Mixy Rabbits?

[rancid badger]

A local farmer and friend of mine has had a lot of mixy rabbits on his land lately, there are quite a few bumbling about and J's popped a few to put them out of their misery.

The question is: Are the corpses safe to be left out for our,recently introduced, Red Kite population to feed on?

We have been collecting everything we can find up to now and burying them but have been wondering about the ones we never saw and crawled off into the middle of meadows and such like.

Kind regards
R.B.

 

[BushTucker]

Are you talking mixamitosis, sorry for spelling. On Portland close to me there is a big problem with this disease and all corpses are burned. I have had baby rabbits walk past me not knowing i was there, bad disease.

 

[Karr]

Yes they are safe to leave. They will soon be scavanged.Once the rabbit has died the flea vacates.

And i believe, the more you disturb the Coney, in a mixy area, the more they disperse. This then increases the chance of them coming in to contact with those that are'nt infected.

Mixy has just slammed the population near me. It started on an area were they are doing a By-pass. The locals started to blam the road workers, for introducing the mixy.
In short, i think they did, but accidently. While talking to one of the workers, he commented how gutted he was, for he and four others loved to hunt for the pot. And could'nt believe their luck, for the site was teaming with Coney. Couple of weeks later mixy
hit hard.
They had come down from Wolverhampton?, and mixy was rife. They think they may have brought the flea down in their Vehicle, hunting equip ect. And i think they are probably right.


Regards Sparrow.

 

[Hunter_zero]

The question is: Are the corpses safe to be left out for our,recently introduced, Red Kite population to feed on?

Kind regards
R.B.

The disease vector is biting insects. Fleas are the main vector in UK rabbits but mosquitos will spread the disease in many other countries.
The Rabbit flea has a close relationship with the rabbits breeding cycle. For the flea to breed, the doe rabbits must also be breeding.
The disease will not effect birds or other UK mammals for that matter. In fact the rabbits would be safe to eat, if you could stomach such a sight.
Foxes will clear up more than the raptors.

John

 

[woodchips]

So if I stumble across an infected rabbit should it be put out of its misery or are they best left to die on their own - are they in huge amounts of pain? Its not something I would take lightly so I would only want to do it if it is realy worth it for the rabbit.

 

[Hunter_zero]

So if I stumble across an infected rabbit should it be put out of its misery or are they best left to die on their own - are they in huge amounts of pain? Its not something I would take lightly so I would only want to do it if it is realy worth it for the rabbit.

Most of the rabbits you see will die in a few days. Some of the rabbits you see will not and will carry the anti-bodies for the virus, which one day will be passed on to their young and eventually will lead to immunity. You need to draw your own conclusions. I would like to say that nature has it all in hand, but alas that's not really the case. Foxes, raptors, badgers, cats and all sorts of other predators will soon mop up the dead and dieing, that you can be sure of.

John

 

[commandocal]

Is this the disease where the head explodes to a big size and goes all pink? Ive seen them about, how about eating one after well cooked? Dangerous?...Shouldnt think so since its a skin disease right and the meat will/mayb be ok?

 

[Hunter_zero]

Is this the disease where the head explodes to a big size and goes all pink? Ive seen them about, how about eating one after well cooked? Dangerous?...Shouldnt think so since its a skin disease right and the meat will/mayb be ok?

A rabbit with myxomatosis is perfectly edible and safe to eat, if you can stomach it. The virus is better described as a rabbit "pox".

John

 

[commandocal]

Well i have been looking at the poor buggers, apparently its just a skin condition? except for flaming of the head which i would not eat,nor would i munch on the skin, Could i stomach it? - is the meat tainted -taste diffrent after they have had mixy ? - if its safe to eat i will rather eat those poor things than set snares up

 

[sharp88]

Do birds of prey feed on carrion?

 

[woodstock]

Here is a link http://www.isabellevets.co.uk/health_advice/rabbit/info/myxomatosis.htm saying that most links said that it somehow got into britain accidentally as far i know it came from Portland down to control the rabbit population in the 50s

 

[British Red]

Do birds of prey feed on carrion?

Not exclusively in this country but both buzzards and kites for example will happily take carrion as well as live prey

Red

 

[Hunter_zero]

Well i have been looking at the poor buggers, apparently its just a skin condition? except for flaming of the head which i would not eat,nor would i munch on the skin, Could i stomach it? - is the meat tainted -taste diffrent after they have had mixy ? - if its safe to eat i will rather eat those poor things than set snares up

I for one could not stomach a diseased rabbit but on the other hand I don't eat much rabbit these days, not for a while to be honest.
I shoot literally hundreds in a season, the meat is used for the dogs and ferrets.
A good few years back I always used to eat rabbit. Stews, burgers, pies, cream of rabbit on mash, all sorts but I guess there is only so much rabbit that can be eaten. Now the rabbit meat is replaced with venison.

John

 

[nobby]

They had come down from Wolverhampton?, and mixy was rife.
Regards Sparrow.

I saw a rabbit that I thought had mixy by Clent only last week. So, I guess it is back again around here.

 

[Silverback]

For those contemplating the consumtion of myxi rabbits also bear in mind that the joints very often become severely inflamed and are full of poison (pus) which when cut will spray like a hypodermic. Also an afflicted rabbit will very quickly lose weight and condition due to its decreased ability to seek out decent grazing and will therefore be very lean with the flesh taking on a pale greyish palour. I believe the increased sightings of myxi afflicted rabbits is as a result of a seemingly countrywide increase in rabbit populations this year and some of you may remember that I said I shoot approximately 1000 a year (for the last 7 years) - it is now mid September and we are currently up to 976 with another 14 weeks to go with a concerted effort I expect to hit the 1000 mark this coming Wednesday!

 

[Aaron]

Not if the shooting is as poor as last wednesday Dave I reckon I was a jinx - and I missed.

 

[Silverback]

Not if the shooting is as poor as last wednesday Dave I reckon I was a jinx - and I missed.

There is no shame in missing mate it would be absolutely no fun if we hit everything we ever shot at although that should obviously always be the intention Presenting someone with a half lamp lit rabbit at 70 yds when they havent shot a rifle for some time in daylight let alone nightime is stacking the odds somewhat especially with a hairy gorilla breathing down your neck as well As for jinx it was an incredibly still night and my experience has shown that the pickings are always sparse on such evenings

 

[Hunter_zero]

There is no shame in missing mate it would be absolutely no fun if we hit everything we ever shot at although that should obviously always be the intention Presenting someone with a half lamp lit rabbit at 70 yds when they havent shot a rifle for some time in daylight let alone nightime is stacking the odds somewhat especially with a hairy gorilla breathing down your neck as well As for jinx it was an incredibly still night and my experience has shown that the pickings are always sparse on such evenings

Still nights are not so good for lamping.
Had first nights lamping for this season on Friday last, shot 86 rabbits, all myxi free. Now we have had a bit of rain, things will be less brittle under foot. Plenty of foxes this year and squirrels.

John

 

[Yellow Wood]

A rabbit with myxomatosis is perfectly edible and safe to eat, if you can stomach it. The virus is better described as a rabbit "pox".

John

I've carved open a few mixy rabbits as they are so easy to stalk (no real test of manhood), and they look meaty on the outside...but its all swollen intestines with absolutely no breast meat...the rear legs are all that have meat on them, each probably equivalent to one snail, so I wouldn't bother

 

[Hunter_zero]

I've carved open a few mixy rabbits as they are so easy to stalk (no real test of manhood), and they look meaty on the outside...but its all swollen intestines with absolutely no breast meat...the rear legs are all that have meat on them, each probably equivalent to one snail, so I wouldn't bother

Frankly, the puss, smell and look of the rabbit would make me chuck, so I certainly wouldn't bother. as I did point, I don't really bother eating rabbits at the best of times.

If you can find breast meat on a healthy bunny, you'll be dreaming.

John