NATURE NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19328, 15 May 1926, Page 1 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES.

TURTLES IN NEW ZEALAND. | i BY J. imUMMOND, F.L.S., F.Z.B. In January last year, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Reynolds, when cruising near the northern end of the Chickens, members oi the Hen and Chicken Islands, off the east coast of North Auckland, saw a large turtle in the water, about 150 yards from the rocky shore. It remained on the I surface long enough to allow them to go within about 15 yards, and to note its size and movements. It did not seem startled by the approach of the launch, but dived leisurely, and it was not seen by them again. On Easter Monday this year, cruising in the same, waters, Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds saw a turtle, about the same, size as the one seen last, year, ft also remained on the surface for a short time and then completely disappeared. Mrs. Reynolds asks if there are other records of turtles so far south, and il the i Chickens are probable habitats oi these | creatures. There are no previous records of turtles near the Chickens, but they are seen ccasionally near the coast of other parts of the North Island. They are not included in New Zealand's list of reptiles -they belong to the chelonia order of the class reptilia—because they are merely occasional visitors, and do not breed in this Dominion. Forty years ago a green turtle was caught by Maoris and taken to Auckland city. Another green turtle, 30 years ago, came ashore in Great Exhibition Bay, south of Parengarengn. A j leathery turtle was caught near Cape Brett 34 years ago. and another leathery t'irtle was caught between the Bay of Islands and Mongonui 32 years ago. Green turtles are regular visitors to New Zealand's northernmost point, the Kermadec Lsiands, 600 miles from Auckland city. The hawksbill turtle also visits that j group. Mr. W. R. B. Oliver, Wellington, when ! camped on one of the Kermadees some j 18 years ago. saw five or six green ! turtles at one time. He watched turtles j feeding on algae that grows abundantly: ion the rocks and in the water. Every j few minutes they came to the surface to breathe, but on the slightest alarm they swam swiftly away. Even these turtles cannot be claimed as New Zealand reptiles, as they go north from the Kermadees to warmer regions to lay flieir eggs and rear their young. The Kermaj decs, by the way, are worse off than the I mainland of New Zealand in respect to j indigenous land-reptiles and land-mam-mals. They have no species of either of these great classes of the animal kingdom, while the mainland lias the strange tuatara and about 15 species of lizards in its reptilia and two species of bats in its mammalia. A rat that infests the Kermadees is the Pacific rat, Mus exulans, known in this Dominion as the Maori rat. As there is evidence that it was introduced to both the mainland and the Kermadees by human agency, it is ruled out of both places as an indigenous inhabitant, and ranks with dogs sheep, cattle and other introduced mammals. Interesting notes on the physical 'characters and habits of turtles have been sent by Mr. H. Trevor Fairbrother, Carterton, who has proved a keen observer in New Zealand and in Pacific Islands, and has contributed valuable items to this column. In the first place, he describes some young turtles, apparently obtained from a shop in Wellington. The Maori who owned them seemed to think that they were natives of New Zealand waters, but did not know a Maori word for "turtle." Mr. Fairbrother finds the presence or the absence of a Maori word good but not an infallible indication as to whether a thing is pre-European or not. It is not infallible, as, in discussing crocodiles, for instance, older native folk simply use the word "taniwha." These particular turtles, kept in tub of water, had webbed claws, and their necks were long and snake-like, differing from other turtles Mr. Fairbrother knows, which have flippers and short necks. "Claws of an alligator, head of ii snake, disguised only feebly in the shell of a turtle," Mr. Fairbrother writes: "tlie | very idea of turtle soup with them as c basis is nauseating. I understand now [•why, a few years ago, turtle flesh was condemned by folk who thought they had tried it." They may have tried the loggerhead, which is utterly unfit for human food.'* The turtles that disgusted Mr. Fairbrother probably were Australian longnecked turtles, which are carnivorous, feeding on fish, molluscs and crustaceans. Their flesh is not palatable. The green turtle, Chelone mydas, apparently the species Mr. Fairbrother knew in Melanesia, is mostly a vegetarian. From its meat and fat the famous soup at aldermanic feasts was made. The island turtle is appreciated for its flesh, the hawksbill turtle for both its flesh and its shell, Mr. Fairbrother explains. He adds: "Some natives of the Islands believe that when a turtle appears in the sea near them it will approach on being whistled to, and that a native, rowing quietly to the more or less hypnotised creature, can jump overboard and grapple with it. If he once catches hold of his prey, he usually is victorious in the struggle, although more than one turtle hunter has been dragged under water and drowned. The safest and easiest way to catch turtles is to wait until they come up on the sand, especially at the laying season. It is necessary then merely to turn them over on their biicks, one after another, and collect them at leisure. In the laying season there is the double prize of turtle and eggs—round eggs, the si/.e and shape of a ping-pong ball, with a shell exactly like celluloid. Once they are due to lay, they are indifferent to capture, or to the presence of strangers. They will lay dozens of eggs in a hat placed conveniently. The eggs, especially before they are quite ready to be laid—that is, eggs taken from the body of a turtle that, has been killed—have a very delicate flavour. Slating takes place in the sea." A Papakura correspondent, when sitting near a wire fence under a maerocarpa tree, saw between the wires, which were about eight inches apart, a fine, circular web of a spider. The owner was resting on the upper wire. It went down one of the threads that held the web in place. On reaching the web, it began to claw it with its front legs. It then went to the lower wire and the web collapsed and was drawn down with the spider as a thick thread. The correspondent asks if spiders usually dismantle their webs. If so, why? A spray of the St. John's wort, sent from the Bay of Islands, brings to mind the fact that this plant, accidentally introduced into New Zealand and now abundant in both islands, may become a serious pest. In Victoria it has occupied a fertile valley 80 miles long. Dr. R. J. Tillyard, chief biologist of the Cawthron Institute, Nelson, seems to think that the St. John's wort, like the blackberry, should bo attacked by means of insect enemies. He states that a plant that is a mere curiosity to-day may be a pest in 10 years, and in 20 years may menace the life of a whole •ommunity. ' He evidently has no misgivings as to introducing an insect to deal with the most troublesome plant in New Zealand, the blackberry. He believes that a few years' work by entomologists in an insectarium will show without any shadow of doubt what any insect liberated in New Zealand will do; and he states that "where a safe remedy can be found against any plant pest in the form of an insect that will attack that plant and will touch no other plant, it is the duty of those responsible for the country's welfare to accept the decision of its scientists and encourage the work to go forward."