AUSTRALIA'S WORST PEST

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 81, 3 October 1923, Page 9

AUSTRALIA'S WORST PEST

That the rabbit is King Pest in Aub'tralia is beyond question. On one estate in New South Wales Eve men trapping and poisoning, and one man working- 20 dogs, have been getting an average of 700 rabbits a night, according to one of the rabbit inspectors, who complains that landholders are not—doing enough to try to cope udth' the'problem. At another centre there are reported to be tens of thousands of rabbits and millions of them in another part of the country. On ona estate alone, more than 20,000 rabbits' have been killed -last January, and it is estimated that there are still 25,000 there. The estate has spent £600 in four months in trying to decimate the ranks of the .pest, but the feeling is growing that it is all* case of Dame Partington, who, findftie the sea sweeping up to her door, tried, but* in vain, to sweep it back. Wirenetting, it is felt, is tho only thing-ef-fectually to stem the oncoming tidV o f rabbits. Landholders generally do not appear to be enamoured of the poisoning stunts. Unfortunately the rabVit is a believer in large families. Just now the climatic conditions and the shooting grass make the present season an ideal one for breeding, and a large increase i» anticipated. .