Where are all the Rabbits?

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No shortage here.
A couple of friends got over a 100 a few nights ago.
Currently they are receiving £1 each for large head-shot rabbits and £3 for hares.
A nice little earner as one guy is currently unemployed.

HWH.
 
Its because they are going back underground now alot of the cover has been harvested, the fleas that carry the mixi live underground....


Nell
 
Not too sure about that Nell. This is the first time for as long as I can remember that, as yet myxi hasn't come through here (VHD has instead) We normally get myxi late April early June when, it could be said, many are above ground. However, in my area rabbits are underground winter and summer. Ceratinly the rabbit flea is the vector and can carry the disease in its various forms for a very long time. Strangely we have always found the disease mainly dies out in the winter when rabbits spend far more time in their buries. Whatever, it is a real pain, but trust me on this one, it is nowhere near as bad as VHD. Personally I think it that it is when the new crop of rabbits arrives, many without immunity to myxi, that it starts off again.
 
It's deffinately not mixy, i haven't seen any signs of it at all this year. there is one big plus side of this and that is the fact that i'm getting the credit for the superb job i'm doing of keeping the numbers down. I've been foxing quite a lot and the farmers have seen me about so think i've been shooting rabbits. one of them told me today that i must really have hit them hard this year as they haven't seen any around at all, who am i to tell him otherwise. The funny thing is, i have noticed that a few are popping up in areas that never really held any before.

Ezzy
 
On one of my places, I have to shoot em on sight, they can make a real mess in amongst 80 acres of asparagus, from july to november the fern is maturing so you can't see them through this period, unless they venture on to surrounding crop areas.
 
groats right about vhd,it kicked in seriously about 10 or 11 years back in the lanark to peebles district and hammerd the rabbits there abouts, the strange thing i find is that pockets can still hang on in smaller numbers than what used to be there ( used to be thousands now maybe a few hundred ) but its very patchy ...i feel sorry for the younger generation who missed out on lifting large numbers of the humble bunny and hope they can get over vrh like they did mixi and return to better numbers ..lol..not all will agree but hunting the rabbit was the making of many a presant day hunter whither it be by gun, ferret, dog, or anyother means ..i know it did for me
 
We don't have so many in the south of the island as earlyer in the year but I was told 2 guys had around 800 in 2 nights lamping up north so still plenty up there
 
Rare things in my area, took best part of 3 hours last night to get 4. Saw more roe last night than rabbits. Mine are very localised and lots of places are barren. Huge increase in buzzards over last few years.

Mind you did get two vixens last night which was a turn up for the books.

D
 
Gunner said:
Same problem as Ezzy6.5 here on my patch in Berkshire. Lots of rabbits earlier in the year but suddenly they have done a disappearing act. I haven't found any mxyi wondering if we have been hit by VHD. Either that or poachers have cleaned it out!
Click to expand...

Same story here in my patch of South Wales
 
Cyres said:
Rare things in my area, took best part of 3 hours last night to get 4. Saw more roe last night than rabbits. Mine are very localised and lots of places are barren. Huge increase in buzzards over last few years.

Mind you did get two vixens last night which was a turn up for the books.

D
Click to expand...

what are you doing about the buzzards then?
 
Took the kids for a wander this afternoon (it's mid-term :( ) and watched 4 buzzards quartering 'my' permission.
It certainly doesn't help.
Taking out 4 foxes in the last month has though :cool:
 
Sausage Warrior said:
Took the kids for a wander this afternoon (it's mid-term :( ) and watched 4 buzzards quartering 'my' permission.
It certainly doesn't help.
Taking out 4 foxes in the last month has though :cool:
Click to expand...

I know, I have a pair of buzzards living in each of the respective woods where I have my release pens:???:
A. no wonder they moved in there, and
B. what a pain you can't do anything to help your poults from getting their guts ripped out of them all day long:evil:
 
we discouraged the buzzards by shooting AWAY from them, each time they try to roost in the wood.
they moved to another roost wood a few miles away.
 
PKL said:
I know, I have a pair of buzzards living in each of the respective woods where I have my release pens:???:
A. no wonder they moved in there, and
B. what a pain you can't do anything to help your poults from getting their guts ripped out of them all day long:evil:
Click to expand...

Just a thought: Could you set up say, a chicken run that will keep the raptors interests? Surely keeping a chicken run populated with released battery chickens will be cheaper than losing your poults.
 
old keeper said:
VHD is becoming a real problem. However, when it came through here 10 years or so ago it decimated thte population. This year it was here quite badly but fizzled out after a while leaving several rabbits about. Then it showed up sporadically here and there. Whether it is a different strain I wouldn't know but I think it is a much bigger problem than myxi.
Incidentally there was a programme on Eagle Owls on telly and a guy from Holland said virtually all the rabbits have gone from that country due to VHD.
Click to expand...
If there are no rabbits what will the Eagle Owls eat :banghead: conservationists wouldn't think of that. :cuckoo:
 
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