A PATENT BABBIT CATCHER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8209, 14 June 1888, Page 3

A PATENT BABBIT CATCHER.

An interesting trial took place yesterday afternoon at Messrs Begg and Wilkinson's premises of a new contrivance for rabbit extermina-

tion, patented here and in Australia as Wynne's wholesale rabbit catcher. The inventor is a press man, of New South Wales, and the results- ' obtained up to the present seem to promise a | very large measure of success for the invention.: It differs from" most of the schemes just nowbefore the public in being a purely mechanical' device, and it differs from other mechanical devices inasmuch as the trap has no moving or working parts about it, and there is nothing, therefore, either to scare the rabbit or to,get: out of order. Tho actual trap is simplicity; itself. It consists of au iron ring (those experimented with yesterday were 3Jin in diameter), on one side of which projects a circle of spikes Reveral inches in length, and converging very: slightly at their extremities. These traps are ■ fitted at intervals into rabbit proof wirefeucing, and from tho side at which the rabbits enter: present only a circular opening of convenientsize for the passagoof the.animal. When he [ has thus got inside the fence, however, the! hole by which he entered so easily presents the appearance of an opening , surrounded > by a projecting circle of spikes, beneath: which the earth is hollowed out a little so: that a rabbit attempting to pass out again has to jump at the spiked opening^ and after' once or twice coming in Contact with the sharp points generally abandons the attempt. In an exhaustive experimtnt conducted at Kandwick, New South Wales, all the rabbits passed, through into the trap, but not one succeeded in getting out again. Their food was placed outside, and they made repeated and persistent attempts to get to it, but without success, though tho trial covered a period of five days. In experiments-,,the area enclosed by the fencing and loopholed with these traps is baited with food particularly attractive to rabbits, and in order to preserve the bait from being consumed it is surrounded by a smaller enclosure of rabbit proof fencing. Thus the rnbbits after passing into the trapped area are still unable to get at tho herbage protected as bait, and remain imprisoned,awaitingdestruction. Extraordinary records of slaughter by there traps' ate reported from Australia. At Glen Lvon, South Australia^ 595 rabbits aro said to bave been caught in one night; while at Tenyanbia; in the western district of New South Wales, 11,099 rabbits were secured in six nights, and over 100,000 are stateS to have been captured since the traps were erected. At the lato Centennial Show in Sydney a silver medal was awarded to the inventor, aud from the opinion of experts there Beems to be nothing to prevent the patent being utilised on the most extensive scale. It possesses, among other things, the important advantago of preserving the skins, which would of course bs lost if the rabbits died from disease under ground. In utilising tho system to clear large runs, trapped areas are suggested of any length required to suit the locality, enclosing water wherever practicable as an additional bait. Inside the two fences the natural herbage is protected from stock and is therefore attractive to the rabbits, and in thickly-infested country, where tho rabbits themselves after passing into the trapped area would eat off the herb»ge and destroy the bait, patches of natural; or irrigated herbage aro tr\ be protected by ad- i ditionsl wire. Once in the "enclosed area, the rabbits only require to be. driven from time to timo into a killing yard at the end, or extra netting and traps can intersect the area so that the rabbits of themselves gravitate tawards the killing yard. ,:. - A large number of gentlemen—many directly; interested in tho subject—witnessed the trial in; Messrs Begg and Wilkinson's yard yesterday, when the invention was illustrated by turning a number of live rabbits into a very small enclo-' sure through these traps. All the animals continued passing easily through the traps in the: fencing, travelling round and roiind in a circle,, bnt none got back again the wny they came;: and on a small scale the experiment was quite, satisfactory and conclusive as far as it went.; There will be another trial on Saturday for the convenience of farmers. ;