STOATS AND WEASELS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2962, 9 July 1891, Page 2

STOATS AND WEASELS.

Tub importation of stoats and weasels .still goes lneri ily on. An Kngli-h exchange writes its follows : —" An increasing business is being done in the exportation of stoats ana weasels to New Ze:il:incJ and the Australian colonies. The catching of these natunil enemies, not only of the rodent?, but of everything furred or feathered which comes within their power, lui.s taken the. dignity of a very protitivblo occupation for adepts in catching them alive. The L'lidon correspondent of the Sheffield Telegraph has seen at Waterloo Station a consignment of 320 of thess little, animals, intended for .shipment to Wellington in the K.iikomn. This is the fourth lot received at the South Western terminus alone within a month, and each party, is accompanied by mi experienced man, whose chief duty is to provide its members with a liberal supply of fresti-killed fowl on the voyage, for yonr stoat is a triHe precise, and disdains food frmn which the aroma of the warm blood has departed. He has, in fact, altogether a (food time of it, for not only is he transported in a wall, ventilated and comfortably badded box, which would !■>« tho nnvy of the average working terret, hut goes to a land where tho problem of over-population and food supply jan never have a painful interest for him."

Tlia cottiers of this colony will, iti a few years, luve only too grant cnusu In curse thn originator of the scheme ti> introduce thosD blond-lhiisly little pi>.«ts into New Zealand. The brilliant intellect that first suggested tho introduction of the sparrow (and who has been anathematised from one end of the cnlony to the other) was n mild offender compared with the originator of the stoat and weasel imi.'ortation. Those animals will ere long—in fact, have already, as the subjoined paragraphs tend to prove —become u source, not only of pecuniary loss to farmers and sheep-owners, but also of personal danger to themselves and families. A recent number of Nature contained the following :—" In many British colonies tho baneful effects of what :>omo thirty yeurs ago was highly lauded as ' acclimatisation ' by half-informed persons calling themselves naturalists, have been felt with ftsnrfiil force. Nearly nil tho most interesting animals of New Zealand and Australia will disappear before the ravages of tho Mnstelidii.-, so foolishly--if not wickedly — introduced to check the great, but obviously transient post of a superabundant population of rabbits— themselves an inwnsideralo importation." The importation nf stunts i\nd weasels being a profitable business to tlm.se engaged in it, and unfortunately a lawful one, it is not likely to be stopped until rendered illegal by enactment, l'ublie opinion, in matters of this kind, is not prescient, but as a rule remuns dormant until an evil becomes a crying one. The farmers, however—who are tho chief parties interested—should take action to arouse public opinion mi this subject at once, in order that steps may be taken to render the further importation of these pests unlawful. The rabbits which they nre introduced to destroy, are looked upon in some of the rabbit-stricken districts in tho smith as not altogether an unmixed evil. Ktbbitcanning factories have bean established, and aro profit-making concern*, giving employment to many hands at the factories, and also 11 rabbitors, and it was ouly a few days ago that the Government were requested to prohibit the poisoning of rabbits in districts where factories were established. Farmers may depend upon it, if the importation of Bloats and weasels is permitted to go on unrestricted, and the little brutes are also allowed to multiply unmolested in a natural w.>y, that there is a rod in pickle for them for future application. Not only will they be tho principal sufferers through the depredations of the vermin, but when their ravages become more pronounced, they will be called upon to exterminate them from their holdings in some similar manner to that provided by the Rabbit Act for the stamping out of the rabbit nuisance. The process of extermination will then be a long and a costly undertaking, and we fear :v hopeless task. The following paragraphs were taken from two ifawke's Bay journals of laut week's dates, and will prove instructive reading to those who regard passively the introduction of these loathsome animals :— " On Wednesday (eays tho Bush Advooate), Mr Vattulo brought into Mr Wilson's Htoro at Norsewood, :\ weusel which ho had killed on Mr Briukley's property. Tho little pi st had, during the preceding night, killed seven ducks and u rooster. Surely it would be no misnomer to call it a fowl night's work. When the lambing season is tm tho settlors in thi-s district will be able to say what relations will obtain as between the weasel and tho lamb." The Woodville Examiner says : — "A Mangahao settler was t>roused the other night from his slumbers by some mysterious movement about his breast and throat. Thinking it was a rat ji3 throw his blankets bick to shake it off when he found it was a large weasel which had been investigating the vicinity of his throat. The weasel cleared out but subsequently found its way into his mite's compartments where it was destroyed."