ROD AND GEN SPORT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 151, 27 May 1938, Page 9

ROD AND GEN SPORT

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY. ATTACKS BY MAGPIES. The monthly meeting of the Palmerston North sub-committee of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society was I held last night, Mr E. G. Matthews presiding. k I The Wellington Society advised the I committee, in reply to a letter embodying a resolution that steps be taken to curtail the activities of the magpie, that it had been recommended to the incoming committee that they take steps to add the council’s weight to having protection removed -from magpies. The chairman said, in regard to this matter, that if members had any instances, of damage by this bird they should, in support of the case for their removal, put it in writing and forward it to the Wellington Society. One member said in his experience the birds were a menace. He instanced cakes in which magpies had attacked turkeys and pheasants, with damaging effect. . The ranger (Mr T. Andrews) said that a case had been reported to him of magpies attacking a girl worker m a factory at Bunnythorpe on her way home. On one afternoon he had waited in his car and had seen the girl subjected to an attack by two birds for a distance of about 200yds. She had had to cover her 'face with her hands to keep them away. In this case he had shot the magpies. . The society siinilarlv advised that the committee’s request that they be provided with eel baskets had been referred to tbe incoming fish committee to obtain a more suitable design for eel baskets, and that, when this had .been decided upon, the request be complied with. The society’s ranger was instructed to interview, holders of baskets regarding furnishing reports of catches made. Mr Matthews said that a new type of eel basket had been made, but the trials had been unsuccessful. He thought it would be a good idea if the rartgers found out what the natives used. The wire-netting on the new baskets had the negative effect of keeping . the eels away. Correspondence was received from the Wellington Society asking if . the committee w-ould furnish .a list of rivers and streams in the district the banks of which were suitable for planting alder trees. ' The chairman said he had never seen or heard of the trees and did not know much about them, until the last meeting of the society. From what he had learned at this meeting the tree grew on the water’s edge .and was a cheap way of preventing erosion bv floods and the consequent disturbance to river channels and fish food. It was decided to inform the society that -the committee was not familiar with the trees and,that the matter was being held over pending investigations.