GREAT PLAGUE OF RATS.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1922, Page 9

GREAT PLAGUE OF RATS.

LORD HOWE ISLAND PALM INDUSTRY THREATENED. Sydney, April Iff. Through the ravages of rats, the chief industry of Lord Howe Island —palm seed raising—is threatened with extinction. During the past 12 months the rats have increased at such an alarmingrate that there are now millions of them overrunning the island and destroying everything in their path. Not only do these pests devour tLs palm seeds, which take four years to ripen, (but they gnaw the roots of pann and bulb. oird life has been nearly wiped out. because the rats attack not only the birds, hut also the eggs in the nest and the fledglings. These birds were a valuable asset to the settlers, as they lived chiefly upon the insect life, of the palm groves, and now phsts are having a free run, destroying what the rats leave. One of the worst results is that the undergrowth on the island, comprising miUjwna jjxillious of young palms,

had to be destroyed, in order to rob the hungry hordes of the excellent cover which enables them to thrive and multiply. It seems as if nothing can he done to cope with the menace, though all sorts of expedients have been tried. The rat reigns supreme, and a miracle would he required to rid this beautiful island of the invaders.

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