Rabbiting Pic from the 70's

[Downunder_Sthn_Ferreter 16]

Hey all,

 

Some more fascinating reading.

 

Originally From Kelly O'Keefe.

 

Many of my childhood memories involve rabbits and the hunting of them. My Pop lived in Maldon in central Victoria and made a living from selling rabbits, and their skins. When my parents and I visited, we would go out the "bush" ferretting , shooting, trapping, "yarding", and spotlighting.

 

I learned how to handle a ferret, set the nets correctly, fold them back up, and walk on to next lot of burrows. I also knew to stand back, behind the hole and be quiet so the rabbit would bolt. Listening to the rumble when the ferret was working, watching the dust from the hole and keeping the dogs back were also required. A rope was tied between two gum trees and covered with a hession sack.

 

The pairs of rabbits would be placed inside, and Nanna would guard them from the flies with a small leafy branch, while the rest of us continued on till we couldnt fit any more into the ute.

 

Shooting was more my Dad and I , wandering along a bullrush filled creek, ready to fire when the foxy chased a rabbit out. I learned to always walk behind, stop when he stopped, and if my legs got tired my Dad could still give me a shoulder ride, carry his gun and numerous pairs of rabbits slung over a shovel.

 

Trapping would involve early morning starts often in the frost to check the traps that were set the night before. It was fun running along the fence to count how many we had, or if a fox had taken all but the feet.

 

The most exciting was spot lighting. Everyone got into the utes, the women would drive or be in charge of the light, and the men would fire at the masses of rabbits, sprawled across the ground. The kids would jump over the edge and pick up the killed rabbits, or chase the injured ones, and bring them back to the ute. It was always a late night, because when we got home, Pop and Dad would have to gut and skin them, stretching the skins on little wire frames to dry nicely for selling. The skun rabbits were placed in Pop's famous "chiller", but kids weren't allow in there!

 

 

Another story :

From Thomas Polglaze.

 

This is my story working as a rabbit buyer and transport operator in the mid-50s.

 

I had seen at first hand the volume of rabbits that spread throughout each state. Working around Ivanhoe and Wilcannia I picked up rabbits from around 10 groups of trappers each day. Each group trapping from around 50 to 75 pair a night. These were gutted and paired and strung on a pole between trees and covered with hessian to repel flies. On pick up they were transferred to a mobile chiller, frozen and awaited transport to Melbourne on behave of H.H. Bodley, rabbit exporter. Most of these were exported to U.K.

 

From this one area around 4,000 pairs were trapped a week. At times several groups of trappers would band together to tank rabbits. This method of rabbiting meant a tank or a dam was selected where thousands of rabbits would come to drink at sunset. A hessian-netting fence was placed around the tank with a small opening; this was left for a few nights to allow the rabbits to get use to it. When the maximum number had entered, the opening was closed.

 

One group of trappers enter the tank enclosure and kill the rabbits while the group outside gutted and paired them this would net the trappers around 2,000 pair in one night, the volume had to been seen to believed.

 

A good trapper would set 100 traps, and go around them twice. First inspection would be around 9pm to 10om to collect any rabbits caught and reset the trap then again about sunrise when the traps were taken away. It was heavy work, as some trappers would use only a bicycle to carry his traps others used vehicles.

 

They also use dogs, a good trap dog were usually Kelpies or Heelers and were valuable to the trappers as they followed the trapper while he set each trap at random warrens, on return in the dark the dog would find each trap the his master had set.

 

In the 50s a good trapper could earn up to 100 pounds a week when the average pay was 20 quid.

In the late 50s I ran transport-carrying rabbits from all around Victoria and N.S.W. and Sth Australia to a factory in Sth Melbourne where around 100,000 rabbits weekly were processed for export.

 

There were five processing factories working around Melbourne at this time. Myxomatosis took its toll on the rabbit industry firstly in Victoria then N.S.W. and then Sth Australia by the early 60s when I left, the rabbit industry was starting to wind down.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Shaun

Edited December 19, 2009 by Downunder_Sthn_Ferreter

[Marksman 934]

Found a few more archive pics from the days of huge Rabbit numbers here in Aust.

 

 

 

cheers mate.....Ive been looking for this pic for ages

 

Great thread mate too !!

 

Darryl

[micky 3,325]

Found a few more archive pics from the days of huge Rabbit numbers here in Aust.

 

 

 

cheers mate.....Ive been looking for this pic for ages

 

Great thread mate too !!

 

Darryl

[/quote i saw that picture in the shooting times in the 60s,the next one in the sequence shows what happened when someone tipped a drop of poison into that pond.

[Downunder_Sthn_Ferreter 16]

i saw that picture in the shooting times in the 60s,the next one in the sequence shows what happened when someone tipped a drop of poison into that pond.

 

It was a Myxomatosis test site.. :11: :11: at drop of poison...

 

too many drops of ya own poison :laugh:

 

Cheers,

 

Shaun

[Brimmer 220]

Awesome reading Shaun. If you come across any more let us know its much appreciated. wonder if they would have still released mixi if they knew the impact it would have?

[stealthy1 3,964]

It would take some very good ferrets to bolt so many rabbits week in week out, definitely a rabbiters paradise

[Downunder_Sthn_Ferreter 16]

No prob's guys, I have found a heap of stuff that i'll keep adding here.

It is great reading about the methods used considering the sheer numbers

they had to contend/fight with.

 

Also there was a lot of rivalry & dirty tricks played

against many of the top men who supplied these rabbits.

Anyway, I gotta go now...

Late start...but I'm heading up for a few hours with the dogs & ferrets,

to the usual haunt

 

Hope to have a few pics later today.

 

Cheers,

 

Shaun

[Downunder_Sthn_Ferreter 16]

Some more fascinating reading on the old ways of Rabbiting here in Aust:

 

By Frank McCarthy.

 

It's been HOT - One day I looked out of the shearing shed 'pop hole' window (it was hot) I spotted my pet greyhound chasing a rabbit..... and they were both walking....it was hot!

After Australia came under the influence of the rabbit, the financial pendulum swung away from the landed gentry to be shared with the battlers.

 

The end of 1948 saw the creation of a government marketing scheme known as 'The Australian Rabbit Skin Board' to stabilise and allow fair money to the trapper, dealer, broker, exporter, hat manufacturer and fur dresser.

In 1938/39 the quantity of rabbit skins exported from Australia was 4,433,000 lbs at a value of 429,000 pounds. Of the five years ended 1947/48 exports averaged 12,650,000 in volume representing five million pounds (or $10,000,000) in value.

 

But many of the skins were used in Australia by Akubra and other hat manufacturers, therefore not included in these figures. Also not taken into account were the frozen rabbits exported to the United Kingdom. I used to sell rabbits to Jack McCraith, Frank Simmonds, George Dohr, Dave Mullholland, A. McCarty, Harry Portelli, Smorgons and Borthwicks.

 

Jack McCraith was the first to introduce the mobile rabbit freezer to the trade.

He had 73 freezers in Victoria, 65 in South Australia and 48 in N.S.W..

In 1949, McCraith exported 205,000 crates or 6 million rabbits to England.

Jack McCraith ceased operations, as the bureaucracy made it too difficult to operate... this from a man who in 30 years exported 130 million rabbits to England.

 

Trappers were very cunning men. One old chap I knew carried a pickle bottle with him and upon gutting a doe (female) rabbit, he would inspect her bladder, any fluid was saved in the bottle, sometimes collecting half a bottle full.

When next setting up his traps, he would sprinkle some of this female urine to attract the buck rabbits.

 

There were many trap manufacturers: Lanes Ace, Downey, Bunyip, and Tonks to name a few. Angus McKenzie in the early '50s had three Commer diesel semi-trailers transporting rabbits frozen from Hawker, Copley, Lyndhurst & Flinders Rangers for Smorgons, they would do a trip each per week.

 

Concluding...there was the yarn about two bucks sitting on the warren, as they observed another rabbit run past, one said to the other "with my brains and his doe/dough I could really go places".

If you want to know the yarn about the dead rabbit....I'll give you the guts of it next week !

 

 

Here's another good read for you all >>

By Bluey Stancombe.

 

In 1918, aged 12 years, my father left Maldon Catholic School to begin his lifelong career as a rabbiter. He walked the hills with his rifle, then hawked the rabbits around town. He later got an old horse out of the pound for two bob and with rope reins and an old cart, was able to travel further afield.

 

He trapped and ferreted, keeping them alive in an old dairy until he had a killing night. The rabbits were sent, in crates on the goods train, to Bendigo.

The price paid was four pence for a large pair (four pound gutted) and tuppence a pair for small and rejects.

Sometimes no cheque was returned, because the buyer at the other end said they were unfit for human consumption, and there was no comeback.

 

 

In 1945 Harry Portelli, a rabbit trader from Kyneton, started to buy in our area. Dad then had a killing night and drove the cart to Chewton about 13 miles away,

where he was met by Harry.

In 1950 Harry built a chiller in our yard.

Its walls and floor were sawdust, one foot thick and had a ceiling about three foot. Each time he came in the truck to pick up the rabbits he brought a truck of sawdust from the saw mill.

We then not only caught rabbits, but bought rabbits, on commission for Harry.

Prices slowly went up and then they were two bob a pair.

Harry connected the electricity to our place and the chiller was converted to electricity. The chiller then ran silently, without the continual running of the old petrol motor.

 

Dad mainly ferreted and trapped.

We worked about 100 lanes Ace traps.

He was amazing, finding them at night, in the rocks trees and couch grass with only the aid of a hurricane lamp.

He always had a pack of dogs and heaps of ferrets housed under the peppercorn tree.

 

In the summer I would help Dad yarding. rabbits. At night they came down from the hills through holes in the wire netting fence to drink and feed down below.

We would put a stone on the post where the hole was, then at midnight we would sneak out and block them in. At day-break we would drive them, but they couldn't get home and we would shoot and dig them out, getting hundreds of pairs.

Sometimes there were so many driven in the burrows the last ones were smothered.

 

My father persisted with his horse and cart.

In his words "it was cheap, didn't bog and the horse could feed while he was working".

 

Rabbiting was his life.

His only needs were good dogs, ferrets, a sharp pen knife and an occasional bottle in the chaff shed.

He was the last of the full-time rabbiters in our area.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Shaun

[johnmac666 2]

Excellent post shaun, i think im going to come over to Aus for free, apparently if i commit 3 offenses of poaching, i will be sent there automatically,im off out for a mooch now see what trouble i can get into , seriously a ferreters dream as " THE ONE " Said, regards & thanks for sharing,

 

regards john

 

Merry Xmas & Happy New Year

[Brimmer 220]

Its amazing to think in only half a century of an animal being introduced, a whole industry was being set up around the rabbit, with mixi bringing a close to it. Shame.

It shocks me how many rabbits were being exported to the uk. In the first extract Shaun, it names one of the exporters as Borthwicks. Borthwicks was a name of a slaughter yard local to me, (Think its called Woodhead Brothers now.). Wonder if it was the same firm?

[Aaron_butcher 17]

I was looking at the first photo and thinking, ' I can't see any rabbits, just that long wooden fence ' lol.

[Downunder_Sthn_Ferreter 16]

Its amazing to think in only half a century of an animal being introduced, a whole industry was being set up around the rabbit, with mixi bringing a close to it. Shame.

It shocks me how many rabbits were being exported to the uk. In the first extract Shaun, it names one of the exporters as Borthwicks. Borthwicks was a name of a slaughter yard local to me, (Think its called Woodhead Brothers now.). Wonder if it was the same firm?

 

The term 'Poor Mans Cattle' was often used when speaking of the old days.

I think a lot of those guys who knew their stuff did pretty well

considering the average wage back then.

Pretty much similar to what a good shearer would earn,

but without the union problems

 

It would have been a way of life & although it would be hard for some folk.

I should have been around in those days as working these days like

we do sucks bigtime

 

Most Pro Rabbiters these days work with a bolt action .22 combined with a good

spotlight on either an ATV like you use or a ute etc.

The vast majority of these guys work the Nsw area's as its pretty reliable.

Fox also come into their bags during the height of winter.

using both .17 HMV/22Magnum & .22 rifles under a spotlight

 

I've got something more to add.

My Uncle was a Pro Trapper back in the 50's & early 60's.

He worked the Warrenbayne area, near Benalla in Victoria.

 

What a name hey 'Warrenbayne'...Were the many warrens their bayne ?

 

It was the 1st place my Father ever took me Rabbiting back in Autumn 75'

Saw a fox that morning and a few bunnys ..& a black snake

He used to speak of numbers...then myxo

Great area that i am going to check out a little more soon to see what i can find.

 

Strathbogie nearby was/is still an area that holds good numbers.

Have a google earth look...its such great hunting ground.

 

He would set 200 traps a night & pretty much fill em all, sometimes

twice a day.

Earlier on he sold both rabbits & their pelts.

Towards the end of his time in the game, the pelts returned a good dollar

on their own.

The rabbit bodies went to some local farmer neighbours

for Pig Food.

I'd like to touch base with him again & hear what it was like

as the last time i saw him was a long long time ago...

 

Now regarding Borthwicks, It is an old name concerning

abbatoirs & butchering of meat here in Aust & i would expect that

it's origins are from over your way

 

I did a 5 year stint in a local abbatoir near me.

We used to have a lot of local guys who had worked at various

'Borthwicks' sheds...

 

Actually there was a Borthwick Butcher over here years ago who had his

own shop...Anyway some :alcoholic: :wankerzo4: , thought

he could roll the owner for a quick buck...

 

Although the owner took a bullet wound from this +wit,

he pummelled this tripe heed until the cops turned up

 

Cheers,

 

Shaun

Edited December 26, 2009 by Downunder_Sthn_Ferreter

[Downunder_Sthn_Ferreter 16]

Hey all,

Here's a couple more readings i found that were

entertaining regarding the ole days of mega rabbit numbers here in Aust.

 

Gone Ferreting - Ovens Valley Victoria Nth East.

From Ed Boyd.

 

Ever owned a ferret? Well my big brother had three.

He was the eldest of eight so was rightfully the boss of us all.

As a result it was our job to feed, clean and care for his ferrets.

Ever been bitten or scratched by a ferret?

Well I have!

 

My brother was fifteen and had started work on a tobacco farm as school wasn't his thing.

We lived in the Ovens Valley, north -east Victoria where the tobacco industry flourished in the 1950s.

The river flats where the Ovens meandered were ideal for growing tobacco and rabbits!

 

Its sandy loam meant digging rabbit holes was just the easiest thing to do,

it seemed, for they were everywhere.

 

Winter was always an important time for my brother for that was when he conscripted his younger sister and brothers into heading out with him and his ferrets to catch those rabbits.

Their skins, full of winter fur, fetched sixpence a dozen,

a fortune to be made by him! Not only did we have the job of carrying the ferrets,

we had to find the burrows,

work out how they were linked and cover all entrances with the 'ferret nets'.

 

It was also our responsibility to gently take the ferrets from their boxes and release them into the 'mother' burrow so his vicious little friends could prowl the depths and scare the many families residing there into escaping into our waiting nets.

Under his barked orders we would then have to dive on the nets

to hold down the wildly kicking creatures 'til he came to release them,

hold them by their back legs and give them a 'rabbit killer'!

So the day would go on until we had enough to satisfy his greed.

 

Big brother would hook the ferret boxes over his shoulders as his siblings trotted behind with braces of rabbits slung over theirs.

These were eventually skun and the skins stretched over wire frames to be hung in the woodshed to dry.

 

It was obvious that as we got older and wiser we came up with the idea that we were being used in this rabbit business.

So the day came that my sister (the next eldest) suggested we take the ferrets while the big brother was picking tobacco and go on a hunt for ourselves.

Great!

Much enthusiasm greeted the idea so a troop of four of us snuck off with the boxes.

Mum and Dad certainly weren't to know.

 

We headed to a favoured spot that had been productive over time,

set the nets, released the ferrets and waited for the mayhem.

We waited...and waited.

 

None of the usual underground rumbling ensured.

After an hour or so my sister suggested "the buggers have found some kittens".

Oh no! Experience told us they had come upon young ones,

killed and eaten them and settled down for a long sleep!

All of this deep underground along unknown trails.

 

"He will kill us if we don't get those ferrets!"

 

Me, being the youngest of the troop was sent home to get a shovel so we could dig them out.

That was our only choice as the day was getting late.

Images of what the big brother would do to us spurred us all on

to dig and trace the underground warren until a furry tail was found.

 

Sure enough the three ferrets were deep asleep with

the evidence of a meal found on their bloodied snouts.

Grabbed by the scruff of their necks,

they were thrown into the boxes and the troop scampered home in the fading light.

I'm not sure what my sister told our parents but I know

I spent time outside skulking behind the ferret hutches

until it was dark and 'tea time'.

I sure didn't volunteer for any more extra ferret trips.

That one was enough.

 

 

The Great Rabbit Drives,

Author unknown:

 

Imagine this... Just on dusk you look out over your farm and the paddocks seem to be moving, the ground appears to be undulating, like a wave coming in to shore. But then you take a closer look, and this undulating wave is in fact thousands of rabbits, a plague of four legged furry pests, moving across your farm. The dam bank is covered with rabbits, silhouetted against the setting sun. This is what my grandmother and grandfather saw every night.

 

And every morning they would see the dreadful damage these introduced pests were causing to the Australian land. Rabbits, in their seemingly unfathomable numbers, ate the pasture needed for the farmers’ sheep and cattle, digging the roots out so it could never grow back, and ringbarking and killing native shrubs too. This not only left little feed for stock but also caused erosion. These pests, which seriously did breed like rabbits, were creating semi-desert districts.

 

My grandmother was one of a group of about twelve farmers’ wives who decided to do something about this plague. On each of their properties they built a fenced off yard, tapering into a ‘V’ shape at one end, with gates at the opposite end. Every week, while their husbands were out farming, these women would meet, for what they regarded as a social get-together, dressed as custom demanded back in the early 1950’s, in long dresses, full skirts and aprons. Even in broad daylight rabbits were hopping around the paddocks, which were riddled with rabbit holes. A couple of the wives owned a ferret, which they would send down these holes to ‘ferret’ the hiding rabbits out into the open. Then these women would flap their dresses and aprons to drive the rabbits into their fenced yard, down to the narrow end, where they would beat them to death with big sticks.

 

These enterprising Australian women didn’t just feel content that they were helping to eradicate these pests - they ensured nothing went to waste. They would skin the rabbits, bale the skins like their husbands did wool, and send them to auction, often to be bought by Akubra, who made their famous hats from them. My grandmother sometimes kept a few of the skins, pegged them fur-side down onto the shearing shed floor, and rubbed into them a paste of carb-soda and kerosene every day for two weeks, making them soft and clean. She would sew all the skins together, by hand, to make ‘bunny-rugs’ for her six children, who remember them being very warm and soft. The actual rabbits would be shared amongst the families for food. My Mum remembers, as a youngster, having roast rabbit, stuffed rabbit, boiled rabbit and rabbit stew.

 

Today, thanks to a group of enterprising Australian scientists, we do not have rabbits in such plague proportions. I am, however, continuing the family tradition, trapping rabbits on our farm, and selling them to my schoolteachers, who regard them as a delicacy and just love roast rabbit.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Shaun

[Brimmer 220]

Nice reading once again Shaun, where are you getting all these extracts from?

It seem like 'yarding' was a popular way of getting the rabbits to come to you back then. The rabbits over here in England are not dictated to by the need for fresh water, they seem to get enough from the moisture in the green matter they eat, so don't have to move a long way to find it. Like the idea of it though.

[stealthy1 3,964]

Interesting to read about what the old boys of yesteryear got up to, like Brimmer said, its hard to believe a whole industry revolved around the rabbit considering it was the number one pest