THE GERMAN OWL.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 80, 16 March 1933, Page 8

THE GERMAN OWL.

(To the Editor). Sir, —Beading your paper recently 1 was astounded to learn that another pest has been let loose in this country, namely, the German owl. There is scarcely any need to draw attention to the many forms of vermin which have been indicted upon us already by stupid or ignorant people. A little investigation into the life history of this latest one will reveal much. Introduced into Britain before the war, the owl increased and soon made a bad reputation for itself. Its depredations upon small birds such as robins, finches, starlings, etc., were soon bewailed throughout the country, and when one realises the dying speed of the last named birds, one can surmise the chance of the little fantails, warblers, and “blighties” against this foreign plague. Quoting Captain C. W. K. Knight, the well-known British naturalist: — “This owl, in spite of the fact that the hand of every bird lover and game preserver is against it, has increased to an almost incredible extent.” That an acclimatisation society should have been responsible for this bird’s introduction is almost incredible when one considers that game in its young state is quite a pet tit-bit of the Ger man owl's diet. However, the time for recriminations is past and it behoves all bird lovers, in fact all who have the welfare of their country at heart, to strike at this pest in its infancy, before the twitterings of the fantail and the tui’s call is replaced by the hoot of a satiated murderer. — Yours, etc., M. L. WILLIAMS. Te Awanga, 14/3/33. [lt is some years since the German owl was introduced by the Otago Acclimatisation Society, probably in the hope that it would reduce the number of rodents and sparrows. Mr. Leo Fanning, in an article, pointed out that the importing of the bird was an acclimatisation blunder, and he suggested that it was the responsibility of the acclimatisation societies to wipe it out. —Ed. H.B.T.]