ANIMAL SANCTUARIES 107 



attending the suppression of these rodents may be 

 gathered by stating that they have even learned 

 to climb over the wire netting which, in some 

 districts, has been placed across their path in an 

 endeavour to stop them from spreading further 

 afield ; while, moreover, the experiment which was 

 tried of introducing weasels, stoats, and mongooses 

 amidst their haunts, in the hope that they would 

 prey upon the rabbits, has only made matters 

 worse, for the alien carnivora have since shown a 

 decided preference for dining upon such fare as 

 domestic ducks, fowls, geese, etc. We are also told 

 that, in New Zealand, the rabbits have become so 

 abundant in certain parts that the colonists are 

 faced with the probability of having to vacate 

 their homesteads owing to their inability to suppress 

 the increase of the rodents. 



It will therefore be seen that in our endeavours 

 to conserve animal life we must be careful not to 

 encourage the multiplication of one species to the 

 detriment of others, or to introduce wild creatures 

 into new pastures where they can multiply un- 

 checked ; but apart from such considerations, any 

 protection that we may be able to afford them is 

 only their just due and a slight atonement for the 

 merciless treatment which human beings have 

 meted out to them in the past. 



There are several ways by which civilised man 

 now gives his protection to animals, and many 

 laws have been passed to establish a ' close time ' 

 during which certain kinds may not be molested 

 or shot, and, in the case of birds, making it an 



