SOME CHANGES IN THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3511, 28 June 1921, Page 53

SOME CHANGES IN THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF OTAGO.

In the paper bearing the above title, which w.a.s recently read before the Otago Institute by Mr "A. Bathgate, he dealt chiefly with the complete or partial disappearance of various forms of life, such -as the bat, once fairly common, blit now almost, if not quite, extinct in the neighbourhood of Dunedin; the lizards and grasshoppers, once numerous on the Town Belt, but no longer to- be met with there, and referred to the extinction or greatly lessened numbers of many insects, due in many instances to the introduction of the starling and other birds. Regarding one of these insects he said: “Native blowflies were very much more abundant m the country districts than they are- now. Mr Melville, who settled in the Mataura district in 1854, in his contribution to ‘Pioneer Recollections,’ collected by Mr H. Beattie, says ‘the trouble of pioneers is the bluebottle fly, which is- met with only in new country, where its ravages are beyond belief.’ He gives many details, showing their abundance and persistence in laying their eggs, even in most unlikely places, and concludes by adding: ‘Nothing is safe, and I know of no remedy, except civilisation, which always brings the common house fly, before which the bluebottle, for some unknown reason, retires.’ No doubt they were very abundant in ‘ new country,’ but in my experience they continued to be so after civilisation had invaded their territories for a decade or more, though the house fly had not penetrated there. Whether there was more than one species I cannot tell, but if there were thev all kept near the ground, for every digger’s tent or hut had a pole about lDft- or 12ft in height, to the top of which the owner hoisted not his country's flag, but his supply of mutton, to protect it from the blowflies, which, if opportunity offered, might deposit their eggs on his blankets, but his mutton escaped. The common house fly, which had been introduced by the cattle ships from Australia, was not nearly so plentiful in Dunedin as it is now, and up country was in many places unknown.” The disappearance of many of the native birds was also dealt with, - such as the native quail, which in the early days existed in thousands all over the open grass lands of the province. That the burning of the country was the chief cause of their extinction was admitted, but it was contended that some other cause must also have operated to account for the suddenness of the total disappearance of these birds, and it was suggested that some disease, introduced possibly by the domestic fowl, which were but little affected by it, when transferred to the quail became virulent- and fatal. The work of the introduced stoats and weasels in exterminating such birds as the weka, or Maori hen and the native robin was also referred to.

In dealing with the changes in our avifauna, Mr Bathgate gave the purport of some interesting notes received from Mr Neel Buchanan, who lived at Fateroa Station on the Maniototo Plain in 1862. The Taieri then was a “bright translucent stream,” and at every bend of the river, which were numerous, “there was a bank of clean, small gravel, and on these flocks of waders and other birds disported themselves. Those,” says Mr Buchanan, “which I remember clearly’, were dotterel, golden plover, pied stilts, and the pied redbill or oyster-catcher, all running up and down on the beaches, and swarms of terns sitting around or whirling over the river, now and then dipping to catch something out of the water. In the swamps and lagoons back from the river were a good many pukeko, and along the river not infrequent bitterns. On the open plain large flocks of paradise duck. On the lagoons and river 'bends grey duck, shovellers, and teal were numerous. Weka were plentiful among the rocks and scrub in the gorge near the Styx, as also blue duck, an odd kingfisher now and then, with a few fantails and tomtits. The little greber or dabchick was not uncommon in the quiet reaches of the river or deeper lagoons. The native ground lark was also abundant.” Commenting on this, Mr Bathgate says:—“So far as mv cursory observations go, I feel sure that several of the birds mentioned are not now to be found in entral Otago, and the numbers of others have been greatly diminished. The cause, so far as the water birds are concerned, must be largely due to the pollution of the river bv the gold mining operations, which if it did not, as was probably the case, exterminate many forms of life affording food for the birds bv"rendering the water opaque and covering the gravel beaches with a deposit of sludge, would prevent the birds from seeing and capturing their prey. Now that gold mining is on the wane, the water is not quite so muddy as it once was, but I fear it will not recover its pristine purity, for in the old days the hills were covered with scrub and grass, of which every tussock was surrounded by a mat of decaying leaves, through which the rain water slowly percolated, but now, owing to the denudation of the slopes, the rain rushes down with greater violence, carrying with it much of the soil. Only the afforestation of the hills could restore the purity of the stream, and if that were done it would also do much to minimise the extent of the floods on the Taieri Plain.” In referring to the botanical changes, which Mr Bathgate says are many and varied, he deals with those in the immediate neighbourhood of Dunedin, chief amongst which are the disappearance of the forests which once covered the I’emusnla, and on the northern side of the harbour extended from the Heads to near Ravensbourne, and thence back over the •In Is to Waitati and filled the Leith Valley, the destruction of which ban caused many changes. He -devotes his attention to the great change which has taken place in Central Otago, “where excessive and ill-timed burning of the country and the spread of rabbits have changed the very appearance of the landscape. Originally it was well grassed, with a good deal of scattered scrub, chiefly in the gullies. Now in many parts even the hardy tussock has disappeared, leaving the earth bare, or perhaps occupied by the native scab weed or the introduced socalied star thistle. For example, the gorge between Clyde and Cromwell, now bare and barren-looking, when I was familiar with it in 1868 had an abundance of tussock and other grasses, including one known locally, as oat grass, which grew plentifully among the rocks on the lower slopes, where Captain Cook cabbage was. also found in such quantity that I have known it to be gathered when young to lie used as vegetable. The change which has taken place can be realised by anyone who knows the country now by comparing the present condition of the Manuherikia Valley with the description given by Mr Watson Sliennan in his reminiscences, who when he first reached the valley exclaimed to his brother, * Here is the country we are looking for, a land well grassed and watered—a very land of promise.’ That promise has not been fulfilled as yet. for the flat ground on Galloway Station/which they took up as a sheep run, when I last saw it was almost devoid of vegetation, except where a little irrigation had been done. But when the irrigation schemes now in progress are completed I have no doubt- but that the promise will be move than fulfilled, but in a manner which Mr dhennan probably never imagined. Besides the grass a good deal of scrub grew there, for Mr Sherman says: ‘That night I camped on the banks of the Manuherikia River. It was an ideal camping-place, with plenty of green grass for horses, scrub for fuel, and a river of the purest water to drink.’ He further states that he explored the surrounding country as far as where Clyde now stands, and he found ‘ the country all well-grassed and watered, sufficient scrub for fuel for many years, but no bush or timber.’ How different it is now any visitor to the locality will realise.” After dealing with the various species of shrubs which grew there, Mr Bathgate continues: “As illustrating the abundance of woody shrubs, chiefly in the mountain guliics. 1 may add that when living in Cromwell in 1868 1 knew a man, popularly known as Charcoal Joe, who had made move than a living before the read was made which allowed the waggons to reach the locality by burning charcoal, which he sold at a high price to the blacksmiths. A gully on the range across the river bore the name of Firewood Gully. The use of scrub for such purposes quickly eradicated the larger bushes, and the frequent burnings by the runholders pretty well completed the desi ruelion.” The diminution of the quantity of tutu, speargrass, and native anise throughout the. province is referred to. as also of many ferns and other plants in the immediate neighbourhood of Dunedin.