CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3126, 11 February 1889, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

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. the following remark's, and 'sugges l ; tions ITo begin with,' I iuYagine all : '..■''•■ classes of 'the community': are fully alivo to tbo fact that the: rabbits euortuous annual loss to tbo JJjolony,, But; whilst lully admitting "this, I think we should 06 very. sure '• ■ of our ground,: bbforo. introducing animals, which in the future may • prove to he ovoti ut greater source of ■ evil than the. rabbits; themselves. Now, let us consider the situation fairly .and dispassionately. By introducing the stoats and weasels, we hope thoy will prove efficacious in exterminating the rabbits, Granting that thoy are successful hi doing this, what then is to become of them 1 It must be borne in mind that to have accomplished this desirable end, they must have increased to an enormous extent. Can it be reasonably expected that having fulfilled their mission, and ridded ua of our rabbits, .they ■will consent to consider their work as completed, and quietly resign them's selves to their fate, and dio off? I ■Lyery much fear not, Both the stoat the weasel are known to bo fierce and resolute animals, and Lthilik it is but natural to suppose that having exhausted one means of subsistence, they will turn their attention to others, Under theso circumstances, I fear that lambs (and very possibly even theirmothers)would fall easy victims; also poultry, and in fact every kind of bird, native and otherwise, would be attaoked in all probability. In dealing with this matter it must bo borne in mind that we are acting ontirely in the dark and on conjecture. In England, aud in all parts of Europe, stoats and wunsels are vigorously destroyed wherover found, and therefore it is impossible to form correct estimates as to what extent they might increase to where they were encouraged and fostered in a sparsely pop'uf 1 '~d country like New Zealand, us look at the matter in another light, If wo decide • to chance the ultimato results, and cast in our lot with the stoats and weasels, we must be prepared to trust entirely to them and to the r. winter poisoning, All olhor means of extermination, such as trapping, bunting with dogs, suffocating with bisulphide of carbon, &c, would necessarily have to be-abandoned, as they would all bo fatal to the proper development of the stoat and weasel. This, in itself, appears to mo to be a very serious consideration. I have heard it said, that even supposing these animals did oventually become too numerous, it would be an easy matter to destroy them. I think, however, this would prove to be a mistaken idea, as all carnivorous animals are very much more wary and suspicious in their instincts than graminivorous animals, This being the case, it would be found very difficult to dispose of them, Of course lam aware that it is the contention of the "stoat and weasel advocate" that qjbpj would not attack lambs, This if a point on which there is qreat divergence of opinion and evidence. With a view to arriving at some definite knowledge on this important matter, I would suggest that a simple experiment be resorted to, the conditions being as nearly as.possible such as would exist supposing the stoats and weasels to have destroyed -,. the rabbits, and lmvine; no other means Vjfc'of obtaining food, Let h certain number of ewes and lambs' be placed in a small enclosure, possessing some " cover." Let a certain number of stoats and weasels be also turned in, without any other means of obtaining food than by attacking the sheep or lambs, If, by this- means, it is proved that they refuse to attack them, no one will be more delighted that myself. Of course, this experiment'would not be absolutely conclusive either one way or the other, as artificial conditions are never the * <vK! e aB Mtura ' ones ' But, at any nffi 1 , it would go some way towards t jetting the point at rest. I feel ""' strongly that we are now called upon to decide a most important question, and one which may involve the wholo of the futuro pastoral prosperity of tho Colony. Let us well and fully consider before committing ourselves, and be sure that in introducing the stoats; and weasels (which, it must bo admitted, are an' unknown quantity') we aro not jumping from tho" fryingpan into thefire," and preparing a rod for our own baoks in the future, Apologising for this necessarily long letter, : lam, etc., ' ' T. L. Thompson. ■'* February lltn, 1889.'