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Rabbit decline


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Whilst there’s no doubt that hunting rabbits all year round, night vision and excessive hunting have had a negative impact on rabbit numbers those things pale into insignificance compared to RVHD2. Th

I think disease is the biggest killer. I think it was 4 or 5 years ago some thing swept through and now with in a 4 mile radius. Th bulk of them have gone. It really decimated them and they haven't co

Been saying the rabbits are declining  for ages , to many predators and to many people killing them in the summer .

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We ferreted rabbits a few years back for 2 different areas we let of 30 the first day into an old burrow and and then probably another 20 over the next week or 2. This was early March just coming close to breeding time. I might aswell have fed the dogs with them not one to be seen around the place after 3 weeks of us letting them of and still none there now that was 7/8 years ago. 

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On 19/08/2019 at 14:43, Greyman said:

Have mentioned this in other threads before, as most of you no I do camera traps as opposed to actuall hunting and what I am noticing is there are a lot of rabbits living in woodlands that I have never seen before many of them never go out onto the fields which is very strange unless they are aware of the infections within the bury,s the woodland rabbits I,m getting seem to live in scrub and not burrow,  also caught a lot of hares that we’re spending the nights in the woods then venturing out during the daylight hours had about 14 hares in a two week period that were bang in the middle of a 1000 acres of woods  and a reasonable treck from the fields I see them in during the day, have been doing the cameras for 5 years now and it’s only the last year that this has been happening ??

Haven't seen any in the local fields but in the woods I go I've noticed more and more burrows on the side of steep banks, under tree roots etc but had a look in the field at the edge of the wood and there's no sign. Anyway, this morning got a quick glimpse of a rabbit so hopefully the population starts coming back.

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got a few perms around me all mainly pasture fields.and the hare's out number the rabbit's about 10 to 1.

the farmers recon the ground is to hard for the rabbit's to dig in.it's very clay rich ground..

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Still a few kicking about by me but no numbers just enough to steady keep a dog ticking over I have noticed over the last few seasons towards the end of the seasons the buck to doe catch rate there’s a higher buck catch rate an sort of January to the beginning of March we see more about on the lamp they just reappear I’m guessing it’s due to spring an the bucks are looking for does to mate with. I am starting to think the purpose bred rabbit dogs roll of just rabbit catcher is coming to a end I personally think any man/woman that’s serious about catching rabbits unless there willing to live up north they will find the type/cross of dog they keep changing an will find there selfs on the wrong side of the law 

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No one has mentioned Badgers. In my opinion they are responsible to some extent, s long with disease for the decline. It's not so much that they predate on the adult rabbits but, now there are so many of them, they dig up virtually every nest burrow and kill the kits. I think this causes the adults to try and move on to somewhere safer to breed and this exposes them to more danger from roads, disease, predation etc. It also basically clears whole areas of land of rabbits forever as the badgers just eat something else and continue to thrive. Sad state if affairs

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20 hours ago, king said:

got a few perms around me all mainly pasture fields.and the hare's out number the rabbit's about 10 to 1.

the farmers recon the ground is to hard for the rabbit's to dig in.it's very clay rich ground..

Those Farmers are either Daft or think that you are ?  ...CAN'T DIG THROUGH CLAY  …MY     ARSE  

Picture 044.jpg

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funny you say that....I was just thinking about that yesterday....where I walk my dogs round these fields ....every spring you can see where the bills dig out the kits....on some warrens you can see that the does breed in the same tunnels year on year....cos some of the spots the billy have dug down are in the exact same place year after year

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1 hour ago, micky said:

Those Farmers are either Daft or think that you are ?  ...CAN'T DIG THROUGH CLAY  …MY     ARSE  

Picture 044.jpg

no one else ferrets or lamps around me micky for a good distance.rabbits are very thin on the ground.and yet maybe 6 miles away where the ground has a lot of sand in it there's rabbits everywhere..a good few farmer's have told me this local.and they are old timer's.

so im inclined to believe them..as they have worked the land a lot longer than me..there are dozens of little woods all around and the only place you will find rabbits holes is next to billy sets.

looking at all the land you would think rabbit's would be everywhere but they aint...

all the cattle are in now.and big pasture fields with not 1 rabbit on them.either daytime or on the lamp..

Maybe 4 or 5 fields into the distance there. And the same the other side of this little woods and not a single rabbit or sign of them.

 

 

 

 

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22 minutes ago, king said:

 

There is a reason why there are no Rabbits on that land but it is not  Clay the Midlands are covered in Clay and   Disease free Rabbits will thrive on it  however  I think that Rabbits that live in the lighter drier Soils will have a greater chance of surviving  Mixi than they would in Clay  the reason for this is though diseases will weaken Animals including us  Pneumonia is the Killer ( The Old  Mans Friend ) and Rabbits living in Peaty or Sandy  grounds  will stand a better chance than the Cold Wet Clay 

This  land was tested  years ago with a view of putting  a Reservoir there in 1967 in shown 60 feet of Clay going onto sand  and was not acceptable  since then I have dug thousands of Rabbits  from there .

ferreting.jpg

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5 minutes ago, micky said:

There is a reason why there are no Rabbits on that land but it is not  Clay the Midlands are covered in Clay and   Disease free Rabbits will thrive on it  however  I think that Rabbits that live in the lighter drier Soils will have a greater chance of surviving  Mixi than they would in Clay  the reason for this is though diseases will weaken Animals including us  Pneumonia is the Killer ( The Old  Mans Friend ) and Rabbits living in Peaty or Sandy  grounds  will stand a better chance than the Cold Wet Clay 

This  land was tested  years ago with a view of putting  a Reservoir there in 1967 in shown 60 feet of Clay going onto sand  and was not acceptable  since then I have dug thousands of Rabbits  from there .

ferreting.jpg

yea the disease part sounds about right micky.and no doubt that clay in winter will be proper cold..

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Done the catch and release numerous times over the years, when simply released it didn't work but when dipped in duramitex or similar they stayed bred and thrived and are still there all these years later, if you don't dip them then all your doing is possibly and potentially spreading disease.

Edited by dodger
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