40 Australian Life 



of frozen meats have given a new lease of life to 

 the occupation of rabbit- trapping. Many millions 

 of rabbits are now annually exported from Aus- 

 tralia, and even more are poisoned for the sake of 

 their skins. Wherever there is railway commu- 

 nication, the once-despised rabbit is now regarded 

 as a source of employment and revenue. In such 

 districts, the rabbits are being kept well in check, 

 as the trappers are glad to undertake the work for 

 the value of their catch. An experienced man, 

 with a proper outfit of cart, horse, and wire-net- 

 ting traps, can make from ^3 to ^4 a week, 

 though he has to thoroughly understand his work 

 if he is to earn so much. 



The fox was introduced into Australia to make 

 war upon the rabbits, and has made himself thor- 

 oughly at home there. He prefers poultry to the 

 rabbit, and has become such a nuisance in the 

 farming districts that rewards are paid for his 

 scalp. In one district alone, over thirty thousand 

 foxes were killed in the year 1901, though these 

 animals, like the dingoes, show the greatest cun- 

 ning in avoiding poisoned baits laid for them. 

 For the scalp of a dingo, as much as twenty shil- 

 lings will be paid, and the pastoralists are glad to 

 get rid of the brutes on such terms, for their de- 

 predations at lambing time cause heavy loss wher- 

 ever they are at all plentiful. The mistaken 

 enthusiasts who introduced rabbits and foxes into 

 Australia can at least point to others as mistaken 

 as themselves. There is, for instance, the house 



