DUCK’S FOOD.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 111, 10 April 1926, Page 14

DUCK’S FOOD.

SHARK USED. A STRANGE OCCURRENCE. SYDNEY, April 1. A strange occurrence is reported from tho town of Murwillumbah, on the North Coast of New South V ales. A local farmer, spending a day fishing, had among his catch a young shark about sft. in length. Ho bad hauled it on tho river bank, with the intention of leaving it there, when a neighbour, happening along, suggested that ho should take it homo ana boil it down for ducks’ food. This advice the farmer-fisheninun aocepted. He fed it to his ducks, and next morning he found that sixteen of them had died. As they had had no other food, it> was certain that the shark flesh had caused tho death ot the ducks. Tho matter was referred to the head of tho State Fisheries Department, who cleared tho matter up by stating that probably the shark bad eaten something which was poisonous, and, being boiled down, tlio poison had permeated the whole of the flesh. Another theory was that the boiling was done in some vessel that had contained rabbit, poison. “Shark flesh,” tlie expert added, “is palatable to some people, and as long as the shark is examined beforo using, it is harmless to tho stomach or digestion. In this case, it appears that the shark ate something that did not agreo with the ducks.”