2. “On Rabbit-disease in the South Wairarapa,” by Coleman Phillips. (Transactions, p. 308)

The President, in inviting discussion, remarked that he did not understand why the author should complain of it as selfish to make use of the rabbit-proof fence if it formed a protection against the pest. He would like also to know what Mr. Phillips meant by a “minimum-of-safety stage.”

Mr. Travers said that the spread of the disease referred to could only be successful when a proper “host” was provided. He favoured the introduction of the natural enemy; but the ferret was not well understood—it was a delicate creature, and numbers died in the winter from cold. Proper breeding-establishments should be erected, and this would be better than importing the animals.

Sir James Hector said, as he had been referred to by the author of the paper, he ventured to express an opinion that the only effectual way of dealing with the rabbit-plague was by following Nature; but he had not much faith in some so-called natural enemies, unless it could be shown that they would be able to destroy by communicating disease. Many years ago he had called the attention of Government to the sudden and periodical disappearance of rabbits from the north-west territory of Canada, speaking from his own experience. Government had obtained ample evidence confirming this important fact, but up to the present time the nature of the disease had not been ascertained. It was evidently related in some way to the carnivorous animals that prey on the rabbits. His own recollection of the symptoms favoured the idea that it in some way resulted from the direct or indirect action of Entozoa. He had therefore suggested that the bladder-worm and liver-fluke of the rabbit might be a modified form of the same disease. It was certainly not the same so far as its virulence went; but the question was, whether these bladder-worms might not under peculiar conditions become the carriers of microbes that set up a more active specific disease, either like chicken-cholera, or perhaps a putrid fever which becomes contagious. Anyhow, it was not enough merely to say what this disease was not. The great importance of the subject to these colonies required that the nature and cause of this disease should be found out; and unless good reason could be shown that it would endanger other forms of life, of which there was no evidence as yet, then let it be introduced; and, if it worked as the speaker had seen it do in Western Canada, the difficulty would be at an end. Perhaps it might be done by bringing some of the rabbits from the affected districts and turning them out here. It was obvious that any cause that would prevent the does from breeding was what must be aimed at. Speaking of the various natural enemies. Sir James said he had some years ago suggested that the black ferret of the American prairies should be introduced, as it was a fierce hunter, and, being a perfectly wild animal, would probably be more hardy than the English ferret.

Mr. Field said,—I have listened with great pleasure to Mr. Phillips's paper and Sir James Hector's remarks, because they seem to me to throw light on what has long been a great puzzle to myself and others—viz., the reason why rabbits will not thrive between the Tararua Range and New Plymouth, nor, apparently, from there northward. They have been repeatedly turned loose, but have never become troublesome, and generally have died out in a few years without apparent cause. I may mention the following cases within my own knowledge: I first saw rabbits running wild in New Zealand at Taranaki, in September, 1851. There were then a good many near the Grey Institution, and thence to Omata. I learned, in 1886, that they had been extinct there so long that only a few old settlers seemed to recollect them. I saw many rabbits a few weeks later between the Manawatu and Rangitikei Rivers, where they had been

turned out by Dr. Best, who had occupied a run there. There are still a few in that locality, near Carnarvon—about one to the hundred acres. A year or two ago they seemed to be increasing on the Oroua Downs run, and the manager employed men to destroy them, and killed off several hundreds. I next saw rabbits towards the end of 1851, about the head of the Wanganui Racecourse, and thence to Kai-iwi. There were large numbers of them, the country being sandy fern-hills, and flats of manuka scrub and toetoe. A few years later they disappeared, and there have been none there for at least twenty years. From 1852 to 1854 I was often along the coast between Wanganui and New Plymouth, and saw rabbits near almost every pa, the Maoris having liberated them. At Nukumaru. where at that time I have shot four or five couple in an afternoon, there are still a few, which sometimes increase for a year or two, and then die off again; and a local paper mentioned several years back that the Sheep Inspector had ridden into Hawera, much excited at having seen a rabbit by the roadside. This was in a place where in 1853 they might have been counted by hundreds. About 1855 rabbits were turned out at Goat Valley, near Wanganui, and spread rapidly. The soil was sandy loam, covered with fern, and with patches of scrubby bush at the heads of blind gullies, of which they took possession. Several years later a settler who lived two miles off went to England, and on his return brought out two Skye terriers. Soon afterwards the rabbits disappeared, and these dogs got the credit of having killed them all. They may have killed some close at home, but were not likely to do so several miles off. From 1860 to 1865 there were large numbers of rabbits along the coast-country between the Wanganui and Wangaehu Rivers, and the Wanganui lads used often to get a fair bag of them on a Saturday afternoon. When surveying there in 1880 I saw two rabbits in four days; and I do not think there are even so many now. About 1858 rabbits were turned loose between Turakina and Marton, and increased for a time; now, I learn that only an occasional one is seen. In all these cases the rabbits turned out were tame ones, and it was thought that perhaps they were too delicate to live wild. About 1855, however, the late Major Nixon returned from Nelson to Wanganui, and shortly afterwards he got some wild rabbits from Nelson, and turned them loose on his land opposite the town. The place seemed made for rabbits—pumice soil, with large areas covered with furze and high manuka scrub. By 1862 they had spread to a distance of two or three miles, and were in considerable numbers; but a year or two later they disappeared as if by magic, and I have not seen or heard of any there since. About 1865 the Wanganui Acclimatization Society took some trouble to get wild rabbits from Canterbury, and turned them out near my own house. The conditions—pumice soil overgrown with furze and manuka scrub—seemed to suit them exactly; and they increased so rapidly as to threaten to become a nuisance. I saw many in my paddock, and shot several in my garden. They held their ground for perhaps ten years, and then died out. The conditions are unchanged, yet I have not seen or heard of a rabbit thereabouts for certainly five years. About twelve years ago I went to Palmerston North, and found the people there rather excited at rabbits having appeared at Fitzherbert. They were supposed to have crossed the range from the Wairarapa side. Several years later I inquired about them, and learned that they were seen for a time and then disappeared. When in Auckland in 1886 I saw rabbits running loose in a friend's paddock, and on my remarking the fact my friend said that they did no harm in that part—that they had been repeatedly turned out, and always died off after a short time. It seems to me that it might be worth while to try and find out what kills the rabbits over so large a portion of this island, and endeavour to introduce it elsewhere. It would be far better than introducing ferrets and weasels, which will kill the poultry and game as well as the rabbits. But rabbits are not the only things that

die off in our part. Rats are a great pest; the bush swarms with them. Pigs, too, are fairly numerous, and form an important article of food to survey- and road-parties, bush-fellers, and others. Every few years, however, one sees dead rats and pigs lying about in considerable numbers; and the rest are scarcely able to crawl about, and fall away to skin and bone. In these seasons a wild pig fit to eat cannot be found. The rats seem to be first attacked. About November dead ones are seen lying about, and soon afterwards there are dead pigs also. I have thought the pigs perhaps get infected through eating the dead rats. The disease lasts all through the summer; but the animals which survive till April or May seem to recover. As I learned that the subject of rabbits was to be discussed to-night, I thought it might be well to mention what I have now said, as it may lead to inquiry, and so to some simple means being found of keeping down these animals.

Mr. C. Pharazyn admitted that the disease mentioned by Mr. Phillips carried off a certain number of rabbits; but said that by the aid of ferrets and other natural enemies he had got rid of the pest on his property. At one time a man could go out on the land and get eighty rabbits a day, but now it would be difficult to kill three per diem; and all this had been done at a cost of not more than £100. He firmly believed in the natural enemies, because a flesh-eating animal was required to destroy one which subsisted on grass and other green stuff. Millions of pounds were being lost through the rabbits, and yet Government took no effective means to eradicate the pest. He suggested that Government should place the matter of rabbit-extermination in the hands of some scientific men.

Mr. C. Hulke confirmed Mr. Field's statement regarding the disappearance of the rabbits from the district round about Wanganui.

Sir James Hector thought it was possible the wild native dogs might have had something to do with the disappearance of rabbits in the district mentioned by Messrs. Field and Hulke. European dogs, when ill, relieved themselves by eating grass and herbs; but it was possible the wild dogs did not do this, and that the diseases from which they suffered were caught by the rabbits, who died in consequence.

Mr. Field explained that the pure native dog had disappeared long ago. The wild dogs of the present day were animals which were a cross between the Maori and the European dog.

The Hon. R. Pharazyn pointed out that there had been a mysterious disappearance of rabbits from the Waitotara district. This had been attributed to wet seasons; but he was unable to say whether the wet weather had anything to do with the diminution of the pest.

Mr. W. H. Beetham, at the invitation of the Chairman (though not a member of the Society), made some remarks on the subject, and said he also favoured the introduction of the natural enemies, as he looked upon poisoning and trapping as much too costly. He attributed the great decrease of rabbits in the South Wairarapa to the introduction of ferrets. stoats, and weasels. The loss in the Wairarapa through the rabbit-pest was something enormous, the cost of poisoning on his station in six weeks amounting to £800. He was afraid that, unless effective means were taken to eradicate the plague, many property-owners would be ruined.

Mr. Coleman Phillips, in reply to the President, said that the expression used by him, “minimum-of-safety stage,” meant that stage beyond which the rabbits could not be reduced. With regard to what had fallen from Mr. Travers respecting the delicacy of the ferret, he would say that the ferret had increased in the Wairarapa, notwithstanding its delicacy; but he would advise runholders to build little inexpensive earth homes, and cover them with scrub, in different parts of their runs, as a protection to ferrets, stoats, and weasels. In answer to Sir James Hector, Mr. Phillips asked him to qualify his statement “that he had not much faith