Jump to content

Black rabbits ?.


samboy
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi gang.

               I've been shooting rabbits for about 16 years now and have never seen a black one. But just been watching some rabbit shooting

                on Youtube up the Orkneys and there were quite a few of them. I was up the Orkneys a while back and the rabbits seemed bigger

                  than the ones around here.  So are black ones rare  ?.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They were not rare round here in Cheshire before the big Myxy outbreak in the early 2000s. I was told that they were mixed wild and domesticated however they may have just been a natural melanistic mutation. 

Where about are your shooting grounds? I haven’t seen a black one for a few years now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, WalkedUp said:

They were not rare round here in Cheshire before the big Myxy outbreak in the early 2000s. I was told that they were mixed wild and domesticated however they may have just been a natural melanistic mutation. 

Where about are your shooting grounds? I haven’t seen a black one for a few years now. 

I have 4 permissions in North Stifford Essex

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I go up to the north coast of Scotland (I know not quite Orkney) and the rabbits do so well that most are well grown. We tend to get so many youngsters in Cheshire and North Wales. That be said I don’t bother shooting them unless I need to as our numbers are so low. Took a friend’s grandson out for a couple of hours on Friday on the rabbits for his birthday. Four rabbits seen under lamp, three were not safe shots and the other one was cleanly killed 3/4 grown. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Sam boy not rare ,black rabbits appear every few years about 10years ago we had more black rabbits than brown ones. Near Delamere we had brown and white ones. The black ones are just as wild. Rabbits are just returning after the viral infection including the black ones. These were shot in 2015.

4FBE6D99-D977-4404-8252-9FB1192056E4.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same here with vhd  the new strains killed the young, the young survived the first virus. Rabbits are coming back even the black rabbits. My friend took photos of the black rabbits when l shot them and they were all the same size, this was in the summer time, he said they were all clones. I’ve shot rabbits after this harvest and seen black rabbits but not shot any. I’ve seen rabbits killed by the virus they bleed from the mouth and are (stretched out) on the field. I haven’t found many they just disappear in a week. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi  7daysinaweek that’s a coincidence with your parsons rabbits,the brown and white rabbits l killed were called the vicars rabbits, I thought it was because they had a white collar but I was told the vicar released them some years before. They would appear every few years. Hi Houseplant have you many rabbits in New Zealand. I thought the government put the virus down to kill of the rabbits . The black rabbits here are from domestic rabbits, they didn’t catch Myxomatosis at first . I was once told if you see a black rabbit was a rabbit black with flees and Myxomatosis would follow after seeing one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When the first lot of black rabbits started breeding they didn’t get myxomatosis, the next time it came around it killed them. I think they were tame rabbits released in the field and were inoculated against myxomatosis. It was like the black rabbits would take over and just see the odd brown ones. My friend is going to that area in the morning he will let me know what rabbits are about. I did a lot of ferreting in the summer months, warrens on livestock farms, and killed different colour rabbits every so often. When the rabbits were heavy with flees it was a sign of myxomatosis or tape worms . The inside of the ears would look black with flees I think this is were the black rabbits spreading myxomatosis came from. I thought the black rabbits would take over but vhd has killed them just the same. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since I was a nipper rabbits could be widely found in my local parish and surrounding areas, not always in huge numbers but good pockets of them about. Myxy would rear itself and the number would be knocked back with some surviving and then breeding the next year producing good numbers then the cycle would return.  Every 5 or so years would see a bumper amount. 

I take my hat off to the old 'Bunter' as in my area and I suspect others alike that despite the onslaught of missiles ejected from all manner of contraptions with the addition of nets and traps that the old rabbit continued to thrive. As a young lad in the late 70's, the  80's and early 90's I could ferret, shoot, run my lurcher, fly my hawk and  use long net (long net with limited success)

Since the VHD virus arrived the number here have not bounced back.

If only I could reverse Entropy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes black rabbits  are just the same they are all rabbits. I shoot young rabbits in the spring and summer but shooting small black ones isn’t like shooting rabbits. I must be getting soft as l get older. In Australia it’s not allowed to inoculate pet rabbits against myxomatosis. rabbits were all over the place but a few  are coming back. Out with my friend today we found rabbit scratchings on fields I’ve not seen rabbits for two years or more. I’m still shooting rabbits in small numbers .l have kept ferrets since I was at school l never thought l would see rabbits almost disappear. Rabbits move along railway lines as did myxomatosis and vhd. Last year they had myxomatosis this year they are healthy up to now. The virus doesn’t seem to be going away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...