Department of Agriculture.

Manawatu Herald, 24 August 1893, Page 3

Department of Agriculture.

Stoats and Weasles. The natural enemy to the rahbifc occupies an amount of attention in the reports of the inspectors much in excess to that shown to them in the country, as, though they all assert they believe stoats and weasels are doing good work, they report but few instances. The fact is that only one inspector has actually identified tha real work of a ferret and that was Mr Ironside who says " I have seen a number of rabbits freshly killed by them-" Mr Hull is responsible for the statement that the Manawatn Babbit Extermination Society intend to raise the bonus to one shilling per skin. He reports that he considers this effort will result in the practioally stamping out of the pest in this district. The total number of skins paid for by the above Society for the year is 10,781, making since December 1891. 12,500. A Foxton rabbiter informed Mr Hall that when burning a flax-bush no less than seven weasles ran out. This " Truthful James " also eased the inspector's mind by assuring him that he had seen a weasel hanging on to the neck of a rabbit, which caused the inspector to remark " it is evident they must be doing some good work." As a man of the world the inspector must know that good work does not always result from hanging on the neck of anything, especially in our species, It is jumping at a conclusion without sufficient) warranty. Just suppose if the rabbit led the weasel astray i The North Wairarapa Board has turned loose about a thousand ferrets, and a few settlers have commenced afresh to breed these vermin. Mr Smith states as his experience that to keep up the supply of the natural a fresh supply must be turned out yearly. If they do this in Wai* rarapa what will the people of Palmerston do, as, it is admitted, numbers of them have travelled through the bush to Wood vi lie and Palmeraton already. Baine indiscriminate way of •TTfling with these little animals is in pfltotiue at Marlborough where come hundreds have been liberated. These * drift,' a pretty term for an objectionable foot, into the Sounds country, and, 80 it is admitted, "this ia unfortunate " as the Sounds settlers not haying rabbits have little

sympathy for them, as they, quoting again " dccassionally kill poultry." The ferrets act thus " occasionally " probably because the poultry is only met with occassionally, or does the inspector believe they have some conscience and only kill poultry from dire necessity ? Rabbits are not the only animal or crop reported on by the inspectors, as W3 will show in another article, but the rabbib has evidently terribly troubled them, and they the rabbits. In spite of this we find MiThompson being surprised at there being a wild rabbit, what elsa would he expect after disturbing them with stoats, weasels, ferrets, cats, dogs and guns, and spoiling their constitutions with poisoned grain. Everything treated like that would get wild, very wild indeed.