On the Chathams.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20648, 24 June 1935, Page 6

On the Chathams.

Nature Notes

By

James Drummond,

F.L.S., F.Z.S.

rjRASS-GRUBS increased alarmingly on the Chatham Islands twenty-seven years ago. To check them, Mr J. J: Fougere, a sheep farmer, of Te One, imported about five wekas from Canterbury. The wekas spread all over the island. They- stole eggs and worked mischief in gardens, and many' complaints were made against them. Residents went after them with dogs and guns, but Mr E. M. Guest, of Owenga, reports that in spite of it all. they seem to hold their own well, which is what anybody who knows wekas would expect. They stand much adversity, never accept defeat, and always come up smiling. Black swans, onoe extraordinarily' plentiful on the Chathams, have decreased greatly. A few pukekos are there, but no kiwis. Tuis, wood-robins, -wood-pigeons and other native-birds are decreasing. The last black rat Mr Guest heard of was at Kaingaroa fifteen years ago. He does not think that any black rats remain on Chatham Island or Pitt Island. Almost all over the world, the black rat decreases or disappears when the Norway rat comes on the scene. This is the case at the Chathams. *The Norway rat is in strong force there. The white butterfly, during the recent summer, made its first appearance at Owenga. ________________