Man ate rats, but thought of beans

Press, 19 April 1979, Page 6

Man ate rats, but thought of beans

j PA Wellington A lost opossum hunter, Arthur Holmes, ate rats raw and pretended they were hot baked beans in order to survive three weeks ’in the rugged Kaimai ranges. “There were times when I was completely irrational — when I lived in my own little world, when I wasn’t really sleeping in a freezing bush bivouac but I was home in my own bed,” he said, after finally finding his way out of the bush. “I tried to think of the good things. I always thought I would make it, but there were times when I felt really low. My mind wandered over many things ■— I was thinking all the time. I don’t think I talked to myself, though. If I ever said anything out loud it was probably to pray that I made it.” A search was mounted for Mr Holmes last month but was called off five days later when no sign of him had been found. It was believed at the time that he might not have gone into the bush as he had originally planned.

. Mr Holmes said he had ] tried to find his way out by 'following a gully, but feared being trapped and had settled for climbing ridges

until he could sight civilisation. He had then headed straight out, taking four to five days to reach the main road.

“When I got out I just felt like getting down on my knees and thanking God.” he said. He was found beside a road on Tuesday, by a truck driver.

“People have been horrified at my eating rats, but they are bush rats, vegetarian ones which the Maoris used to eat,” said Mr Holmes. “They taste quite sweet when you are hungry.” He said his days had followed much the same pattern, awaking before dawn, eating a small snack, and then getting up and walking, trying to find a way out.

In the early afternoon he had sought shelter for the night “and water — that is the key to survival. You can get by without food for a while, but not water.” Mr Holmes said he never felt he would die. He had read the bushman’s bible, “Survival.” several times and knew how to exist. He had a rifle, a reasonable supply of ammunition, a machete, a knife, some string, and a good set of clothing. “I was pretty well off.” he said. “I was able to shoot

pigeons and at night I would build myself a bivouac and set traps with the string I had. I must have shot 10 pigeons and caught a few rats and ’possums. “I had some matches and was able to cook them up when I needed to. It was only in the last few days, when I was running short of matches, and some nights when I was just too tired, that I had to eat them raw.

“Then I just thought of home and baked beans.’” Mr Holmes, aged 45, a former traffic officer, said he became lost three weeks ago after he went into the ranges to check his traps. He had misjudged the time and had been caught in the bush by darkness. The next day he had started to walk out and realised he was lost. “It all sounds a bit stupid now, and it is easy to sit at home in a comfortable chair and realise I did some silly things when I should have tried to help searchers find me,” he said. “But until you have been in the situation you don’t realise how irrational you can be. I though I would find my own way out quite quickly but days just slipped by.”