rabbits

[Sonicdmb73]

I used to make a very good “living” as a teenager with ferreting. In Upper Wharfedale and in the 30 odd years since the rabbit population has dropped dramatically.
I don’t live there now but still get up there to see friends etc. Where I shoot now goes through cycles. But just when I think they’re recovering again, crash and they’re gone again.
I can only assume RVHD as there’s no sign of Mixy. They just disappear.

 

[tom308w]

Vhd has wiped out rabbits in large parts of the north east.areas were you you would see hundreds non

 

[Haggis Hunter]

Was asked to control bunnies on local farm last spring. Loads of the wee bug..... Shot a fair few and then VHD AND mixy seemed to kick in and numbers plummeted late summer. Did recce in the snow recently and they are still there, let’s see what spring brings.
In ancient times, working on adjacent farm to where I shoot now, we could shoot 120 in a night. Those days have gone, but bunny numbers seem to vary significantly across a fairly small area.
hh

 

[Ade8mm]

Moles however are in the ascendant . Can we find out what the rabbits are suffering with and give it to moles ? !

 

[andrew_shooter53]

i found on the farms i shoot in hereford the trouble started about 10 years ago and hit about 4 square mile area in a year it devastated the rabbit population and to this day there are the odd 1or2 here and there, the funny thing is the high ground that only had the odd couple still has that odd couple but its still spreading down lower and they dont bounce back hope they are not going to be just memories

 

[Scapegoat]

Used to shoot over half a dozen farms in N Yorks, and could reckon on a hundred or more in a day/night between two of us. Don’t think I’ve seen, let alone shot one for the best part of a decade.

 

[andrew_shooter53]

Wensleydale is still heaving with the bloody things.Cant begin to make a dent in the numbers.

it used to be like that with me but it changed in one year, you can see by all the replies it is spreading nation wide and nothing we can do to stop it unfortunately

 

[Ade8mm]

VHD ,. Anyone care to tell about it? Mixy signs were and are pretty clear. Is VHD as obvious or do they expire underground?

 

[Sonicdmb73]

VHD ,. Anyone care to tell about it? Mixy signs were and are pretty clear. Is VHD as obvious or do they expire underground?

To the best of my knowledge they die underground. I have never found any carcasses. Just a lack of rabbits where a few weeks before there were dozens.

 

[Ade8mm]

To the best of my knowledge they die underground. I have never found any carcasses. Just a lack of rabbits where a few weeks before there were dozens.

Maybe that is what we have here? It certainly fits the bill yet there are new burrrys?

 

[DDMS]

I have a farm I shoot on near Alston, Cumbria that I cant shoot them quick enough for the farmer, however the farm I shoot near Morpeth, Northumberland has very few if any.

 

[Haggis Hunter]

With VHD the older ones seemed to die underground but we came across some very young ones dying off above ground. Tiny ones just starving to death?
hh

 

[TomDeer]

One of my permissions in Suffolk had bunnies galore back in the early summer and within a week they were gone, thanks to VHD. Another permission 5 miles from the first got VHD a few years back and you're lucky to see a couple of bunnies a day there where previously there were loads.

From what I've noticed, there can be a bit of a population revival - until VHD strikes again and numbers again drop off a cliff.

 

[Ade8mm]

One of my permissions in Suffolk had bunnies galore back in the early summer and within a week they were gone, thanks to VHD. Another permission 5 miles from the first got VHD a few years back and you're lucky to see a couple of bunnies a day there where previously there were loads.

From what I've noticed, there can be a bit of a population revival - until VHD strikes again and numbers again drop off a cliff.

Keep us posted, Whilst a pest we love 'em,

 

[MagicLantern]

Local to me in Mid Devon, I can be in one field and see none, go through a gate to the next field, see a dozen or so, next field none, then in another see a decent handful. It's that irregular and there's no pattern to it other than I'm guessing the warrens are separated by natural barriers like ditches and social interaction doesn't happen. I've been laying off them except where I've been specifically asked to thin them out.

The other thing I've noticed is sick adults out in the open, not Myx, it is VHD/RHD.

 

[old keeper]

I have no doubt that like most viruses, VHD mutates. When VHD first appeared it infected older rabbits but the young under three months of age didn't get it. A couple of years ago we started finding very young rabbits dead above ground, some with grass still in their mouths. In fact, one summer evening I went to a high seat to wait for a fox and spotted a half-grown rabbit feeding about fifty yards away, through the scope it appeared perfectly healthy. a couple of hours later when I was leaving the rabbit was stone dead.
Although there are decent numbers of rabbits in patches overall numbers are dropping dramatically. The problem is that when numbers drop below a certain level, due to predation and disease they don't get the chance to build numbers up again.

 

[andrew_shooter53]

Maybe that is what we have here? It certainly fits the bill yet there are new burrrys?

back 10 years ago i remember finding 4 rabbit bodies close together on a very good farm at the time i thought it was strange as with myxy you found more alive and no dead bodies,after the discovery the rabbit population was wiped out but i found no bodies at all, so with the amount of rabbits that used to be there i think they died below ground

 

[TomDeer]

Whilst a pest we love 'em,

True and also very much the entry point for me progressing to deer stalking - possibly like others too.

 

[andrew_shooter53]

Now for the million £ question was this man made for rabbits (Wuhan maybe) or just come about does anyone know, also if old keeper can let me know what county or area your from as im trying to build a bigger picture of this virus spread because soon you wont have rabbits to put down on your FAC as pest control

 

[old keeper]

I am located in south devon.

As far as I'm aware the VHD virus evolved naturally from a non-lethal virus and is still evolving, there now being three strains. Highly infectious it will wipe out anything from 70 to 100% of rabbits in any given area. More lethal than mixy for which rabbits have developed a certain immunity, it presents a real threat to the rabbit population.