Letters of the week

Destructive species

David Field Rotorua

IN RECENT years I have rarely agreed with Alan Emerson as he doggedly defended farmers and castigated environmentalists for daring to criticise farming practices. However, I totally agree with him on his views about cats, “Hunting feral cats and herding daft opinions” (May 1).

Cats are killers, whether feral or domestic.

I have a background in science, forestry, conservation and now farming, and have a very good idea about native and exotic plants and animals. For many years I have used some Department of Conservation mustelid traps to catch pests, with processed rabbit bait as a lure. I have caught heaps of rats, stoats, hedgehogs, a feral cat and even a little rabbit!

I understand the Rotherham school project in terms of the cat-kill competition but agree with Alan that an appeal for donations would now be a more acceptable approach.

I have just bought the book Footprints on the Land – How humans changed New Zealand, by Richard Wolfe. It is a well-researched, clear but grim account of how both Māori and non-Māori settlers destroyed our native forests, wetlands, river systems, other native flora and especially fauna.