Price for rabbit control

ezzy6.5

Well-Known Member
Hi all,
About 4 years ago i was working with a bloke who packed in to go off and run his own pest control buisness. Before he went i was talking to him and he said he wasnt going to do anything with firearms it was more about poison and prevention. we exchanged numbers and i never heard from him again. He rang me this afternoon and told me that one of his clients owns several caravan parks and a small holding. apparently he has been trying to gas the rabbits for the last year ang getting knowhere. he asked me if i would be interested in shooitng them, and of course i agreed to go and have a look. He has asked me to go next week with him and give him an idea of what i will charge. bear in mind i will be subbying for him. what sort of money would you think i should charge? there could be a fair bit of traveling involved.

Ezzy
 
A caravan park sounds like it could be a tough little number dependant on the number of occupants, people, not rabbits. It depends it you're doing it for a bit of sport or to make a days wage. If it was a local job and I knew the bloke I'd probably just go round for a couple of nights, weigh the rabbits in at the butchers the following morning, and call it quits.

DC
 
cover your costs incurred, then agree a reasonable fee, thats what a subby does, don't forget to ensure if there any damage your not liable or have sufficient insurance cover. deerwarden
 
You could look towards maybe £80.00 per day for the operator, & if you were not helping out with the stopping up & spade work, maybe another £40.00 a day for a youth on the spade. ?
 
This is not easy to sort out. There are so many factors involved. Firstly, if shooting you will have people on site who will not like it one bit! There is a lot of movement on these sites which will be a nightmare if youy travel some distance then find all the rabbits have be put in. The way I've done it in the past is out of season, long netting can work FAC air rifles, night vision etc:
Cage traps are never very satisfactory, also antis will let them out. Ferreting is probably the best if you can get to the buries.
Finally, forget the Rodenator it's illegal to use it to kill rabbits, the buries have to be cleared of living occupants first!!
As for charging, by the hour is difficult as you cannot guarantee results. What I have done on camp sites and similar is to charge per rabbit taken, £4 to £5 and you keep them. But really it depends on the circumstances and how many rabbits there are.
 
This is not easy to sort out. There are so many factors involved. Firstly, if shooting you will have people on site who will not like it one bit! There is a lot of movement on these sites which will be a nightmare if youy travel some distance then find all the rabbits have be put in. The way I've done it in the past is out of season, long netting can work FAC air rifles, night vision etc:
Cage traps are never very satisfactory, also antis will let them out. Ferreting is probably the best if you can get to the buries.
Finally, forget the Rodenator it's illegal to use it to kill rabbits, the buries have to be cleared of living occupants first!!
As for charging, by the hour is difficult as you cannot guarantee results. What I have done on camp sites and similar is to charge per rabbit taken, £4 to £5 and you keep them. But really it depends on the circumstances and how many rabbits there are.
Everyone who has a Rodenator is fully aware of the legal uses of such equipment, collapsing burrows AFTER ferreting is the full solution, as there are no homes for those left around & about to return to, proper grounds care can then be employed to monitor for any attempts to re colonise the cleared areas.:cool:
 
You are absolutely right finnbear on the correct way to use a Rodenator, however there are an increasing number of people who are using these to try to get rid of the rabbits and other underground dwellers by using the Rodenator whilst burrows are occupied. These people then advise others that this is the best way to deal with the problem. Personally, I have little time for this. This tool has a place but it is not universally successful, much depends on soil type and structure of tyhe burrows involved.
Returning to thread, I can imagine it causing a bit of a stir on a caravan site!
 
Old keeper,
'been there and done that' on a caravan site and all I can say is that it was a nightmare and more hassle than it was worth, the only way around shooting was when the site was closed for the winter, forget about using weapons once its occupied its far too risky.
All I got was abuse and complaints from the majority and as many rabbits were living under the statics they were hard to combat without the owners going ape-****.
Best of luck
 
Very hard to put a price on ur time for rabbiting when other people will do it for nothing. Plus if u are charging they then expect a proffessional standard of job done

I think everyone has commented on how hard and so many potential hazards for shooting or other 'normal rabbit control' methods.

The 1 thing not been mentioned has been fencing with drop boxes. It can be very effective althou costly to set up. I have seen some areas with massive rabbit problems solved this way. Obivously i dinae ken the ground or ken wot the owners would pay to get rid off the rabbits but it may be worth considering. Plus get top rates for the bunnies as not shot
 
Drop boxes are very effective when used in professionally rabbit proofed fenced fields and installed when the fence is put up. Large numbers can be caught and can be used for years. (galvanised not wood)
On a caravan/camping site it is unlikely it would be 100% fenced effectively and again as the surrounds would be kept mown happy campers and their offspring would meddle.
As cockerdog agrees, out of season shooting and longnetting the statics can be good sport and effective. Make sure you are aware of what the drainage systems are before the ferrets are let loose!
 
I do paid rabbit work and that sort of site can be a nightmare, I would usually charge that by the visit, under contract for an agreed number of visits per year, some visits will be lamping, some with ferrets etc.

But as has already been said if you are doing this for any return money wise then you will not be able to do it on BASC insurance or similar, you must have insurance that covers you for pest control using firearms and includes both public liability and damage to property. Then following on from that to make sure your insurance covers you in the event of a problem show a paper trail to include site survey and risk assesment.

Hate to sound square about it but Im of the view I have to be insured for paid pest control so everyone doing it for pay should be.
 
Surely its not illegal if you run the ferret through them first?

The problem is Ben that you MUST ensure that the burrow is completely empty first, if you got caught with a dead rabbit down there you'd be for the chop! I wish that they would legalise these units, it would make my life a whole lot easier!
 
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