The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-01-21
A JAMAICAN PARALLEL.

We find in 4 recent number OF The
! Review Of Reviews, a story of the mon
! goose. the rat, the ground-laying bird
and the tick as they affect agricultural
ana other conditions in Jamaica, which
! might as well have been written with
Hawaii as the locality affected
This is what the article says:
! THE agricultural features of Jamaica
cannot be disposed of without due ref
erence to the part played by the mon
goose. Some years ago, the cane fields
became infested with snakes and rats
to such an extent that drastic measures
had to be employed in order TO rid the
country of the pests. 1t was decided
that the mongoose would do the work,
and accordingly the mongoose was i'm
ported. The animal went to work with
a will, and soon there was scarcely
snake left on the island. The rats.
likewise. were driven from the fields:
but, taking refuge in the cocoanut
trees. the rodents began to do that
damage to the nut which ever since
has been such a drawback to the rails
ing OF cocoanuts. But the mongooSe
did worse than this. The moment the
animal found no more snakes and rats
to feed upon, 1t attacked the ground
laying birds, destroying them and their
eggs as we'll. These birds had hereto
fore been invaluable to the country be-
cause they lived upon the pestiferous
tick, which Is such a nuisance to man
and cattle. With the disappearance OF
the birds, the ticks increased enormous
ly, and now, In their turn, they are al
lacking the mongoose. Raisers of poul- (
try in Jamaica woui5 consider it
blessing If every mongoose were swept 4
off the Island. When the animal had
succeeded in doing away with rs
snakes. and made the rats seek safety /
in the cocoanut trees, it went for the
chickens. Naturally, prices rose sky
ward, and 1t was considered luxury
to have poultry on the table. With the
destruction which the tick now does to /
the young mongoose, 1t is said by those
who know that the ground-laying birds
are once more appearing, and It Is fur
Their suggested that more birds should
be imported. The cattle-ownerS viii
welcome the feathered agency that for
merly minimiZed the effect of the ticks
by feeding on these insects. With the
OF sugar-cane in Cuba and
Porto Rico, the identical destructive
conditions are likely TO confront the
planters there; but since Americans,
with experience bought in Jamaica, are
at the head of the enterprises in the
other Islands, 1t is unlikely the mon
goose will be imported, even though
rats might appear numerically strong
enough to warrant drastic measures OF
Care will be exercised
n the selection of an antidote. AS far
Is the mongoose is concerned, a recent
,ct of Congress prohibits the importa-
ion of the animal into the United
States or it's colonies. Hawaii, where
he mongoose was introduced in 1881,
passed a similar law in 1892. The his
DRY of the mongoose IN the British
colony may stand for some lesson in
agricultural experience
Hawaiian chickens and ground birds
we're long ago harassed and the rats
lriven into the trees, the palms espe-
tally. Now the ticks have so increas-
"a that the mongoose is suffering
When the numbers of this animal are
brought down to a certain point, the
ats will get into the cane again. Grad
tally the ground-nesting birds will as
ert themselves in keeping down the
icks. and then the remaining members
# the mongoose family will breed in
'eace until they get numerous enough
o again harry the rats and birds. Thus .
he endless chain.
Wouldn't 1t be well, therefore when ,
he mortality of the mongoose serves
o make that animal a rara avis, for
he government to offer a handsome re-
yard for every one killed and brought
o the nearest Sheriff, thus eliminating
his particular link in the endless
hahn? Or is it desirable to cultivate
lin as a foe to the rats?