The Kea: a New Zealand problem/Chapter 11
CHAPTER XI.
THE DAMAGE DONE.
Ay! In this realm of seeming rest
What sights you meet and sounds of dread!
—Alfred Domett.
It is no wonder that in the early days people came to look upon the Kea as a terrible menace to the sheep-farming industry of New Zealand, for some of the stories told and published about its depredations are enough to stop any sheep farmer from settling in the country.
Not only did the man on the sheep station put down most of the annual loss among the flocks to the unfortunate bird, but several standard books published such exaggerated and false stories that one can only wonder how they were ever credited.
Unfortunately, these idle tales are still believed, and are quoted in other parts of the world against the Kea.
Here are some of the worst.
The late Mr. Potts, in his book “Out in the Open,” says:—“On one outlying portion of a lake run the birds were so destructive that, although there were 30,000 acres of good grass land, the occupiers decided not to place stock upon it; the losses had been so great that it was found better to abandon the country.”
The late Sir W. Buller, in his “History of New Zealand Birds,” says:—“In some parts of the country the Kea menace has risen to such a pitch that the run-holders have been fairly driven off the country.”
He also publishes the following newspaper report:—“Mr. D. A. Cameron, one of our oldest run-holders in the Lake Country, Otago, is throwing up his run at the Nokomai, through the Keas, which, if not more numerous, are according to report becoming greater adepts at the destruction of sheep.”
From these reports one can naturally fill in the sad details. One can see vast stretches of good sheep country
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Kea Country: Clinton River and Mt. Mackenzie.
left to the ravages of the hare and the north-wester; and, where flocks of sheep once fed and flourished, a great loneliness reigns.
In the valleys the empty homesteads and the lonely back huts show how far man once penetrated into the fastnesses, ere the flying terror, decimating his flocks, drove him with the remnants of his fortune from that plague-infested region.
Such would be the idea given to the reader from perusing these accounts; yet, when we look into the question, nine-tenths of the stories seem to be absolutely false. At any rate, not a piece of evidence can be found to-day in support of these wild tales.
In order to test for myself the truth of these statements made by early writers, I asked for information through the newspapers that circulate in the very country mentioned by them.
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Kea Country: Lake Ada, Arthur Valley, near Milford Sound.
By this method, and by writing personally, the following replies have been received:—
Mr. W. E. Stevens, M.R.C.S., F.R.C.P., Kurow, says:—“I know nothing about the throwing up of the Nokomai run through the depredations of the Kea in 1880, or of any runs about the cold lakes district.”
Mr. W. Robinson says:—“I have to inform you that Mr. D. A. Cameron is still the lessee of the run in question, and whilst writing I can see his stock from my window.”
Mr. Alex. Elliott, from Kinloch Bay, Elgin, adds his testimony, saying:—“I am sure that Mr. Buller made a great mistake when stating that Mr. D. A. Cameron of the Nokomai surrendered his run through the Keas. I know the Nokomai very well, and also Mr. Cameron, and can safely say that the Kea was never any trouble there.”
Finally, in order to satisfy myself thoroughly, I wrote to Mr. D. A. Cameron himself and received the following reply:—
Nokomai,
24th June, 1907.
“Dear Sir,
My son Alec has handed me your letter of the 19th inst., re “Kea.” There is no truth in the statement that I ever intended to give up my run owing to excessive damage done by Keas. Many years ago we had a few here, but they did not do much damage to the sheep; but on the Closeburn run on Lake Wakatipu they were very troublesome. I have been informed that the Lake County paid 2s. 6d. each when they were at their worst, in order to destroy them. Of late years they have not been troublesome on that run either. I have no idea where Mr. Buller and the papers got their information.
Yours truly,
(Signed) D. A. CAMERON.
Apart from these erroneous published reports it is almost impossible to get any true estimate of the annual losses, owing to the nature of the country and the uncertainty of the reports sent in.
The country is so vast and mountainous, and the sheep are only mustered at such long intervals, that when the annual loss is estimated it is impossible to know what percentage must be debited against the Kea.
There is always a large annual loss due to roughness of the country, this causing many sheep to be killed by their falling over cliffs or being buried in the snow.
The damage done by the nefarious birds is sometimes very serious, and often large numbers of dead sheep, showing the Kea sear, testify to the seriousness of the menace. However, very rash statements are made by many writers and musterers, and it is never clear whether the percentage is on one flock, one run, or the whole Kea-infested country.
Again, one is never certain whether the killing was continued throughout the year or confined to one occasion only;
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Kea Country: Clinton Valley, looking down from McKinnon Pass.
and consequently many erroneous and often exaggerated statistics have been quoted from time to time.
If the Kea killed sheep all through the year at the rate that it does on certain occasions, or if the Keas in all parts of the Kea country were equally troublesome, then the loss would be so severe that sheep-owners would be afraid of stocking that part of the country with sheep.
Fortunately, however, this is not the case, for the Keas seem to kill at uncertain intervals; and, after a big slaughter of the sheep, weeks and months may pass before they again begin their depredations.
Yet again, they usually confine their attacks to certain localities, and when the birds there are shot the killing may cease for years, if not altogether. Some shepherds put the annual loss in the Kea country at 30 or 40 per cent., but from what I can ascertain this is an exaggeration, for, if this percentage were killed annually, there would soon be no sheep left in the Kea-infested area.
Sometimes, at special places, the killing may be so severe that it becomes a very serious menace to the sheep-farmers, as can be seen from the following instances.
A musterer writes:—“I put a mob of sheep off the flat on to the hills at Makaroa Station, and, on going up the spur two days afterwards to where the sheep had encamped, I found six dead.”
Another gives the following:—“On the Minarets Station, I remember a mob of almost 1300 hoggets being put on a spur, and we only mustered 700 off it. The Keas no doubt were responsible for a large number of them.”
Three more must suffice.
“One year I had a bad muster; 400 woolly sheep came in at the beginning of winter when the snow fell and the sheep could not get away. I placed them, as I thought, in a safe position, on the hillside quite close to where I lived. In spring, when I went to have a look at them, the Keas had killed about 200 of them.”
A shepherd, on going to his flock, which he had left the night before, says: “I shot nineteen Keas, and on looking round I found that they had killed 38 sheep during the night. Most of them that I found were warm and in splendid condition. The flock consisted of 1600 sheep, and during the winter the Keas killed 300 out of that number, and, as there were a good many birds about, we shifted the sheep.”
A run-holder wrote to me, in 1907:—“No later than last week we came on 60 valuable ewes killed by them. One of my shepherds, Watherston, who has communicated with you on this subject, came on eight Keas killing a ewe. The ewe was still living, and the lamb was torn out through her ribs. He succeeded in shooting all the birds.”
There seems very little doubt that in many instances the birds must kill either for sport or in order to have a number of dead sheep to feed on for some time, for often many are killed and are left almost untouched.
It seems as if the birds get a murderous frenzy, and do a lot of damage before their thirst for slaughter is satiated.
Reckoning over the whole Kea country, I am certain that 5 per cent. of the flocks would well cover the annual loss due to Keas. Of course, in some runs at certain times this number is very much exceeded; but, taking the evidence from all sides, I think that this percentage is near the mark.