Page:The Kea, a New Zealand problem (1909).pdf/98

Rh thirty-eight wethers, most of them being quite warm and in splendid condition.”

Many more such instances could be cited, but enough has been said to show the methods and the results of the Keas’ attacks on sheep.

The greatest damage is done to the flocks in winter, when the country is snow-bound. In the mountainous regions, the sheep are usually kept down on the low



country until the mountains get a good coat of snow, for once the tops are covered there is very little danger of the sheep going far in the snow.

However, if the sheep have been allowed to remain on the tops of the ranges until the snow comes, as is sometimes the case on a big run, they gather together in a basin near the summit and are buried by the snow. It is at this time that the Kea finds them an easy prey, and many a bloody battlefield, the snow being deeply tinged with red, shows