VERMIN CONTROL

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23321, 3 October 1945, Page 4

VERMIN CONTROL

Protest By Rabbit Board Asset In Infested Areas A strong protest against the operations of the South Island Vermin Control Board in its efforts to exterminate ferrets, stoats, polecats, and other similar vermin was made by the Tekapo Rabbit Board to the South Canterbury Acclimatisation Society in a letter received at the monthly meeting of the Society held at Tcmuka on Monday evening.

“It is with dismay that it is noted that an effort is being made to have these animals exterminated,” stated the letter, in referring to an advertisement inserted by the Society in “The Timaru Herald” regarding prices to be paid by the South Island Vermin Control Board for the skins of ferrets, stoats, polecats, etc. “The Tekapo Rabbit Board has always taken a keen interest in these animals, which are a natural enemy of the rabbit, and an increase in their numbers has been hoped for. This Board wishes to lodge a strong protest and trusts that your Society wdll reconsider the matter of agreeing to a price being paid for the destruction of what is considered an asset, especially in rabbit-infested areas.”

The chairman (Mr H. B. Timmings) said that the matter had been referred by him to the Council of South Island Acclimatisation Societies. It

had been pointed out to him that it was a matter outside the jurisdiction of the Society. Both the Tekapo Rabbit Board and the Society were semi-public bodies, and he would like to work in with them as much as possible, but they had received no complaints from other rabbit boards working in the district. The Vermin Control Board was outside the control of the Society, having been established at the instigation of the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the list of vermin had been approved by the Department of Internal Affairs. Mr T. O. Fox said that prices for the skins of these animals were quoted in Dunedin at much more than the Vermin Control Board was offering. The chairman: While some skins are selling at up to 25/-, the skin merchants have 1200 skins this year at prices ranging from 7d to 1/8. There has been an inquiry from the buyers as to whether the Vermin Control Board will buy these at 2/6, but all skins bought by the Board have to be certified by the vendor as having been trapped by him in a certain locality. The societies have no authority to buy skins in bulk from any skin buyer. Mr R. McLeod claimed that the animals mentioned did considerably more damage to game birds than they did good in destroying rabbits. On the motion of Messrs A. Jones and S. Goddard, it was agreed that the secretary (Mr F. J. Robertson) write to the Tekapo Rabbit Board advising that the matter was outside the jurisdiction of .the Society, and advising them to refer to the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Report By Chairman A report on the meeting of the South Island Acclimatisation Council was given by the chairman, who said that there was a deficit of £l3/7/1 in the funds of the Council. This would be met by making an additional 1 per cent levy on fishing and shooting licences received by individual societies. Twenty per cent of the revenue received from shooting licences would be paid to the South Island Vermin Control Board. Mr Tfinmings dealt with the proposal to set up a Fresh Water Fisheries Research Institute to be administered by a committee consisting of three representatives of South Island Acclimatisation Societies, three representatives of the North Island Societies, two representatives of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, plus the addition of one representative appointed by the Internal Affairs Department in respect of its acclimatisation districts. He also explained the proposals for a National Wild Life Council for the scientific control of wild life. It was, he said, suggested that this council would comprise one representative of the Departments of Internal Affairs, Agriculture, Forestry, Public Works, North Island Societies, South Island Societies and a chief executive officer who would be a fulltime research scientist In all matters pertaining to wild life. A report of a meeting of a special committee of the Society with Mr R. S. Hunter-Weston, at which Mr Preston, Commissioner of Crown Lands. Mr McMillan, Chief Surveyor for Canterbury, and Mr Williams, of the Lands Department, was given by Mr Fox. Mr Fox said that Mr Hunter-Weston had agreed to transfer to the Society two areas of approximately 10 acres of land now leased by him, one at the south end of Lake Alexandrina and another at the outlet. He would advise that the Society endeavour also to obtain control of the area at the outlet at present under the jurisdiction of a Domain Board. Evidently this Board was unable to function owing to lack of funds or for other reasons, and people were using both this reserve and the road reserves adjoining as they pleased. The chairman said that they had asked a surveyor to prepare maps of the areas concerned. The two reserves would belong to the Society, which could charge hut rents and control the areas. The action of the special committee was approved. Servicemen’s Licences On the motion of Messrs Goddard and W. Husband it was agreed that the privilege of a free fishing licence be extended to overseas personnel of the Armed Forces who had returned to New Zealand before April 30. 1945. but who, through sickness or wounds, had been in hospital since their arrival in the Dominion. It was agreed that individual members organise parties to shoot out, shag rookeries. At the suggestion of Mr Goddard, it was decided to instruct the curatorranger to obtain a supply of silveries (glaxia attenuatus) from the river mouths and liberate them in a small spring-fed creek adjacent to the hatchery with a view to placing them in the lakes as an additional source of trout feed if they acclimatised satisfactorily. The proposal was stronglv supported by Mr H. Morris, who said that the major problem of the Society was to establish additional food supplies in both rivers and lakes. The curator-ranger (Mr F. W. Pcllett), who has been in the service of the Society for 18 years, will retire on October 31 and Mr F. W. Grayburn will take over his position. Thanks were expressed to Mr G. G. Lewis for a gift of a suitably-mounted 36-pound quinnat salmon caught by him in the Rangitata River. The report of the curator-ranger stated that, during the month, hatchery operations had taken up the whole of his time. On September 6, 100.009 Taupo rainbow ova were laid down in the hatching boxes. The first lot of rainbow eggs from Scott’s Creek started to batch on September 12, 35 days from date of fertilisation. Liberations of brown trout fry were proceeding. and to date a total of 344.000 had been placed In the various streams,

leaving 264,000 to be liberated. There was a good fresh in all streams, which were discoloured, but were not carrying enough water to do any damage Hatching operations woulri not be finished until the middle of November Repairs to the roadway at the top end of Lake Alexandrina would have'been finished had the weather held good