Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1914-04-15
Recent Seizure Of Meadow Ants BY
Customs Authorities DisclOses A
List Of Visitors Not Wanted Here.

lnScctS-Or would he If the various cx-
otic seeds, fruits and plants which nave
attracted their attention in the Orient
and the Tropics were not ruhlcSSly taken
from the incoming tourists. In one in
stance. for example. some strange look.
ing beans were found Ia be- swarming
with wcevil. The individual from whom
this precious prize was taken may have
resented the governments action a. n
piece Of petty interferenccs with a per
Sonal hobby but a very vital danger &,
the vegetable gardens Of the country.
More enterprising travellers nave 1T
various times attempted To bring in n
"A curiosity the Australian flying fox.
Unknown in this country this ovcrgrown
bat. which al its largest measures more
than five feet across the tips of its wings
j. one If the greatest pests of Australia.
In their camps IN the dense scrubs Of
%eullies and swamps. they may be- seen by
the thousands. crowded 81 thickly on the
trees that branches are frequently brok
cn by their weight. Their nightly raids
in search of food cover considerable dis
%tances and they are especially partial Ia
ltEN. niidHiNs N'd'HfN anu INV SUI
fruit. Various cXpedients have been
tried 10 protect the orchards hut hither-
TO these have proved more expensive han
successful. On one occasion some hun
drcd Thousand foxes were shot at IN eX-
penSc 10 the government Of Ne wSouth
Wales for powder and shot OF - ~ MS
each. 4 little later wholesale dcsiruc-
4 tut- la naaanS af Ixuamff. anl nflt.p I
high explosives was attempted. The
foxes avoided the trees that had been 50
carefully charged and the explosives did
no harm. .
The mOngoose is another CT, aturc
which individuals persist in br:ngin un
invited 10 these shores. For Tins ii il
perhaps fair 10 hold l;udyard H;pling
largely responsible. The mongoo>' he
immortail2cd under the name of l;iki
Tiki Tavi III the jungle Book" j. a yer,
attractive Iittlc hero. bat no matter
what the mong0osc may be in Indian. in
America he il a nuisance. When no
snakes are available 10 appcaSe his ap
petite he does not Scorn chickens. young
pigs, kids, lambs, puppies. kittens. vcge
tables and fruits.
Despite overwhelming evidence Of the
havoc he creates. however. he frequently
appears a 4 pet in barge Of those who
should know better. One woman sue
cccdcd in getting her specimen through
the customs and in safety To a New York
hotel. There. however. his presence be
known and IN a few hours AN in
Spcctor appeared Ia carry off the obnox-
ious visitor. still the mongoo>e does get
i'm and does escape when he il in. a
Cape Cod farmer whose poultry ward suf-
fcrcd nightly raids lay in wait for the
intruder aud succeeded in shooting an
animal the like of which neither he nor
his friends had seen before. Ultimately
the authorities recognized il as u non
goose, but To this day no one knows what
series of adventures led 10 his presence
in Cape Cod.
His presence in This hemisphere nj all
i dae To the mistaken notion that he
would he invaluable in Kidding the cane
fields of the West Indies Of rats. In
1872 4 Mr.. ESpent introduced nine Of the
animals. four males and five females into
Jamaica for this purpose. They IN
creased with sub startling rapidity that
in i>g0 a government commission en-
lcaS al Ia find some way of eNtermin-
ating the pests. Evidence collected nj
that time showed that the harm the crca-
lures did far outwcighed any benefits to
the sugar and coffee plantations In
the meantime attempts had been made to
introduce the mongooSc into Hawaii hut
fortunately they were not - successful.
Still another instance If the ease with
which experiments Of this kind run away
with the cNperimcnterS IL the Australian
rabbit. Rabbits were originally brought
to Australia Ia provide sport for the
early settlers. Ii proved expensive sport.
Millions of dollars SAYS a report
report II the Department of Agriculture.
have been spent for bountie>. poisons
and various other methods of destruction:
thousands of miles # rabbit proof fence
have been built. and hundreds Of
schemes for destroying the animals have
been suggested. but nothing has Vet been
found that will cffectually exterminate
the pest.