CARNIVORA 89 



Hardly two men will agree as to the cause of the decline in the numbers 

 of rabbits, and I will just state my theory for what it is worth. The grey 

 rabbit, when first introduced, found himself in very congenial surroundings. 

 There was abundance of food and shelter, and the ground was absolutely 

 clean, never having been grazed by rabbits previously. These favourable 

 conditions gave a tremendous filip to the vitality of the rabbits and stimu- 

 lated their powers of reproduction. They increased at a rate that I believe 

 is not even approached in the worst infested parts of Otago to-day. No 

 efforts at checking them had the slightest effect, and they passed over the 

 country like a prairie fire. After a time the original conditions no longer 

 existed. Food became scarce, the land was foul with rabbits, disease 

 appeared among them, and their fertility decreased. No doubt improved 

 methods of dealing with them hastened their reduction, but I firmly 

 believe that the principal factor in their decrease was lessened fertility, 

 due to the first great spurt to their vitality having spent itself. The decrease 

 first became apparent in the colder and wetter parts of the country. The 

 rabbits abandoned large areas and became concentrated in warm sunny 

 spots. Even in these spots their numbers declined, and from many of 

 them disappeared altogether. In the dry country which is more congenial 

 to rabbits, fertility is still maintained, and may possibly be permanent. 

 The rocky hills round Alexandra may be taken as ideal country for rabbits, 

 and probably this area has suffered more from them than any other part 

 of New Zealand. All known methods of rabbit destruction have had an 

 exhaustive trial there, and have not succeeded. It would seem that in this 

 favourable spot the vitality of the rabbit is not greatly impaired. It would 

 be interesting to try if rabbits could be re-introduced into country where 

 they once swarmed, but which they have subsequently abandoned. I believe 

 that such an attempt would fail. 



Opinions different to mine are very widely held. Most men claim the 

 credit of having themselves cleared their ground of rabbits, and the official 

 Rabbit Department staff possibly take the credit to themselves. I should 

 like to believe that to me belonged the credit of having cleared my own 

 place, but my experience leads me to believe that my efforts had little to 

 do with it. 



It must not be assumed that every one regards the rabbit as a nuisance. 

 Many a successful farmer of to-day got a start as a rabbiter. The killing 

 of rabbits actually became one of the principal industries of the province. 

 Their presence directly led to the subdivision of large estates, and may have 

 been quite as effective in this direction as all the legislation on the subject. 



The introduction of rabbits had a lasting effect on acclimatisation 

 generally. Before their advent partridges and pheasants had become 

 numerous, but they have entirely disappeared in Otago. In the effort 

 to cope with the rabbits, the country was annually sown with poisoned 

 grain. This had a disastrous effect both on native and imported game. 

 Had rabbits not become a nuisance, it is unlikely that weasels and 

 other vermin would have been introduced. These animals are largely 

 responsible for the decrease in the numbers of native birds, and also 

 make the successful introduction of new varieties more difficult. 



