A QUERY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 13 November 1924, Page 9

A QUERY.

DO GATS CATCH RABBITS? A correspondent (“Be Sure First”) writes to the Wellington Post as follows : ‘‘l see by the Post that Mr. Menzies, of the Banks Peninsula Rabbit Board, speaks of the cat as being the natural enemy of the rabbit.. I wonder if that gentleman knows that it is the wild animal and not the household pet that would help ; to exterminate them. I sincerely hope it will not mean a repetition of an occurrence of some years ago, when rabbits were found to be over-running some parts of the Wairalapa, and as many cats as could be got were sent there. I am not sure, but I think so much was Offered for stray eats that some boys went around and took away any cats they could find, and many domesticated pets were never seen again. Some time after a letter appeared in the paper, written by a gentleman who was either living in the district or had been there rabbiting. He stated that he came across several cats which had evidently not eaten for some days, and which certainly could not have been wild ones, as they approached him mewing. He said he skinned a rabbit, and, cutting it up, divided it among them to be ravenously devoured. He declared that though cats will eat rabbits they will not hunt o'r kill them unless the cats are born in the bush and run wild. The cat used to a home was not of any use. I hone the board will be content t-o leave the possible extermination of the pest to the animals that are already there.”