GAME.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5953, 25 March 1880, Page 3

GAME.

■ ’ i{ (From the Canterbury Times.) The opening of the shooting season for native gome coming in the autumn affords the’ agriculturist of sporting proclivities an I opportunity of recruiting his exhausted energies after the long and anxious strain of | harvest and threshing. But, as a rule, the i Colonial : agriculturist is not the keenest of sportsmen ; his, daily employment affords, him so, much healthful, open-air exercise, i and so constantly absorbs his attention, that ffield, sports are not felt, by him to be j absolutely necessary to a comfortable existence. The pursuit of wild fowl is a sport i relished most keenly by those who spend the | greater part of .their., time within the four walla of. an office, to -whom a holiday in the i,country, with gun in hand, even though shots j should be few and far between, is enjoyment |of the most exhilirating kind. There are, in : truth, connected with duck shooting all the conditions necessary for bringing out the > finer qualities of a man. There is nothing effeminate, nothing demoralising about that amusement: Wading through long swamp 'grass, thickly sown with pearly grains of dew, or encrusted with a delicate frost, in ithe freshness of an early winter morning, plunging through miniature lagoons, balancing himself on the top of somewhat groggy niggerheads, or lying in a cramped position for a lengthened period watching the move* ments of a highly tantalising flock of ducks which appear to be totally oblivious of the fact that their proper and appointed mission in life is-to supply food for the sportsman’s powder. ; These, so far as our experience takes us, are some of the pleasures enjoyed by the man who goes in pursuit of New Zealand wild fowl, But when the sporting instincts are deeply seated, any ■ little personal discomforts that may be encountered go for nothing in comparison with the unalloyed satisfaction of a good firing shot. Inmost of the thickly settled districts passably good duck shooting is not easily obtainable. The birds are not so numerous as in former years, and are exceedingly shy, notwithstanding that they are protected throughout the breeding season by the strong arm of the law. Beally good bags are seldom to be made except on properties where the game is preserved, or on some of the back country rivers and lakes, where man, the destroyer, does not-often put in his appearance. It would indeed be a pity should the native wild fowl of the, country become extinct, or be driven back before the march of civilisation, till they are confined to the wilder mountain districts. We are no advocates for the preservation of game to, such an extent as to be detrimental to other and more important interests. But there is little danger of this from the native game. So far from possessing that wonderful fecundity which seems to be characteristic of almost'all imported birds and animals, they are rather like the native owners of the soil, gradually giving way before the onward sweep of the intruders. Passing from native to imported game, it is quite possible that our pheasants, partridges, hares, &c., may come to figure rather prominently in the affairs of agriculture, and at the risk of being considered utterly lost to all the finer feelings of a sportsman, we say that the agricultural community wonld do well to reflect before they quietly consent to the too tender protection by law, of those, in 'some respects, desirable inhabitants of onr fields and covers. Legislation in favour of game should never be allowed to encroach upon the agricultural interests of the country, Those who have had experience in. agricultural affairs at home, or who taka this trouble to read the English papers, are ■Well aware that game and the game laws are among the more serious causes of dissension between landlords and tenants. The social and economic conditions of this country are to different to those of tho United Kingdom, that our . farmers are never likely to be troubled with restrictions relating to game to the same extent as at home. We have, fortunately, no distinct class of powerful and idle landed proprietors, who are both able and willing to: sacrifice the interests of the cultivators of the soil to their own pleasure. But acclimatisation societies with more zeal than discretion, whose efforts are backed up, and whose suggestions are adopted by an acquiescent Legislature, may succeed in accomplishing a good deal. In saying this we are hot by any means forgetful of the services Rendered to the country by these societies, more particularly in the stocking of our previously barren streams and rivers with English trout and other valuable fish. Still there should be much caution exercised in placing the authority of the law at the disposal of self-constituted societies. If a farmer is compelled to keep, in addition to his sheep and cattle, or rather to regulate the quantity of his live stock so that his farm will also be capable of maintaining a certain quantity of gameit practically makes very little difference to him whether he does it at the bidding of a landlord or of an Acclimatisation Society. It is One thing to get any kind of game well established in the country, and another thing to get rid of it if found .to be a nuisance. It may be said that the removal of all restrictions as to shooting would soon accomplish the desired end, but this has to be proved, and one thing, we venture to say, has bgen proved, and that is that English birds and qnimals of almost every description thrive better and breed quicker here than in their qriginal haunts. In a thickly populated Country the people would no doubt soon get the upper hand of the game if the law ceased tp 1 interfere, but when the population is scanty, as it is here, the climate favourable, and food plentiful, the result may turn out quite the reverse. When the conditions present are highly favourable for the support of any given species of animal life, that species is bound to thrive and increase, just as the potato-fields of America, by providing food of a suitable nature, and in great quantities, developed the Colorado beetle from a comparatively scarce and little-known insect to widespread and overwhelming pest which iti became. . :