Rabbit decline

[Daniel cain 42,893]

18 minutes ago, rob284 said:

I find they’re all over the country but in small pockets. A small area of a couple of farms may be lifting with them but a mile down the road and there’s none. I put it down to the boom in buzzards. It was a rare sight 20 year ago to come across a buzzard now they’re common place and will hunt in urban areas which must be ruining the rabbit and hare population, anything that moves is dead.

Buzzards feet are to small rob, they catch the sick and very young, scavenging mostly scratch about after worms, they dont make a difference to rabbit numbers imo.... Look for easy meals like a pen full of poults

[dogmandont 9,368]

Place I used to lamp over twenty years ago used to hold a good amount of rabbits, only about 200 acres or so, would only lamp it every couple of weeks but it was the kind of place that anyone could hunt and there wouldn’t be a word said, couple of lads started shooting them and then a local that keeps greyhounds started ferreting it and that was the end of it, in three years they had the place cleaned not a single rabbit left, that place never recovered.

[Daniel cain 42,893]

Ive travelled all over and brought them back local to me for yrs.... Last 2 seasons they seem to be surviving..... Until the summer lampers get on themi dont bother even walking my dogs there these days, take the odd one for ferret food with the hw80. They just got planning for 600 new homes so they be gone for good soon

[Black neck 15,169]

3 hours ago, Daniel cain said:

Buzzards feet are to small rob, they catch the sick and very young, scavenging mostly scratch about after worms, they dont make a difference to rabbit numbers imo.... Look for easy meals like a pen full of poults

b*****d things they take a Lot of leverets 2

[smithwicks 182]

Near me the local Co-op is selling rabbit bait, it's in pellet form I think , and all the tillage farmers are using it to keep rabbit numbers down which is a pity!

Around mee there used to be loads of rabbits but in the last 4 to 5 year the numbers have gotten really thin on the ground, I just hope they bounce back to the way they were! 

[Aussie Whip 3,827]

10 hours ago, poxon said:

Wonder if any one has ever bought a buck wild colour pet rabbit for the kids from the pet shop had it vaccinated for mixy then lined it to wild doe rabbits then released wonder if the young would be more disease resistant?

I'm pretty sure they would be,thats why its illegal here to release domestic rabbits.They do survive,people near me released 4 white rabbits in a common area of town full of foxes.years later you still see white rabbits there.

[poxon 5,555]

8 hours ago, Aussie Whip said:

I'm pretty sure they would be,thats why its illegal here to release domestic rabbits.They do survive,people near me released 4 white rabbits in a common area of town full of foxes.years later you still see white rabbits there.

The reason why I’ve put this comment is it got me thinking about vhd virus you don’t here people saying be it on fb or other media that my pet rabbit as died you know people like to tell the world there every move or what they had for dinner on media so a pet rabbit would be a big thing I’m not up to date to much on vhd I wonder if it’s a man made virus designed mainly for attacking wild rabbit 

[Terry Ermann 994]

Vaccinating a buck rabbit will only keep that specimen safe, it won’t have any impact on any of it’s offspring that isn’t how vaccines work. The good thing that the rabbit has going for it is it’s ability to reproduce very quickly so through natural selection it won’t take long (in evolutionary terms) until there are rabbits with a natural immunity until the next disease hits them. 

Many pet rabbits are vaccinated against Myxi and RVHD I might guess that a lot that die of RVHD may just be put down to a natural death as pm’s aren’t cheap so I doubt people have many done. 

[countrymon 51]

I was chatting to simon whitehead recently at a local show about rabbit numbers. He gets about a bit and said that there are areas that still have a good few. He is working in conjunction with a university ,i.e. cutting out livers etc of rabbits he gets from various areas and sending them for analysis. He reckons that rabbits in some of the areas are showing signs of building up antibodies to fight vhd?!

[Aussie Whip 3,827]

33 minutes ago, poxon said:

The reason why I’ve put this comment is it got me thinking about vhd virus you don’t here people saying be it on fb or other media that my pet rabbit as died you know people like to tell the world there every move or what they had for dinner on media so a pet rabbit would be a big thing I’m not up to date to much on vhd I wonder if it’s a man made virus designed mainly for attacking wild rabbit 

What I understand it is man made for wild rabbits but you can vac your pet rabbits against it.

[Aussie Whip 3,827]

2 minutes ago, countrymon said:

I was chatting to simon whitehead recently at a local show about rabbit numbers. He gets about a bit and said that there are areas that still have a good few. He is working in conjunction with a university ,i.e. cutting out livers etc of rabbits he gets from various areas and sending them for analysis. He reckons that rabbits in some of the areas are showing signs of building up antibodies to fight vhd?!

Good to hear.

[nothernlite 18,028]

Mate phoned me during the week said the rabbits are queuing up to get the burrows never Seen so many so happy days

[poxon 5,555]

22 minutes ago, Aussie Whip said:

What I understand it is man made for wild rabbits but you can vac your pet rabbits against it.

I thought the second strain there was no vaccine for yet 

[Terry Ermann 994]

19 minutes ago, nothernlite said:

Mate phoned me during the week said the rabbits are queuing up to get the burrows never Seen so many so happy days

Sounds like a job for a Bobcock

 

[Aussie Whip 3,827]

3 minutes ago, poxon said:

I thought the second strain there was no vaccine for yet 

Don't know that much about it.