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Southland Times, Issue 21337, 7 March 1931, Page 10

According to Mr James Dobson, of Pokeno, Auckland, it would seem that stoats were very plentiful in that district during the year. To a meeting of the Otago Acclimatization Society he sent forward two snapshots of stoats which he had trapped, and of pheasants which the stoats had killed. One photograph showed ten stoats killed in December last year, and it was estimated that 700 pheasants were killed by these stoats before they were exterminated. Mr Dobson stated that he had killed thirtyseven stoats, on his pheasant field this year; but he added that they were hard to get when killing .young game. Another photograph’ showed a stoat which had killed thirty-one young pheasants in half an hour, and planted them at a tree root. Mr Dobson also stated that wild ferrets were increasing fast there.