110 WILD I. II I- IN M:\\ KK.U.AXD. 



wa.v warm; tliis wa> probably due to their havinir lost their usual 

 season of hibernation; Others were probablv imported later, for 

 in l^'.H) hedrehou r s were found near Port Chalmers. 



In IS!)4 tlir late Mr. Pftt>r Cunningham, of Merivale. Christ - 

 chureh. sent a consignment of wekas Home, and ^ot twelve lu-d^r 

 IIOLTS out in i-xclianiri'. Tlu-y \vi-ri- placed in a pigeon-house, hut jzot 

 out under the \\ire in-iiiii and escaped. Kor years nothini: \\a> 

 heard of them, hut they gradually increased and are now extra 

 ordinarily abundant. Mr. Kd;_rar lv Stead, of Kin-arton. \\i i itinL r 

 in March. lOlG. says. ''If 1 hunted through my 'jai'ilen with my 

 doL! I could <jet a do/en now. and I frequently kill them. They 

 are extraordinarily destructive' to chickens, their depredations 

 beitiL! readily identified by the fact that they eat their victim^ 

 stomach tirst, whereas a cat eats the breast fir>t. and rats and 

 weasels ir<> for the head and neck. Once a hed.ireho^ starts eating 

 chickens he will <ro on until caught or the supply runs out. I know 

 of many eases where a trap set and baited with the remains of a 

 chicken has caught the marauding hedp'hoLr." 



These animals are now very abundant between Christehureli ami 

 Dunedin. Two pairs were introduced into the gardens at New 

 Plvniouth in 1 !)!.'). and they are now increasing rapidly in 

 Taranaki. 



Old superstitions and beliefs are difficult to eradicate. Amoni: 

 my correspondents, one who hails (over forty vears ai/o) from 

 Surrey. Kn.i_ r laml. is a firm believer in the myth that hedL r ehoL r > 

 visit the cows lurinr the ni.irlit and suck their milk: and he warns 

 me thai the milking-qualities of cows are frequently destroyed by 

 them. I can find m> satisfactory evidence of this. 



