Rabbit , Rabbit, Rabbit

[GlenM]

Iv'e been a keen hunter for nearly 10 years now, and the main problem has

always been finding good places to shoot. Permission to shoot on other peoples

land was always challenging, untill now!

This past month my shooting buddies and i have been bombarded with almost

desperate land owners, pleading us to rid them of there spiraling rabbit

population. Is this only a problem in Cornwall , or is anyone else experiencing the

same? I'm not complaining , its just unusual and i dont understand why this year

is different.

 

[ArkAngel]

No it's not just you....

....since i stopped shooting on the farm where i live there has been an explosion in the rabbit population. There are little brown furry things everywhere, they don't even seem to be bothered too much by human presence.

They have obviously been at it like..eerrrr.....rabbits

My uncle who does a lot of ferreting has been kept busy in the area too. He has noticed that since the winters have not been very cold there is no "off" season for breeding. There have been baby bunnies shooting through his nets all winter.

There have been a fair few myxie rabbits as well though. I wonder if this will be a bad year to compensate for the increased population

 

[Tantalus]

Rabbits funnily dont have off season for breeding .

The females will reabsorb the little ones if food is scarce though.

One of the few animals that does this.

I think myxie might also be a part of it , it comes in waves, and spreads better - yeah wrong word worse - in dense populations.

Once won 3 rabbits in a tombola and when I told my mother in law she immediately asked "What are you going to do with them ?

"Keep them well apart" was my answer

Tant

 

[davef]

tons of the little 'darlings' around us and the does were noticably pregnant much earlier this year. Lots of 'glove puppets' and 'finger puppets' about during the day.
I think I'm going to run out of .22 ammo b4 long!

 

[locum76]

this is one good reason to own a cat!

 

[Cormac]

this is one good reason to own a cat!

elaborate?

 

[fred gordon]

Two nights ago I counted the rabbits in the field across from my house (I know I should get out more), the total was 75! There is a real explosion of the little furry things here in Scotland too. I'm sure that in the next year or two there will be a call for another extermination programme like the Mixoma visus in the 50's. They must consume a fantastic amount of our resourses. Anyone got any ideas of how we get the numbers down?

 

[SteveW]

Iv'e been a keen hunter for nearly 10 years now, and the main problem has

always been finding good places to shoot. Permission to shoot on other peoples

land was always challenging, untill now!

This past month my shooting buddies and i have been bombarded with almost

desperate land owners, pleading us to rid them of there spiraling rabbit

population. Is this only a problem in Cornwall , or is anyone else experiencing the

same? I'm not complaining , its just unusual and i dont understand why this year

is different.

Well if it gets too much for you, you can always send a few farmers my way……

 

[Silverback]

On the land I shoot over I have consistently taken around a thousand each year for the past 8 years which is with a concerted effort averaging two outings a week 52 weeks a year and out in all weather. I take about 100 foxes from the same ground as well. I am slightly up on numbers this year having attained more ground but otherwise no different. I think the key word here is consistency - if you are getting out there regularly rabbits can at best be 'managed' with a rifle and I do tend to leave an acceptable 'core' population in pockets to preserve my sport

 

[spamel]

A small group f youngones has cropped up on my permission, so they are starting to up the stakes a bit in the rabbit v sheep stakes! Apparently, 4 rabbits eat as much grass as 1 sheep.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I haven't been able to get any shooting locally in the last 6 years. I wonder if it is worth starting doing the rounds of farms again.

It was kind of depressing the last time.

 

[locum76]

elaborate?

we have a cat. it eats all the rabbits to beyond a safe distance of the veg patch. i DO worry about the birds, but up until now rabbits and mice have been her game.

If I see her with 1 songbird she's getting a collar with a bell.

 

[decorum]

We used to have a problem with local cats' attitude to our garden. We found, to our surprise and mild amusement, that our dogs are scared of Felix, Arthur & Co.
So, what's the connection to this thread? Simple - we have two female rabbits that dominate EVERYTHING that gets too close or is a slower runner (which is pretty much everything except time). The reason other creatures are wary - rabbits bite HARD. The reason I know is because I've been bitten for getting in the way, not getting out of the way and also for not doing as one or the other wants! No healthy animals' urine should smell like this or comes in colours that makes you do this :yikes:
They do, however, make good compost - you know what I mean! :BlueTeamE