Where Are The Protectors?

NZ Truth, Issue 1001, 31 January 1925, Page 5

Where Are The Protectors?

Impudent Poaching Crimes Against Feather, Fin ? And Fur Right Under The Noses Of The Many Government Experts And The A.S. Mandarins The article published below is based on trustworthy evidence. It will surely come as a shock to most people to know that not only . does midsummer shooting of pigeons go on, but a line of opossum traps can be run out m the bush, with little concealment, within 25 miles of the Capital City.

Th,e inefficiency of multiple control, as applied to the preservation of game and of wild life generally, has lately been denounced m "Truth"; and every day fresh facts occur to show that four or five Government Departments, and acclimatisation societies, make an unholy mess m their attempt to share among them the responsibilities of looking after forest and stream. The season for trapping opossums was over last August. Yet within the last - week or two a line of traps has been run out m the bush on a tributary of the Hutt, the Whakatiki (also spelled Wakatike); and a casual inspection revealed the bodies of three opossums, not U>ng skinned. These three could oe but a tithe of the opossums that the poacher had actually taken. Where is the Wellington Acclimatisation Society,, and where are the multitude of interested (?) Government Departments? . "...'.'■ If anyone can take opossums at any old time, of what avail is it for respectable, opossum- trappers to obey the law, 'l play the game, and otherwise

(Dunedin). I will undo this hateful imperfection of her eyes. — Shakespeare.

do their best to carry on the trapping industry with .regard to the preservation of the stock arid the demands of public revenue? \ " ' Many Bosses, Nothing Done. • ■ y In drawing attention to the above breach of the opossum-trapping law* "Truth" has mentioned a specific and recent instance, with location. It is not necessary to be equally specific concerning the shooting, of pigeons and the dynamiting of trout. But it is common knowledge that these things go on, and how many of the offenders are brought to justice? How manyprosecutions annually, are there for dynamiting? What supervision is there on trout-fishing without . a license?/ '

During the last year or two a very interesting revival m the native avifauna seems to be taking place. Pigeons are far more plentiful m the Hutt Basin and on all the foothills of the Tararuas, and are' more than ever m need of protection :;bgcause of their abundance and the easy target they offer. One was on the kotukutuku (koriini) v trees the other day just where the Akatarawa thoroughfare enters the bush: .When motor-cays speeding to or from Wellington and Wa jkanae ,■ come .along, the handsome bird, hardly shifted; and for a quarter of an hour -it remained m a prominent position just above the track, alter-, natively presenting its; white front or its blue flank to the' passing traffic. The pigeon is adaptable to life on the bushline, provided that the gunman can be suppressed. There is a settlement m the South Island where, m a patch of surviving- bush, a small colony of pigeons, carefully protected by the local residents, remained for many 'years, an ornament to the neighborhood, and perhaps are there still. They ■have no jnsuperable enemy save gunpowder. Gunman m his Glory! The shameful converse of this act of clemency towards wild life took place within the 'last year, m the Hutt Valley. " There" is- a homestead, some mile or, two removed from the actual bushline, but near it \ there is a good deal of scrub of the second growth order, and also a patch of >. original bush consisting of beeches ("birches'"), tawa, few rimu and rimtai, and their accompanying ; smaller' trees. ,The exotic element is represented by iof ty pinus insignis, and other pines. Round this homestead the pigeons, tuis, and smaller native birds (including makomako, the little black and white tit, the grey warbler^ the tiny tailless rifleman, and of course the fantail) were for years encouraged to gather — - with such success that the pigeon, a naturally confident bird, profited by his non-molestation to .make the bit of bush practically his permanent abode! Here, though remote from the main forest, a pair of pigeons nested last srmmer, and. the resident pigeons thus became a family, which m the autumn provided a novel attraction for anyone with interests above those of the pothunter. But one afternoon last winter,'when it was known that their guardian would be absent till after nightfall, .gunmen trespassed and found the pigeons as easy a target as barndoor 'fowls. Next* morning empty cartridge cases and feathers told the story.- A 'few of those malefactors m the community whose only 'impulse is to destroy had m a few: minutes undone the\ work of years . of patience. : Yet, jnotwithstanding; such acts of ruffianism; the homestead referred; to remains a most interesting centred of wild life. The wjld duck still nests on. the stream. , Several nests of tuis have been found. They have nested m beech arid pinus /insigriis trees far out on the longer limbs. .The nest of- the tul is hot' jinlike that : of a hlackbird, and contains as "a; rule four* or five eggs, white with purple blotches. In many districts ' where the burning operations of settlers have left scat,t§re<l' groves -p£ beeches, it has Jbeea I

noticeable for some time that the tui is adapting itself to life m those groves, even though they are> limited m extent. Wherever a few beech" trees overlook a swamp with phormium tenax m it, the tui will divide his time m summer all day long between the honey bells of the flax and the larger trees. In the beech he pays special attention to the bark, climbing up, down and round the trunk and the lintbs, devouring parasites of the tree, and (some say) drinking the resin as he does the honey m the flax. Anyone who preserves a few beeches — still bet,.ter, of course, a grove of mixed bush — helps the tui and the native birds. This has been noticeable for some time; but the additional evidence (and it is authentic) that. the tui will nest m such places, and near to civilisation, is important. The owner of the homestead referred to above has found on his place the nests of. the tui, the little black and white tit, the warbler, the rifleman, and a the fantail. The rifleman and tits nested m foreign trees. The tits nested m a .short, carefully trimmed, ornamental pine m the garden: oii one occasion their nest was found on the ground, on the ledge of a rock; and another was built m a box of iron bolts nailed on the wall of an open workshop. - , Enemies of Birds. "** The fact that the tit sometimes nests on the ground, and that other native birds nest m accessible places, is a reminder of the special danger to native birds lurking m stoats, weasels, rats, and wild-cats. Ground-nesting •birds run a special risk, but birds that build m holes of tree-trunks (the parrakeets, the kingfisher, the imported siarlirfg.etc), are little better off. A weasel has been seen to climb a trunk, enter a hole, and come out with a young- starling m its mouth. Such vermin -have also been seen climbing along- branches searching for nests m any position, strong enough to hold the weight of the raider. "What share have these vermin and cats and rats taken ■m thinning out the parrakeets, and perhaps the kakas? Fortunately, m this particular locality, the disappearance of the. rabbits seems to have been followed by the. disappearance of the weasels •.-■and.'- stoats. None has been seen for some time. And quail appear to be increasing. The -owner of this little refuge of the native . avifauna is not impressed by the official verdict that, out of a ccuple of hundred dissected opossums, only two had egg-shell m the stomach. As a test of egg-eating, it is, he says, useless to dissect opossums except "m the nesting, season. . "Were all those opossums ' taken • m the bird-nesting season (and therefore outside the sea-, son' for taking opossums) or were they taken; m the winter, when no eggs would be available? He thinks that tho opossum will take either egg or young bird* and that such nests as the opossum .can reach :are m constant danger. ' The opossum has been I'known1 ' known to eat through its own foot, m order to escape from. a. trap; and a rat, caught by the loins, -has been known to eat its own tail off either m desperation "or because it believed that its tail was the part of its anatomy connecting, it with the jaws of the trap. Would the owners of such excellent teeth pass by a nest of eggs or of young birds? ■-.<•.- '