THE FERRET QUESTION.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1067, 6 October 1882, Page 4

THE FERRET QUESTION.

'When* the quesrion, whether it was -or was not advisable to continue the amportation by ’he Government of rthese enemies of the rabbit tribe was •discussed in Parliament on a question quit by the member for Port Cbamers, Mr Dodson, num' er for 'Wairan, Marlborough, said In the part of the country from ■which he came, including particularly sthe districts of Kaikmira and Awatere dll is question was one with which they bad long had to deal. About nine veuvs ago ferrets were introduced into ■those districts in considerable ministers, and at the present time there ■were running in that country not some thousands.” ns the Colonial '.Treasurer s .id, but a great many hun-

deeds ol thousands. I'he etf-ct had •been ta pnieticii.ly clear the rabbit ■out of ihe Conakry abogetlier ; »uul so groat a friend had the ferret i-ccom in that part ef ihe country that noth ing would induce the ninho dcr--, who were bre-di .g th in rupi'Hy hi el c a finnonsly. to soli them, lie was in formed that the ferrets which In been sold in that put of tlm rounliv had not been sold by the innholders but by persons who had poached ami trapped them, Oflera-of £1 each for ferrets had frequently been refuse I by the innholders. The number f f r re's bn-d in 'hat di trict averaged from 200 upwards • very year, and nearly all the rtf dodders were now breeding them. Air Bu len was the first who began to introduce them, which lie did nine years ago and ho had pr ctically cleared his laud of rabbits. They.had now had nine years experience of the ferret an that part of New Zealand, These animals we e overrunning a very -considerable portion of the country, and nothing had occurred to cau-e any fear that they would become a nuisance in the future. Up to the present time the people there had not discovered that they had interfered with the lambs . r done any injury whatever. They simply ki'led rabbits, rats, mice, and oth">vermin. The innholders, in their endeavours to keep down the rabbits, bad tried poison, trapping, and all the other measures usu dly adopted; but the only temedy thev found to be entirely successful was the ferret, and nothi g -would induce them to part with that remedy. The ferret that was found to be most useful was that known as the brown African ferret.” It bred twice a year, generally having about six or seven young ones. These when reared -were‘turned o it on the runs, and did enormous xecution amongst the rabbits. 'lhe ferret in that part of the country was by no means looked upon as a noxious animal, but, on the contrary, one that was extremely useful. It-was common enough there to see them in (he ploughed fields picking up slugs, worms, and things of that kind. As there were many members present who did not know much about this subject, he might he permitted to re-mind-the Hou-e th it at dibit > uDauce Committee sat last \ear, at which Mr. Bullen, who was practically the most experie ccd man in the Colony on this matter, gave a variety of evidence which he had c dlected. About nine years ago ho and other neighboring rui holders sent home ,£ 1000 to er out <he first lot of ferrets, and had been breeding limn ever since. Mr Bullen wrote a ’otter to the i abbit. Nuisance Commitiee, an extract from •which he migh , pe’haps, bo a>lowed to read, as it contained useful information on a subject about which the peop’e of the colony ought to know more than they did at present. Mr Bui eu wiote as follows : “ lam glad t) say the ferrets have done, and are slill doing, a great work for us in checking the rabbits ; and I do believe the fends will be salvation of the country, for truly the rabbits will ruin the country -at least, the sh<ep f.rmeis—if tiny are not kept down. My firm belief is the rabbitcatchers do more hmn than good; they ki 1 eviythhig th .t kids a rabbit. I bedevc the cat and woodhen arc bo*h very destructive to the enemy We havealwaysenoonragt daiid turned out all the cats we can ; the ferrets kill all the woodheus. We turned out ferrets about eight years ago, and have been turning out more or less every t ear, the last two or three yeuis going in to'•breed and turn out about 200 a year, which we shall continue as long as we see any rabbits around. The dark ferrets are the best. This country extends, yon may say, from the Kahautara to the Conway. Tiny will go where they please It is considerably over 10 ,000 acres, and [believe there are many hundreds of ferrets on it; we leave it entirely to them to do the work, keeping one man to breed and act as keeper over the ferrets He carries a gun, and kills a rah it when ever he gets a chance; hut, unfortunately, our neighbors allow men to catch rabbits on their country These men catch t .e ferrets, and thev pay them better ; consequently our ferrets are eing exported to all parts of the country. J'his, Sir I consider -is very cruel (after spending thousands to try and m ster the rabbits, our greatest enemies) to find any oafercan go on Government land adjoining yours and catch every ferret ami send them out of the district, and advertise them as your ferrets.” Every sheep farmer in the district had followed the example so well set by Mr, Bullen, and with the same result. There were Thousands and thousands of ferrets in that part of the ■country, and the people there regtr- led them as a means of most effectually d tiling with ihcrab its, and of eventually saving the country ‘rom a very great evil.