BABBIT NUISANCE

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 143, 21 May 1925, Page 6

BABBIT NUISANCE

DIFFERENT METHODS OF DESTRUCTION. .DISCUSSION AT RANGIOTU. One of the matters discussed it great tori, i?rh prior to tlio aoinniencenirnt of (he business of the annual meeting of ihe Rangiotu branch of the Dair ; Farmers' Union last night was in ccnnection with the recent actions of the Manawatu Rabbit Board. The branch president (Mr \V. H. Gimblett), who presided, said that the Rangiotu branch of the union had decided to ask the chairman of the board whether the rabbit inspector was responsible to it and to request that nc one be summoned without being first personally interviewed and given 14 days’ notice of the intention to take court proceedings. The Rangiotu branch of the u lion, he continued, considered that the in 3) lector by his actions had been creating a spirit of antagonism to the board where jo-opera-tion should obtain and it was sought further to obviate unnecessary court proceedings. Speaking on the matter, Mr Gimblett said that the board was in its infsney and had a new inspector. The ratepayers had desired a rabbit board to abate he rabbit nuisance, and it was up to them to assist .the newly-formed body. However, they did not agree with the actions of the board and its inspector. It was thought, for instance, that the inspector should personally interview defaulters and give 14 days’ notice of intention to prosecute. Thdy must, at the same time, do their best to exterminate rabbits on tl eir own properties and see that the board compelled everyone else to do so. He was pleased to 9ee that the Magistrate had ‘‘turned down” some of the prosecutions. They must, however, co-operate with the board rather than fight it. Continuing, Mr Gimblett asked Mr Raikes, a membor of the board, whether he agreed with the inspector that fumigation was the best method of rabbit extermination. They had heard a great deal of its efficacy.

THE BOARD DEFENDED. Complying with the request of the chairman, Mr Raikes said that he was present at the meeting purely as a member of the Dairy Farmers’ Union. He had observed, however, that there was a deal of antagonism to the board and he could not see it undefended. The rabbit board, he assured the meeting, would be pleksed to hear any representations. “The board does not take a delight in prosecutions,” he said, adding that memsers had expressed regret that somo of the prosecutions mentioned had been gone on with. However, the matter was then out of the hands of the board. He proceeded to detail the results of fumigation cf rabbit burrows, stating that one difficulty was to ascertain whether the rabbits were in the burrows. The method had been successful, however. That there had not been enough discretion used'in the past was the of inion expressed by Mr Beard, who add rd that more harmony could be looked for in the. future. The speaker stated that different classes of land required different, treatment. For instance, poisoning was no good on first class land, though it was right enough on poor areas. Fumigation be considered an absolute failure from what he had observed. Ho had seen :he burrows opened again 48 hours after fumigation and he had trapped fumigated land and secured more rabbit 3 off it in one night than off his own farm in iix days, ft might be a success on clay 1 ind, but not in heavy sand. To fumiga ,e they must have burrows closed without the semblance of a leakage. ‘‘lf any method is found to fail on a particular class of land one should use whatever 1 c found most effective,” stated Mr Beard. “Oil my property I have two traps and I have caught two rabbits,” said Mr Dixon.

A voice: Not enough for a pie. Mr Dixon: No, I can’t get a pie. The chairman of the rabbit board was asked to be here to-night. There is nc. animosity towards the board —we only want a fair and square deal. FARMERS USE OWN METHODS.

Mr Raikes said that the notices served on ratepayers permitted them to use any method of destruction desired sio long os they got permission from the board. “You can hong each rabbit if you like,” he said. Poisoning, ho commented, had been more successful than was generally recognised. The inspector covered a lot of property arid could not always see owners but he furnished very full reports. Mr Simmons detailed the successful extermination of rabbits on his pre perty by fumigation. "I • have tho most rabbit-free farm in the country and I have dono it by trapping and keeping the holes closed,” said Air Beard. CO-OPERATION WITH BOARD. Mr Gimblett said that they should cooperate with the board, recognising that there must be a certain amount of compulsion on the part of the board. He proceeded to detail the success of fumigation on his property, but sta ed thut after getting the country clear the rabbits had come over from elsewhere and csconoed themselves on tho old infested sites, making new burrows ariri leaving the old ones alone. He was sat sfied that most of these were rabbits which had come from other places. His sons later caught. 145 rabbits on the back of the farm and there had been very few there since. They must not go ori the same old haphazard system, but must illow the board “to put the screw on” and do something extraordinary to settle this important question. Ho was sure that in tho future the hoard would give them a fair and just deal. Several speakers agreed that tl e rabbits were becoming loss and one of those present voiced an advocacy of poisoning in frofty weather. 8000 RABBITS A YEAR.

“A man just behind its caught 8000 rabbits in twelve months —a party on his piace shot 400 in a day,” said Mr Simmons. A voice: He has done a lot of good for us. I am pleased to say that I can only catch one where I could get 100 before. “We can safely leave it in the hands of the board,” said Air Gimblett. “\Vc appointed the inspector out of 129 applicants and have found him a a efficient and fair man,” said Air Raikes, in closing the discussion.