salisburykeeper Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I dont know if anyone else has experienced black rabbits but i have probably about a dozen pure black rabbits on my shoot nr salisbury, Just curious if this is a normal thing or if anyone else has these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berettaman1 Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Yeah its quite common bud, usually the result of tame rabbits being let free into the wild, I used to have a shoot some 10 years ago that had a lot of tortiseshell coloured rabbits that was most unusual to see, the first I saw I thought they were domestic cats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 I have left a few black rabbits on the farm I shoot over, but shot about 10 so far this year. They could well be the offspring of pet rabbits, but I also wondered whether they may just be melanistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Skin them and make a hat out of the skin, whilst wearing this hat you'll be able to hear the animals talk apparently , anyone remember Aurthur Shepherd who used to write for Airgun world back in the eighties??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul in North Lincs. Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Skin them and make a hat out of the skin, whilst wearing this hat you'll be able to hear the animals talk apparently , anyone remember Aurthur Shepherd who used to write for Airgun world back in the eighties??? no..................but I remember John Darling out of Airgunner telling of his hunting exploits........haven't read the mag for over a 15 years.......and dont know if he still writes in it...................the man was my hero as a young lad, & his stories inspired me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 We get black and ginger ones round our way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonna Shoot a Wabbit Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 lots of black bunnies on one of our permissions.( we run an equal opportunities bag and all are welcome ). i remember reading somewhere that old time keepers used to release black rabbits into the wild population. The theory being before most people had access to firearms longnetting at night was the preferred method of poaching. If the black bunnies disappeared (cant tell the difference in the dark between black and fawn colours) they would investigate further looking for unwelcome night time visitors, peg holes in the ground in a row?, left behind long net peg? Could be a load of twaddle explanation but makes a nice story non the less. They do indeed all look the same with their coats off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berettaman1 Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Skin them and make a hat out of the skin, whilst wearing this hat you'll be able to hear the animals talk apparently , anyone remember Aurthur Shepherd who used to write for Airgun world back in the eighties??? no..................but I remember John Darling out of Airgunner telling of his hunting exploits........haven't read the mag for over a 15 years.......and dont know if he still writes in it...................the man was my hero as a young lad, & his stories inspired me MAN IS DEAD NOW IF i REMEMBER CORRECTLY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid 17 Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Black and sandy/ginger rabbits occur naturally in the wild population and has nothing to do with pet rabbits being released into the wild. Geoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
migster Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Skin them and make a hat out of the skin, whilst wearing this hat you'll be able to hear the animals talk apparently , anyone remember Aurthur Shepherd who used to write for Airgun world back in the eighties??? no..................but I remember John Darling out of Airgunner telling of his hunting exploits........haven't read the mag for over a 15 years.......and dont know if he still writes in it...................the man was my hero as a young lad, & his stories inspired me ....................................................................... If its the same John Darling that im thinking of, he died in 2004............. sorry. He was a credit to the shooting and fishing fraternity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeihrauchPower Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 We get black and ginger ones round our way. There are plenty of ginger ones over here! They're more of a bright orange though. I've seen many black ones in Cornwall, they're probably loads now due to the fact we would avoid shooting them to see if they'd spread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacta Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 I dont know if anyone else has experienced black rabbits but i have probably about a dozen pure black rabbits on my shoot nr salisbury, Just curious if this is a normal thing or if anyone else has these? Gamekeepers many years ago used to release them to see if their rabbits were being poached! poachers soon learnt and released them but the colour has bred through their genes. blacta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacta Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 lots of black bunnies on one of our permissions.( we run an equal opportunities bag and all are welcome ). i remember reading somewhere that old time keepers used to release black rabbits into the wild population. The theory being before most people had access to firearms longnetting at night was the preferred method of poaching. If the black bunnies disappeared (cant tell the difference in the dark between black and fawn colours) they would investigate further looking for unwelcome night time visitors, peg holes in the ground in a row?, left behind long net peg? Could be a load of twaddle explanation but makes a nice story non the less. They do indeed all look the same with their coats off oops just said the same as u! got it from a book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneEye Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 I have heard it said that black rabbits occur as a result of excessive inbreeding when a population expands too much, and that if an area is really saturated with bunnies, you start to get white ones too. I have no idea whether this is true or not, though I have noticed the ones I have shot tend to be physically the same as the brown ones, ie lean and rangy, rather than the fat idle blobs that are kept as pets. They all taste the same, so far as I can tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fleabag Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 We get black and ginger ones round our way. There are plenty of ginger ones over here! They're more of a bright orange though. I've seen many black ones in Cornwall, they're probably loads now due to the fact we would avoid shooting them to see if they'd spread. Oh its your fault is it black barstuards all over my shoots, cornwall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J@mes Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 seen plenty of black squirrels when out at work, but only on the railway line between hitchin and royston, nowhere else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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