SMALL BIRDS NUISANCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1316, 16 August 1886, Page 3

SMALL BIRDS NUISANCE.

[Ft)m tho Mail ]

Additional prominence has been given to the magnitude of the small birds nuisance in this district during the last few days by the coirespondence that has appeared in the local press with regard to the efficacy of the poisoned grain distributed by the County Council. Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the merits of

the means of destruction provided by

the local body, it appears to be very generally realised that the various acclimatization societies of the colony have inflicted an incalculable injury upon our agricultural interests by the introduction of the feathered pests, against which we are now waging an active warfare. It is almost incredible

hat these societies, ignoring altogether

the enormous damage they were doing the country, should have been allowed to import and liberate and protect birds that had already done so much to harass the farmers of older countries. It was a simple matter to introduce the sparrow and the linnet, but it will be found a very difficult and a very costly matter to keep their multiplication within reasonable bounds. Indeed, as Mr W. C. Walker put it in the House of Representatives some time ago, whatever we may do, the birds, like the poor, will always be with us. But the origin of this serious evil is a thing of the past; it would be futile to heap maledictions upon the heads of those thoughtless people who in the indulgence of their sentimentality inflicted an irremovable scourge and irreparable injury upon their fellowcolonists and all posterity. The past can never be undone; it is the mitigation of the present evil that must occupy our attention now. As regards ihe poisoned grain distributed during

the present winter it appears, after analysing all the conflicting reports as to its merit, that it compares very favorably with the grain employed during former years. There have been apparent failures, but not a large or . serious number. In many localities immense numbers of birds have been destroyed, and the fact that the Council has given the contractor an order for a further supply of poisoned grain is evidence that those in the best position to judge are well satisfied wilh Mr Neate’s preparation. But still there are some districts in which very few birds have been killed, and there is every reason to fear that the nuisance is not being lessened, hardly held in check. A majority of the birds, whether by instinct or good luck we are not prepared to say, avoid the poison ; they thrive among the deadly grains, and it has been suggested that numbers of these might, at this season of the year, be taken with nets. As a matter of fad we have seen hundreds of sparrows and linnets taken in this way, and we think the Council would have done well had it offered some inducement for the destruction of small birds by this method. It would, of course, have been necessary to insist upon the production of the birds alive to some responsible officer, otherwise the Council would in many'instances have had to pay first for the poison and then for its victims. Netting would have entailed some expense and a little trouble, but, with reasonable encouragement, we believe this means would have been almost as effective as the poison itself. However that may be, it is quite certain that the evil has not been very materially redu ed during the present winter, and we hope the ratepayers will continue . heartily to support the Council in its efforts to cope with this formidable nuisance.