NATURE—AND MAN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 10 November 1934, Page 3

NATURE— AND MAN

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE BETTER USE FOR HUMAN POWER (Edited by Leo Fanning) Tiie Native Bird (and Forest) Protection Society lias again pleaded that a substantial part of the huge yield from taxation of wages and salaries should be used in conservation of natural resources. New Zealand's welfare requires a national plan which would include measures for checking of erosion, a war of extermination against destructive deer and stern suppression of the present widespread poaching of native birds. It is again necessary to urge the New Zealand authorities to study the organisation and operation of the (Civilian Conservation Corps in the United States of America. About .'ll!.'),000 men are now satisfactorily employed in about Hint) camps. Their work includes various activities for the saving of important forests and the reclamation of certain eroded areas. The men know that their labour is very important for their country's welfare; it is not merely a case of “Jilling in time” in order to draw certain doles of money or goods. This conservation movement promises to give permanent benefit to the country It opens the way to useful occupation for young men, temporarily at a “loose end” by reason of the unsettled conditions of trade and industry Of course, with the gradual improvement in business, many of the campers have opportunities to be reabsorbed in ordinary civilian life Every month about 10,000 move out into various jobs.

“BLAZING” OF FOREST TREES It is complained that many opossumtrappers have a bad habit of "blazing trees in order to mark their traplines They also believe that these glaring gashes on the trunks help to lure animals to the traps. This mischievous slashing, which exposes the trees to disease and otherwise lowers their vitality, should he strictly proliiliite. A warning should be issued by the authorities that no further trapping-licenses will he issued to persons found guilty of blazing trees. Strips of white rag, tacked on trunks, should be sufficient tct mark the trap lines

KILLING OF KIWIS More.reports of the deaths of kiwis, caught in opossum traps, have been received from Westland and Waikaremoana Events have proved that tlic trap, as commonly used, is a menace to kiwis, because the regulations require it to he set on the ground. Is it not queer that the authorities should insist oil a method which indicts death oil many birds? This matter should he thoroughly investigated before the next trapping season.

“POTSMEN” Poor native ducks! What a sad fate many thousands suffer at the hands of “Potsmen” —the kind described in the following passage of a letter to the “New Zealand Fishing and Shooting Gazette.”:— “I have just completed an extensive business tour covering most of Otago and Southland. Naturally, in leisure hours, talk turriFcP.lifo . sport, mostly ducks and chick shooting. In talking with land-owners, I found that almost without exception ‘they had a pond of their own/

“The standard answer to my query about the bag on the list was this: — ‘Oli! Yes we scatter a bit of feed around for a week or two before and always get a bag.’

“What can we do to combat that? It seems hopeless. Men I thought were good sports do it because the other fellow does. Where will it end?'’

Of course the end would be the extinction of the ducks, if the slaughter continues in that unmanly manner.

Plenty of- that kind of “potsmanship” has occurred in the U.S.A. “The evidence is such that a prohibition ofshooting over baited waters should be invoked immediately,” remarks a contributor to “Nature.” “The time has come for all decent men in the ranks of the sportsmen—and they are not a few—to join with sincere conservationists in a demand that baiting be outlawed.”

Persecuted birds should get some relief under the operation of the U.S.A, Stamp Law which imposes a speciaf charge of a dollar on every waterfowl-hunting license.| As the number of licenses issued every year ranges between six and seven millions a big sum will be available for “buying or leasing and administering marsh and water areas to be set aside for ever as migratory waterfowl sanctuaries.”

FISHING METHODS OF BLACKBILLED GULLS In bis book “The Life Histories of New Zealand Birds” Mr Edgar Stead has some interesting comments of the lishing craft of black-billed gulls. “When whitebait or silveries arc running up the rivers,” he writes, “blackbilled gulls will take up their stand on little points and promontories, where the current forces the ascending iisli to keep close inshore, and here the birds will wait, keeping a sharp look out downstream. When a lisli appears the birds take a step or two towards it and strike at it with the bill. This sounds a most elementary method of fishing, and indeed it is so, yet it is vastly more eflicacious than one would expect. It is most amusing to watch gulls engaged thus, for they are very jealous in their possession of a good point, and fiercely attack any poacher on what they consider to be their particular preserves. Often at the Bakaia when ‘bait’ is running, every point oil the shingle ridge adjoining the lagoon will have one of these gulls on it. If a new-comer arrives, it may fly up the line, looking for a fishing stand, only to be greeted with a harsh ‘ka-a’ by each bird it approaches. At last, it settles in a‘vacant section, but perhaps a Tittle too close to one of its neighbours, which will lower its head and advance towards the trespasser with threatening aspect and harsh cries. This usually has flit" (•fleet of driving the intruder off, but should it net. do so, the outraged possessor will certainly fight for his rights.”