IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19047, 18 December 1923, Page 2

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

TAMING EELS. By J. Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S. A resident of the North Island, who has Utkftii a prominent part in Now Zealand’s public life, and who is interested in natural history, has supplied notes on his experiences with eels on his property. "I have a retinue of these engaging creatures," he writes. “It was my custom to cat my luncheon on the,bank..of a swirling backwater, into which I threw the crusts. A series of pops and splashes, after a lime showed that the crusts were taken by cels. Finally, live eeb were in regular attendance. I discontinued my visits to that place at the end of May, and did not resume them until the end of September. Soon after I sealed myself on the same log as I had occupied previously, the five eels appeared, showing that they have good memories and tlwt they had not shifted their place of residence. The housing problem may be' ns acute with them as with us.

“I have read that other people who tamed eels gave a peculiar whistle at a certain place, or called their pets in some other way. In my cose- that is not necessary. The faithful creatures know my tread. I merely have to take my seat on the log, and they soon are at my feet, with a look of humble appeal in their features that would molt a harder heart than mine. Bwhinming immediately beneath the surface of the water, in broad sunshine, they seem to he absolutely blind, as a piece of broad may float over their eyes at a distance of only half an inch and not be seen; but their olfactory system, with its curious nasal protuberances, stands them in good stead. It is not possible to count squirming eels in swirling water, but my friends now must number a dozen.

“A couple of I rout—l sometimes think there are three have joined in our revels, ami their actions suggest that bread would be a very killing bait. When the first licenses to catch (rout were issued the authorities were good enough to supply on tho back of the documents a list of the most killing baits, I am not sure that the idea was not to prohibit their use, but tlml certainly was not the invariable result. In any case. I cannot recall that bread was on the list. The trout are not as regular in attendance as the eels. They always arrive much later, and their conduct is much more capricious. On some days they do not come; on others they come but do not rise, or they may riso short; on other days; again, they riso at everything with a resounding splash, ami oflcr the sun, striking (heir sides as they (urn, gives a fleeting glimpse of their rainbows which is worth all the broad they eat. The handling of eels never has been an obsession with me. My efforts to lift them out of the water with crooked sticks and bent wire are accepted philosophically, without any resentment Some day I may get one out, but it will not be with my bare hands.”

"Nature hero is so immense and so glorious this spring that I must toll you of it,” Mr C. Opio wrote from Tangahoo, on the Wanganui River, in the first week of last month. “Tho bellbird’s choir is much larger than usual, and their chorus at dawn is divine. This still arc the humourists a tho contests, but this year the leading bass tui, which always continues the tune for some time after tho choir has finished, has a very rich and much deeper tone than was possessed by the leading bass last year. Tho song-thrush has a great remit alion as a songster, but. to a New Zealand Nature-lover, it, seems to spoil things somewhat. It and its Ehg’ish relative, the blackbird, have spread in thousands in these parts, oven to the Mangavvai-iti ami Puketiniu Flats, with their virgin forests, 10 miles from here, with heavy bush between. It is a great joy to listen-in to the native birds’ melodies. This sing their sweetest notes, grey-warblers pipe their trills, fantails fuss about, wood-pigeons tumble in the air with tho joy of life, kakas screech as the day advances towards evening, bell-birds chime at intervals of a few minutes all day, long-tailed cuckoos remind us of their presence, and shining cuckoos tell us of coming rain. Grey warblers, probably, feel that this is an outrageous season, as the parasitical shining cuckoos are present in gloat numbers. We see a few kingfishers, wild ducks, and shags, shag has a family in the Tangahoe. Twice a day it comes down the Wanganui River and returns with a fish, which looks like b young trout.

“Two kiwis, I think, took a dislike to my sheep dogs, and they wen; across the river, but we hear them every night, apparently at our window, but actually 80yds away. Before they left. rMs Apie and I, on moonlight nights, sometimes- sat up until we heard their notes. We then wont out to the engine-room of the woolshcd and watched them. They seemed to be wary,- but-not* nrevous, and walked quickly here , and there, picking up something, I presume inisects. The inquisitive bark of a 'dog -soon arrested their attention. They did;’ not' rtih away. As soon as there wag quietness again they continued tp walk about and, feed, until they were lost to sight. Coming ' home one .night, I surprised one of the kiwis. Its only escape 1 was by way of ah eight-wired battened fence. Bang! and it was through.” Mr Opie" states that a few nionths ago ho saw’ seven ■ wood pigeons in flight, one of them all white.

Writing of native’flowers, Mr t)pie states that, at the time he wrote, they„jv6rc, '.or hda been, multitudinous. He mentions particularly the clematis, the ramarama,' the rangiora, the kowhai, the - shrunk heather, and the rata vine. The kowhai has not flowered so profusely for several years,'and the rata vine’s flowers were very plentiful up to September. Last year, when there were few cuckoos, and bird life generally seemed to be scanty, there were few blooms, except on the rata, and berries were scarce in the forests, except on the karamu. It is too soon to estimate the crop of tawa, miro, karaka, and hinau berries this season, but the numbers of flowers seem to show that the native birds will have a plenteous crop.

A few months ago a neighbour of the Hon. J. Garland, M.L.C., Beaconsoeld street. Grey Lynn, Auckland, had a canarv that sang exceptionally well. An old starling was seen flitting about the verandah under which the canary’s cage had been hung. Mr Garland wa s at a loss to account for the starling’s actions until, to hi* surprise, he heard the starling begin an opposition song, in imitation of the canary’s. It was not a very good imitation, ns ’the starling seemed to be in the wrong key, and at least half a tone below the canary In at least half a tone below the canry. In New Zealand, as well ae in Australia, some extent, from insects to fruit. Members of Mr Garland’s family blame starlings tor taking ripening figs in'the garden. Mr Garland is sufficiently charitably disposed to stallings to place the blame on the shoulders of blackbirds, although ho admits that starlings may have acquired a taste for his figs. A few weeks ago Mr Garland saw abo-.it a dozen starlings making an early breakfast off a ram mutton chop, which somebody had drooped on the footpath in front of his gate. There were five adult starlings and seven or eight young ones. In five minutes the bone of the chop was absolutely bare. When they had finished they wjjnt on to Mr Garland’s lawn, whore they are net molested, aitd then into the kitchen garden, where they always are welcome, because they take many insects