ME DEER “MENACE”

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 17 November 1937, Page 3

ME DEER “MENACE”

(To The Lihlni l Sir. 1 am very pleased to welcome the new aspirant for honours in the arena, and trust that lie may eventually improve on the laities ol his predecessors At the same time I am very duulillul about it. as lie appears to think that the principal item on the programme is the glorilieatinti ol dec 1 ' stalkers in general, rather Ilian the damage 'lone by deer. It was really amusing to see him so obsessed with labourer! i llusion about the habits -u deer in general, that lie quite forgot wnieii s'di lie was lighting on. and ended up In proving me in the right, and acknowledging that the deer did do damage to the bush For instance, he says that what damage is dull'- occur-: between the months of May and mid-,January, when the migration takes place in the upland meadows Now this period happens to be eight months, or two thirds of the vear durin ; which damage to the hush is done. That Mr MeConochie and his friends do not understand in what way the deer damage the hush, is easily realised, when we have Mr Atkinson asking till' foolish question why, when according tc; all the laws of Nature there should be trees of all stages of growth in our bush, such a vast span of year:: exists between the mature trees and the seedlings? In order to impress the answer on his brain, I will just give an instance of what occurred in Motueka this

. spring, arc it is. by no means an isolated instance. In our tittle town there i is a small patch of native bush which 1 goes under the name of "the reserve."! 1 where Iho.-e who are fortunate can ! wander in the heat of the day. and en ■ joy a little of that peace and quietness 1 i the occasions of which often appear! j like mile stones on the passage of life. | Now anyone with the bump of obser | vatimi even slightly developed, could j not help noticing that all the traces in j i this hush are mature, and though there ( | are thousands of seeds scattered over ! the ground every year, there is not a | single young tree. Why? The answer: j is obvious, sheep are allowed to graze; j there in order that the grass may be; i kept short. One day this spring, liapi penmg to visit the place. 1 noticed i 'thousands of seedlings of the native' j plants coming up. and a look at the j grass showed that the sheep had been ■absent for some considerable time j Visiting the place a week later. I again ‘ found the sheep in evidence, but not a j | single seceding w'as to be found, j This is exactly what happens to the j (native bush in the deer country, and j if Mr Atkinson had had any bump ol [ observation he could have answered j his own question Such insidious dam- ; i ago does not make itself apparent for | years, and when those who are the; j man cause of if do become aware of: I the trouble, the damage has gone too j ! far tc* be rectified i What is happening to the bush on ' jour lower slopes is also happening to j \ the flora of our upland meadows and ; ; slopes, and much of our high mountain | | flora is fast disappearing, and can j i never be replaced, as no other plants j lean survive under the same conditions, j j It is not only the red deer that are | ! doing the damage as I pointed out in j la previous letter, for there are cha- j I mois, who are always to be found on , i the high meadows and slopes near the j I snow line, lhar. and in the southern' I Sounds country moose were released, j | of which latter we only appear to know ; that they are increasing. As regards the opinion that ‘ho earthquakes of Arthur's Pass and Mur-1 chison. and the heavy winter of 15)18 ire responsible for the silting up of our, | rivers. I would like to point out that | such have occurred many times in ps-t ! i ages, and have been the cause of the | building up of much of our lower lands, j The growth of our forests, howeve-. i ; curtailed much of flic damage by hold- j ! ing back the heavier material and al- [ lowing only the finer stuiT to spread over tiie land, thus forming the fertile . | plains of which we are now so proud.: i Man, however, with his flrestick, ins . ! axe, and to complete the job, his soj called sporting animals, in less than a ! hundred years has upset the balance I that it took Nature thousands of years ; to accomplish, and what is worst of all the damage has beet, done by what: ! arc supposed to be civilised men. As i stated in a previous letter when 1 j arrived in Hokitika in 1887 there was: 'no difficulty in entering the river, which is now so rapidly silting up, and as earthquakes were no more numerous , then than they are now. or the winters! more heavy I still ask Mr Shuttle- ; worth to answer what he says any schoolboy could tell me. In conclusion, allow me to correct an insinuation of Mr McConochie’s against myself, i have n< ver accused any deer stalkers of being pot-hunters, but Mr McConochie’s gentlemen friends ■ have though-, fit to suggest that 1 was j one who spent the evening in a turnip paddock waiting for deer, and lor proof j of this I refer him to the published ; letters.—l am. etc. G BRITTIN. Motueka, 11th November.

(To The BiliUii'

Sir,—l have ilist returned from my I annual leave spent in the Eminent Na- | tional Park in company with Ihe Park ' Board oflicial ranger, and I find that Mr Brittin's pen is still out of control, and has succeeded in turning what should have been a general expression of opinions on the "Deer Menace" into a series of slighting personal attacks. Mr E’riltin mav rest assured that 1 do not rank among those who comj plained about no' being allowed to winter their cattle in the Egmont National Park In fact. I am in receipt of a letter of appreciation from the I Egmont National Park Board for voluntary assistance given towards the conservation of their valuable forest. In my previous letter published in j your journal of 27/10/37 I drew attenj lion to a large span of years of growth j which exists beHveen seedlings and 1 their parent trees but it is obvious i that Mr Briltin is incapable of grasping the true significance of these remarks. I do not intend to go into a lengthy dissertation on the natural I history of Coniferae and Decotyledons ! for Mr Brittin's education. He will ! find numerous books dealing with this diversified subject in-any free library. I consider that I can safely say that 1 am quite as familiar with the moun- 1 tains and forests of Nelson as Mr Brit- j tin is. while my association with and j 1 knowledge of the mountains and forests of Westland N greater than is that | of his. From certain remarks made in allusion to deerstalking, 1 cannot believe | that Mr Brittin is a competent person |to criticise deerstalkers and their

methods. In conclusion, if Mr Brittin devoted the time required to “edge” replies into his letters to improving ms knowledge of our forests, he would be better qualified to enter into this discussion which lie has since turned into unpleasantness.—l am etc.. G. G. ATKINSON. New Plymouth, 11th November.