THE RABBIT NUISANCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1772, 28 August 1884, Page 2

THE RABBIT NUISANCE.

The report of Mr B. P, Bayley, the Superirlten dant Inspector under he Rabbit' Nuisance Acfc ; has beer) •''laid before. Parliament'. Mr Bayley, with reference to ferrets, says :

" During the past year nearly 4001 ferrets have heon bred and turned ou by private individuals. Marlborougl heads the list with 3041, bred am turned out there, and over 800 wer liberated on one run alone. It i still a moot point whether the ferre will do equally as well over all part of the colony, The weight of ovidenc is decidedly favourable to the sup position that when turned out in suffi cient numbers their utility is unquea tionable. Mr Bullen, of Kaikoura who first adopted the terrefc as a mean of coping with the rabbit, has been si far succesful that at present he employ, no rabbiters, and his run 1 is officially re poraed to bs remarkably free from tin pest, so much so that the man who i employed to breed ferrets by Mr Bui len states that he has a difficulty ii getting sufficient rabbits to supply those on liand. It must be paten that to exist they must destroy a cer tain number of rabbits; and it ■ i amongst the stops or breeding place the ferret would be most useful as wel as destructive, and under any circum stances it must be some; years befon they will be sufficiently numerous ti balance the fecundity of the rabbit. I great mistake is made by many owner when turning out ferrets. In somi cases it is done without their being evei hardened off or fed upon live rabbit prior to their certain lbss of the l greater nunibe inevitably occurs. Another error i turning them out in small numbers 01 ground thickly infested; in the latte case, the ordinary means of trapping o: Jogging is resorted to, and the ferrets together with other natural enemies are destroyed simultaneously with thi rabbit. To be a success, or to give th ferret a fair chance, the country oi which it is intended to turn them ou mould first have the rabbits' reduced t< \ minimum; then the ferret should fo released, and in any locality where thi pest may again appear a few from thi stock of ferrets on hand could h liberated to meet this increase; it ;act, a systematic procedure is necea lary to entail success, Owing to thi wavy losses sustained, and the unsatis factory results obtained after arrival ;he importation of ferrets has beei Kscontinued, and the course of pur ihasing by Government all bred in thi :elony at so much per head adopted The private demand for all pro mrable ferrets last year was si ;reat that only two or three lot yere purchased by or offered to thi lepartment, Over 400 ferrets havi )een turned out on Government land luring the last twelve months: 384 ii Dfcago, and 36 on the Napier boundary here are still 184 at Government lepots, and 112 were disposed of; 5C iave been distributed to private inlividuals for breeding purposes on the 'sual terms."

•With respect to other means of destroying the rabbit pest, Mr Bayley writes : —" Phosphorised grain is still the recognised means of really dealing with the pestj and more systematical methods are each year being adopted in this direction, The block system attempted last year, is this year pretty generally followed, and with the best result. So new methods of destruction that have proved effectual have been brought under notice during the past season. The great desideratum would be to ascertain some poison that would act as well in summer, when grass is green and plentiful, as the phosphorised grain does in winter. Could some attractive bait' be discovered for the summer season the greatest part of the difficulty would.be overcome, as then the work could be made continuous instead of having only a certain season that can be utilised thoroughly with success, all other means during remainder of year being only moderately efficacious," '

In the Masierton district the following results are given for the rabbit destroying work of the year :—Quantity of phosphorus used, 4791bs'; total number of skins exported, 706,894, of a value of £7901.

The following is the report from Rabbit Inspector Orbell, Masterton : "1, Phosphorized grain during the winter months, fumigating with bisulphate of carbon, charcoal and sulphur, and chemicals; hunting with dogs, shooting, ferreting, trapping, burrows broken up, thousands of acres of scrub and bush cleared, cover des : troyed. 2. Owners of infested land to be compelled to breed or procure ferrets to turn out (when practicable), to the satisfaction of Inspector; ferrets to be turned out on Crown lands and Government to have substantial breeding depots, 3, Good progress; diminution of the pest very satisfactory, 4, Twenty. 5. .£209 Bs. 6. Twentyfive, including Crown Lands; about two-thirds bush, remainder pastoral; approximate area, 30,000 acres. 7, 78|lb, 8. 400£lb. 9. 881b, 10, Skins from Wairarapa exported, Port Nicholson. 11. Thirty-three.' 12. Thirty-one; fines inflicted, .£134 10s, 13. Two, 14, Tunuiarangi. 15. Unknown. 16. Yes; with very satisfactory results. General remarksSimultaneous poisoning with phosphorised grain during the winter months with concerted action; systemathic method of poisoning large tracts of infested country; bleeding and turning out unlimited numbers of ferrets (the dark African ferret preferred) and other natural enemies of the rabbit. I anticipate great results, and that the pest will be combatted with success, provided owners work with energy and a will of determination. Dogging, trapping, fumigating, being determinental to the .natural enemies, I would strongly recommend that an uniform rule and some definite system should be adoped where rabbits abound in numbers, to protect the ferret and some other natural enemies. Wild ferrets are fast increasing, and their good work is already perceptible with grand results." |