THE RABBIT PEST

Hokitika Guardian, 3 July 1924, Page 3

THE RABBIT PEST

\ UCK LAX I:. J mie 3':. The gr-nlc-l destroying lorce in priaiarv prodnetiou to-dn.v i- tifi* inl.oit post. That is the opinion of men who nave had the opportunity of studying the mailer in every province in New Zealand. Although tin- Auckland province has

nit yet slllleerd rit'ibit devastation to In- slime degree as portions of Otago. Canterbury, and .Marlborough, the

menace is far more serious than is generally el-cognised, and utilc.-v. then- is united action throughout the .province, iu may vet pay very dearly lor us neglect. In a lew districts, notably To Awamutu. the problem lias been attacked within the last three or four years with great energy and wonderful success lias lTeeu achieved, success, indeed that lias staggered men who have made the rabbit problem a -special Andy. . Over 8000 acres on tile cast sale- ot the tow'll of To Awamutu. and a similar area on the western side, where three years ago rabbits nourished in countless hordes, hardly a rabbit is to |„. seen to-iiav. And this splendid condition of affairs is being maintained at n surprisingly small east. The secret of success was the formation of a Rabbit Board, under the Rabbit Nuisance Amendment Act, ot 1!H8. , ~ Ti, one familiar with southern districts. where rabbits are as thick today as thev were 20 years ago—when one secured good p icket money by devoting one's spare time before and after school to the trapping and sliootinir of l-abbits—the results achieved around To Awamutu are almost beyond

lielicf. There are districts in Otago and Canterbury, and doubtless in this province, where it will nut be believed that in three years badly infested areas have been cleared. But tile (act ieniains that there are men prepared to pav one shilling tor every rabbit above six. that anyone counts along eight miles of road towa-d I’irunpia. Formerly the sides of this rotul were little less than olio continuous warien.