DANC4ER OF INTRODUCING NOXIOUS ANIMALS AND BIRDS. 93 



hemisphere it occurs at Punta Arenas, Patagonia, and is common in 

 such out-of-the-way places as Gough Ishmd, in the middle of the 

 South Atlantic, and Kerguelen Island, southeast of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. In short, its distribution is apparently limited only by Ihe 

 Arctic and Antarctic circles. 



RABBITS. 



The common rabbit of Europe {Lepus cuniculus) was originally 

 introduced into Australia for purposes of sport, and the results of the 

 experiment are so well known that anything more than a brief refer- 

 ence to them is unnecessary. Suffice it to say tliat the rabbits wei-e 

 liberated near Melboui'ue about 1864, and Ijy 1878 had extended west- 

 ward over Victoria and beyond the Murraj' River. They were also 

 introduced into Tasmania and New Zealand, and spread over the 

 country like a scourge. So rapidl}^ did they multiply that in 1879 

 legislative action for their destruction was begun in South Australia, 

 and the exami^le was soon followed by New South Wales, New Zealand, 

 Queensland, and Tasmania. At the present time their range in Aus- 

 tralia is probably equal in area to that of our three largest States — 

 Texas, California, and Montana. Millions of dollars have been .spent 

 for bounties, i^oisons, and various other methods of destruction; 

 thousands of miles of rabbit-proof fences have been built, and hun- 

 dreds of schemes for destroying the animals have been suggested, but 

 nothing has yet been found that Avill effectually exterminate the pest. 

 Natural enemies, such as cats and other carnivorous animals, have 

 been introduced, and in certain parts of New Zealand at least have 

 become almost as much a pest as the I'abbits they were intended to 

 kill. In 1887 no less than 10,182,53!) rabbits were destroyed in New 

 South Wales alone, but despite the efforts of the Government and 

 private landowners the rabbits seem to be still increasing. In the 

 meantime, a gi*eat industry has grown up in the export of rabbit 

 skins. For the last five years New Zealand has been shipping an 

 average of about 15,000,000 per annum, and since 1873 has exported 

 more than 200,000,000. Recently, canning rabbit meat for export to 

 European markets is assuming larger proportions and gives promi.se 

 of developing into an important industry. 



THE MONGOOSE, 



The common mongoose of India {Herpesies mungo or H. griseus, PI. 

 VIII) is a well-known destroyer of rats, lizards, and snakes, and has 

 been introduced into Jamaica and other tropical islands for the pur- 

 pose of ridding cane fields of rats. The annual loss which the island of 

 Jamaica formerly suffered on account of the ravages of the introduced 

 black rats {Mas rdftua) and brown rats (J/, decumanus), and the 

 so-called "cane-piece rat," including the expense of destroying these 

 pests, Avas estimated at £100,000, or 8500,000. Various remedies were 



