and people past work from age or il lne*s, etc. In a book that I have upon ferrets, it mentions that it is recorded by“ Plinv,” “that Spain being overrun by rabbits, the Romans introduc d the ferret, from Africa to cope with th 6 pest.” I cannot close this paper without giving one of my reasons against the proposals made by some that the administration of the Rabbit Act should be given to local bodies. I will state a case ; Let us Say that A, a county; is bounded by B, C, and I) counties. A is comparatively free from rabbits, but B, G, and L> al-e overrun with them. The people in A county, fearing the worst, are very zealous in the election of representatives who will enfoioe the Act rigorously; the people in B, C, and D counties have long been accustomed to the rabbit, many thinking that the rabbit is rather a blessing than a curse, as it gives employment to many ; they are not, therefore, at all zealous, and the Act remains almost a dead letter. Those holders in county A on the boundaries of counties B, C, and D are harassed by the Inspectors of their bounty, and their country when cleared is re stocked from that of their neighbours B. C, and I) counties ! In fact, the injuries that are now done by the {Government to the neighbours of their unoccupied wastes wbuld be repeated throughout tbe country. lam of opinion that we require all the lands to be brought within the powers of the Act, and the Act should be administered by a i Board of three or four members, who i should be quite above the influence of political pressure —I atU, Etc., 0. de V". TksCHEMAKER. Nelson, March 7, 1684.