OUR FAUNA AND FLORA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1144, 3 June 1911, Page 3

OUR FAUNA AND FLORA.

<si r ,—As a lover of birds and Nature, I should like to sec the resolution passed bv the Wellington Acclimatisation Society Riven effect to by the Government, viz. :— "The acquisition by the Government, irom the Native owners, of the remainder of Kapiti Island, tho said island to be pet apart as 'a sanctuary for our fauna and hVa." These are not the. words contained in the resolution I refer to, but convcv that meaning, however. I was greatly surprised to read a paragraph in vou'r paper a few days ago wherein .Mr. YV. IT. Field, M.P., suggested the cutting-up pf a portion of Kapiti Island as a week-end resort—for idlers and vandals, I presume. I was always under the impression that the said gcntloiiinn, v.'ho is a native of this Dominion, was one of those who advocated the preservation of our fauna and flora, and my belief in him has received a sovero setback. The Acclimatisation Societies throughout New Zealand deserve great credit for what they have done in tho past, and should receive a far greater support froa the Government, and the people in particular, than they do. When I came to this country Iwentyfivo vcars ago in the s.s. Doric (Captain Jennings), we had a deck cargo of 300 stoats aiul weasel?, and accompanying them was a huge cage containing 0000 pigeons, some of them particularly wellbred, one hundred nf which were killed daily and fed to the stcats and.weasels. Just imagine what those several consignments must have cost this country! Mr. It. C. Bruce says that the stoat or weasel will not'take to feathers, Well,

I know lo Hip coulrary. t have known 11](M)i lo iln mi again anil iik : ''"• ">"' :l friend of mini-, who ri-.-idcd mid wic in business in I'nlincrslou North, and a. kith I. sport, 100, made ninnv plucky al-U-mpl.s lo rear pheasinls. lull, the sdvil nuil weasel reaped lln> liciiciil. I would suggest llml Ido (Im eminent be nski'd to declare I|ipm> animals In lie vermin, and iilncc ;i prii'P on llii'ir heads, 'limy exist in their tliuusiiiiils, as anyone who has trumped Kaivii, Mnknra, and I'orirua. (Titahi I'eniiiMila) knows. I liavp scon several up in the branches id high trees, and have also seen lliein emerge (rem llio carcass of a rulleii .ilieep, 1 world also suggest Hint Hip Acclimatisation Societies ask Hint a gun license should lip earned liy cverv individual in tlie Dominion, and Hint llie price of Iho nrivilcKO lo carry a spoiling gun or rillo (jo fixed .at, say, 2s. lid.. Hie immi'.vs derived therefrom lo lie handed over I" (lie societies. I would alsn surest Hint no person under 17 years of age lie granted a license, and that each person "ranted a license must submit bis weapon for Iho approval of any inspector appointed for such purpose, as many of tno firearms I have seen carried by some of our youths arc corri]K)sed of gas-pipes, copp.errwirc, and wood, and of more danger to the general public than to themselves. Trusting that you will Rive this lengthy Idler n space in your columns, and thanking you in anticipation therefor,—l am, etc., ENTHUSIAST.