Re: Squirrels
- Subject: Re: Squirrels
- From: T* a* M* R*
- Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2002 10:20:49 +1200
Glenn Breayley wrote:
>
> Are there any effective control measures for squirrels, that anyone is aware
> of.
Hi Glenn
I am going to be really contrary and offer sympathy without actually
being very helpful, as I was just about to write to you on another
matter.
I don't know if you are aware that the grey squirrel was already an
interloper in England before Rhodes inflicted them on Africa and Tony
says he thinks they are driven to poison them there from time to time.
In Britain alas they have largely driven out the charming but rather
shy native red, which is apparently little trouble to anybody as it
feeds almost exclusively on conifer seeds, and I gather moves have been
made in recent years to protect it or it would already be extinct..
With all the awful problems we have got landed with here by idiots with
their thoughtless introductions at least nobody brought in squirrels
thank goodness.
(But I guess this was more luck than good management). At the moment
here the latest blitz is on Wallabies, particularly those on Kawau
island (a fancy of Governor Grey when he owned the place and now a real
nuisence) and also somewhere in the South Island. The Ozzies are
apparently quite keen to repatriate at least some of them, as it is a
species now rare or extinct in its original home. I hope they manage it
as it seems a crime to just kill them off if they are actually rare and
endangered at home.
What I really wanted to raise with you was whether you have any
information on the likely lifespans of Proteas. In particular I am
seeking information on P.cynaroides.
A little over 45 years ago I raised a bush of this species from seed
(the only one I ever managed) and have enjoyed it ever since. It was
planted out on a steep rocky north-facing bank at the top of my garden
where it was surrounded by large rocks to anchor it in position and
there it has been ever since, exposed to maximum sunshine and the wild
Wellington winds. The only help it has ever received has been a _very_
occasional watering during droughts, certainly no food of any
description, having depended on whatever it could pick up from the
rotten rock of the bank.
It has always been entirely healthy, never suffering for instance the
scale problems which have from time to time afflicted other members of
the genus I have grown. It grew huge and spreading and about twenty
years ago half of the bush fell away during a storm, but it soon grew
back the lost bulk and every year delighted us with from forty to fifty
of its huge flowers.
About two years ago a decline set in and the number of flowers that
season was about half the usual. Then odd stems began to die and a lot
of new growth appeared near the bottom. Last winter we had, for us, an
unusually heavy frost
-6ºC if I remember correctly (enough to frizzle every lemon off our
Meyer tree anyway). After this the decline on the Protea became more
pronounced and when I got the man who helps me to cut away some of the
dead growth from the back he reported that all the back half was rotten.
For some time there was still new growth at the front of the bush, but
just in the last couple of weeks I see that all the remaining green
leaves are beginning to dry out and I am afraid this is undoubtedly the
end.
I am just interested to discover whether 45-46 years would be considered
a good lifespan for this species. I will now be down to a single Protea
-a very nice and well-grown bush of P aristata, which is a great deal
younger and will, I hope, be with me many years yet. It is planted on
the top of a wall just close to where my Old Faithful is doing its dying
and I am careful not to feed it either. It looks very healthy so far and
produces a good crop every year of its beautiful red flowers. When out
of flower it is very adept at mimicking a pinetree and for many years I
have had fun puzzling garden visitors as to what it might be.!
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan
Wainuiomata NZ,
where it's Summer in January and Winter in July.
