§ 34. Lieut.-Colonel HENEAGEasked the Minister of Agriculture which are the catchment areas in which the musk rat has been found; and whether the catchment area authorities or the internal drainage boards are responsible for instituting preventive measures?
§ The MINISTER of AGRICULTURE (Major Elliot)The presence of musk rats at large has been established in three catchment areas, namely, the Severn, the Aran, and the Thames above Teddington Lock, and local authorities are collaborat- 515 ing with the Ministry in the trapping operations which are in progress there. While there is no specific statutory obligation on catchment and internal drainage boards to take preventive measures in respect of musk rats, both sets of authorities are obviously concerned to do all they can to protect their systems from possible damage, and to this end they have been advised by the Ministry what action to take if the presence of musk rats is detected. I may perhaps add that last year a musk rate was killed in the Great Ouse area and one in the Medway area, but there have been no subsequent reports of musk rats in either of these areas.