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restocking the rabbit population


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Hi,

Just thought i'd clear this up before i started. I shoot for fun and the enjoyment of eating what a kill. The only animals i shoot purely as a pest and to keep the numbers to near zero are foxes. Two years ago my land was hit by mitsimitosis. As a result of this i'm extremely lucky to even see a rabbit. This is two years on. These last few weeks my hopes have been raised as i've been able to see some tracks in the snow. My aunty owns a large farm in Skipton and they have an abundance of rabbits. Am i legally allowed to take some ferrets and nets, catch say half a dozen or so and release them back at home?? Just thought it'd give them a helping hand in repopulating. I've missed my fresh rabbit and won't shoot an till the numbers are higher.

 

Joe

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You shouldn't be too worried.

 

If you have a single breeding pair on your land, and guessing they'll have 6 kittens at a 50/50 sex ratio, that'll mean you'll have 8 later this year. Then (with dirty rabbit inbreeding) you'll have 24 kits between the 4 pairs the year afterwards (32), and if your unlucky (or lucky) you can have up to 16x6 = 96 new kits + 32 orginal (128) within 3 years. From that point onwards they'll just keep going.

 

 

Admitidly, this is a 'best case situation* where they all sucessfully breed, and are not predated upon, but it can come to show how rabbits can bloom out of nowhere.

 

This is why rabbits are bloody pests!

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one question? ???

 

why would you want to intoduce rabbits anywhere, i suppose if it is not arble land they are not doing too much harm,

 

if it is the land owner will not be buzzing about it

 

 

Or any neighbouring land owners with crops wouldnt be to overjoyed at your planned rabbit invasion either

 

Les ;)

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mate we have a closed season on rabbit over here there not aloud to be shot from the end of feb till the 1st october

why you ask

there not a mager problem to the island when the season beggins there almost whiped out throught the season due to so many being shot and mixy

belive you me if you have a breading pair on your land leave them if you like come the end of the summer they would have re populated them self in quite a large number

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This post is really amusing......lets asume I heard it right-You want to introduce rabbits to an area that is clear of them?

 

There would be an even better story if you are a farmer too to boot.

 

Best of luck- Just don't tell your father or any other landowner nearby as they will think you are crackers..................

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Hi,

Just thought i'd clear this up before i started. I shoot for fun and the enjoyment of eating what a kill. The only animals i shoot purely as a pest and to keep the numbers to near zero are foxes. Two years ago my land was hit by mitsimitosis. As a result of this i'm extremely lucky to even see a rabbit. This is two years on. These last few weeks my hopes have been raised as i've been able to see some tracks in the snow. My aunty owns a large farm in Skipton and they have an abundance of rabbits. Am i legally allowed to take some ferrets and nets, catch say half a dozen or so and release them back at home?? Just thought it'd give them a helping hand in repopulating. I've missed my fresh rabbit and won't shoot an till the numbers are higher.

 

Joe

What a cracking idea :yes: you introduce,and i will come round and control :) just to note if you start to live catch rabbits in one area,and then release in another area,you could also be introducing mixie to clean areas :) and cause more harm than good :D it might be best to let them re-populate under there own steam :good: BB

Edited by Bluebarrels
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Off slightly on a tangent but with regards to mixy-would hanging those pet flea collars (cut into strips) over the holes do anything to prevent this horrid discease from speading so quickly?

The best way to get rid of mixie is to shoot the rabbit :good: this is a shooting forum right??next well be buying food and hay for them,whilst i agree mixie is a hideous disease,save your money on flea collars and spend it on more carts and shoot them :yes: BB

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sorry but beg to differ the best way to get rid of mixxy is to leave the rabbits alone yes i know it may sound crawl to leave a rabbit laying there suffering but in the long run the ones that do get over it and some of them do ask any vet will become immune to the disease and bread with other rabbits passing the immunity to the off spring

but then again do you want mixy immuned rabbits on your land

mixxy is a decize passed on by a flea once a rabbit is dead the flee will leave the body with in minutes and can lay dormant in the fields for a long time

your choice

Edited by night owl
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sorry but beg to differ the best way to get rid of mixxy is to leave the rabbits alone yes i know it may sound crawl to leave a rabbit laying there suffering but in the long run the ones that do get over it and some of them do ask any vet will become immune to the disease and bread with other rabbits passing the immunity to the off spring

but then again do you want mixy immuned rabbits on your land

mixxy is a decize passed on by a flea once a rabbit is dead the flee will leave the body with in minutes and can lay dormant in the fields for a long time

your choice

And i disagree with leaving something to suffer,when you can end its misery :good: shoot it end off :yes: BB

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And i disagree with leaving something to suffer,when you can end its misery :good: shoot it end off :yes: BB

like i say mate its your choice but shooting the rabbit you will be causing more missery for genarations of rabbits to come

 

edit spelling >

Edited by night owl
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Dear BB-i would indeed love to spend more money on shells and shoot more bunnies but mixy keeps killing them and numbers are never sufficient to really warrant shooting many.I am also aware of the type of forum this is-simply didnt realise that only certain topics are open to discussion.

Fair point ,and yes all topics are open to discussion,but lets be fair any landowner/farmer who caught you cutting flea collars up and hanging them in rabbit holes,would probalbly think you were away with the fairys,however good your intentions :good::yes::) BB

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I can see the potential minefield if anyone was caught protecting rabbits to increase their numbers and then shoot them as they are pests.On the other hand bunnies are not much of a problem on some of my land where cattle are the main source of income so in theory i could see a farmer could make money by encouraging a healthy rabbit population and then charging to shoot-many people pay to shoot pigeons so we know that a market exists in some areas.

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