The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-07-20
A Pest Of Rabbits.

Cor. Chicago Times.
A Pest Of Rabbits.
New Zealand has suffered grievously
from the ravages of these gentlest OF
furry foes. About twenty years ago q
colonist brought seven rabbits from the
old country to his new home at Inver.
cargill in the southern isle. 1t was
thought that to turn these adrift on the
bleak sand-hills along the coast could not
fail to prove a benefit to the colony.
For some years this answered capitally,
and the colonists enjoyed excellent
shooting on the links Gas such seaboard
is called in Scotland.) But ere long the
they cropped every blade of grass and
even devoured the roots, which alone
bound the light sand-hills and prevented
them from blowing over the better soil
inland. Very soon this evil occurred,
and the land was greatly injured. Then
the farmers on the seacoast began shoot
ing and trapping in earnest; but by this
timessome more rabbits had been inn
ported to Otago, and from these two
centers the mischief rapidly spread.
Considering that each rabbit breeds
eight times a year, and produces an av-
erage of six young at each litter, it is
easy to perceive how rapid must be their
increase. On the other hand their foes
are few, the settlers in the interior living
eight or ten miles apart-a lonely life,
in truth, where perhaps half dozen
men herd the hocks which range oyer
| fifty thousand acres. 1t became evident
that these shepherds could never check
the progress of the evil without assist
ance, SO men were hired to ferret, trap,
shoot or worry the invaders. These
men travelled with large packs of
| dogs, numbering from one to two
dozen. They were paid at the rate of
I'd. skin. 1t was, however, soon found
that the sale of skins fetched less than
they cost, while the presence of strange
dogs disturbed the sheep and often re-
suited in their being worried. The Sheep
runs being in general tracts of crown
land, merely rented by the farmer for a
limited term of years for the purpose of
rearing stock, it was found in MANY
cases not to be worth the expense of at
| tempting to cope with the mischief. One
| cure after another was tried, such as
| stopping the burrows with cotton-waste
| saturated in bisulphide of carbon, but all
were successfully given up as useless
efforts to meet so widespread an evil.
In many cases it was found that the land
could no longer support one-fourth of
Its former number of sheep, so the holders
were absolutely compelled to throw up
their leases and abandon their runs. The
extent OF the ravages could hardly be
credited were it not for the cut and-drv
statistics of the rabbit nuisance commit
tee. | may quote few extracts from
the evidence of many gentlemen own
ing large sheep-runs in the provinces of
Otago and SouthC Canterbury. Many begin
by stating how incredulous they were at
first that rabbits would even take to the
new country sufficiently to afford them
sport. All too quickly their eyes were
opened. For instance. in South Canter.
bury, Messrs. Cargill and Anderson
killed fifty thousand rabbits by poison
a year ago. but in the following spring
their sheep-run was just as densely
peopled by them as though not one had
persisted. Mr.. Kitchen states that he
kept nearly hundred men working as
rabbit-killers for four months, and sue
ceeded in clearing his land Now they
are worse than ever. Mr.. Rees says that
he killed $50, 900 last year, and his en-
ployer, Mr.. r. Campbell, expended
t3,OO0 in one year in attempting to keep
down the pest on his runs of 1853, 900
acres. Still the plague spreads, and the
whole. land from Waitaki to Foveax
Strait is more or less infested with rab-
bits. Many districts are just a vast war
rem, on which it is impossible to keen
sheep at all. Mr.. R. Campbell alone
has been compelled to abandon 250,OOo
acres. Chiefly in Southland and Wal
lace Counties, and on the North Maria
Lake and Greensboro Valley several
other sheep farmers have also been
forced to abandon runs of from Is. 900 to
16. 900 acres. Many estates, though less
seriously injured than these, have still
suffered so greatly that their value is
immensely deteriorated. Eight runs,
which formerly brought in rental of
5i,o00 per annum, now let for f170.
The Burwood run is instanced as one
which used to carry $4,000 sheep, but
now barely provides food for "a, 600. In
1873 the total number of the sheep in
colony was upward of $4,000, 900; in
1873 it was reduced to about II, 800, 600,
and this decrease, though now consider
ably checked, has continued. The loss
on the exports of wool and tallow is esti-
mated at 100000 per annum. On the
other hand, in 1879, there were exported
from New Zealand upward of 5. 0OO. GOO
rabbit skins-value f46, 759-and in the
1olioWlng year upward of 1000, 900 rab-