Birds and Rabbits
The birds of Skokholm, as well as any would-be farmer there, are deleteriously affected by the immense population of rabbits. The animals themselves often suffer much from starvation and the various diseases that ensue. A promising experiment in their extermination has at last been undertaken, and already promises a final if remote success. The number has been immensely reduced by the use of gas. Of course, as always, " they love not poison who do poison need," but this gas is as humane a method as can be found, and is indeed encouraged by the best of the animal weJfare humanitarian societies. All along the West side of England, Wales and Scotland, acre after acre, could be restored to fertility if the rabbits and the bracken that conceals them, could be reduced. It may be that the experiments at Skokholm, which is becom- ing much more than a bird ..sanctuary, may prove a most informative and stimulating example. The resources of the
research workers are meagre, and it would be well worth the while of a government department or of a chemical trust to father the experiments. A smallish island, well defined and protected by breadths of sea, is an ideal place for such trials. Birds and butterflies may migrate there, but hardly land mammals or seeds or spores.
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