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a huge rabbit problem, looming New Zealand .


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Heard a lot of stories about dogs/ people not being able to live of rabbit because of lack of fat which I totally agree with and understand but ferrets seem to thrive on it? Mine get nothing else bar the odd pheasant or woody and are in superb nick pretty much all year round. Silver jill I have I don’t think has ever eaten anything else and she is got a beautiful coat and a nice bit of condition to her, her brother on the same diet is a massively fat f****r! Just a thought!
The situation in New Zealand is amazing to see, if i am not mistaken RVHD2 did a fair number on them 20 years ago so good to see it wasn’t terminal!

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Yes ,slowly at first the pockets started to grow & have now reach high levels up from 80% kill on the first release. The virus still does a great job in 90% of the land in New Zealand  . Whil

My hobby turned into a full time job about 25 years ago & to me about the only differences is I now get paid .I work for myself as a contractor ,I cover 100,000 Acers,as long as I'm active  how I

To be truthful the Central Otago hills shouldn't have been farmed in the first place  ,its all rocks with little top soil, great for growing grapes these days .It is for the most part covered in canes

7 hours ago, Neal said:

I always find it funny that, in UK dog books, they go on about feeding rabbit etc to dogs as it's natural, whereas all the Australian working dogs books I've read say to avoid rabbit and roo as there's not enough goodness in them.

fine with other meats, fats etc etc but on its own leads to protein poisoning.

 

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My hobby turned into a full time job about 25 years ago & to me about the only differences is I now get paid .I work for myself as a contractor ,I cover 100,000 Acers,as long as I'm active  how I get the job done & what hours I work is up to me ,Im paid a set amount per week 52 weeks a year .we don't do anything over the lambing which lasts about 4 -6 weeks .I don't do much night work off the 4 wheel motor bike. This local block doesn't have near the rabbit numbers it had when I first arrived  when it was common to get 30 in a afternoon bushed out of all manner of cover .It took me about a year of night work used to show me where the rabbits lived, the ones I saw were very light shy however ,once I knew that is was a simple matter of working the dogs to target those area's I also have one golf course up central ,that I visit once a month over a weekend ,during the day I stay off the course & ferret to dog in the ruff area's. Night work involves using a pcp air rifle in the hours of darkness as the whole course is a public area, containing a public walking track that runs around the edge of the course ,at the other end is a township .I did another course that I worked for 15 years ,at one time I was doing both which meant traveling up two weekends of the month and this proved to be a little too much as it was my free time so I dropped back to one .The course is about 220 acres when on my first visit I saw over 300 rabbits sitting about ,not bothered as we passed 6 feet away .While they had been doing their own pest control  up to a year before when a member of the public using the walking track reported a near miss one evening .All control stopped & they decided to call in a contactor that lead the manager to call me as Id worked with him on the other course .I charge a hourly rate up there ,which works out to be about double a good normal hourly rate as rabbit control skills are now much valued . I would never take on work based on per rabbit . I was getting up to 300 odd a week end but 3 years on & 3,000  dead rabbits we are now only getting 20 odd depending on the time of year per trip .

Now that back ground is out of the way, here's the deal with those area's in the videos, I could if I wanted,  find all the work & rabbits  I could ever want but that would involve staying away from home a lot & at my age I'm looking to cut back, not take on more work .These days numbers become so  less important .I've had a hoot the last 25 years and I've never viewed it as a job ,I've enjoyed every minute & hope to do so for a while yet ...hopefully .....my operation is really dog based work ,its the work I enjoy the most ,breeding ,breaking in pups , is a big plus for me .All of the above is the way I've set my business up ,& it certainly would NOT suit all ,as the old saying goes "there are many ways to skin a cat ,all end up with a skinned cat" ,however I only have to suit my self .cheers TB

 

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14 hours ago, Bobtheferret said:

Heard a lot of stories about dogs/ people not being able to live of rabbit because of lack of fat which I totally agree with and understand but ferrets seem to thrive on it? Mine get nothing else bar the odd pheasant or woody and are in superb nick pretty much all year round. Silver jill I have I don’t think has ever eaten anything else and she is got a beautiful coat and a nice bit of condition to her, her brother on the same diet is a massively fat f****r! Just a thought!
The situation in New Zealand is amazing to see, if i am not mistaken RVHD2 did a fair number on them 20 years ago so good to see it wasn’t terminal!

Yes ,slowly at first the pockets started to grow & have now reach high levels up from 80% kill on the first release. The virus still does a great job in 90% of the land in New Zealand  .

While my dogs enjoy a feed of rabbit once a week I couldn't feed they full time on it ,it fails to have any real fat that, dogs require for stored energy. Dogs are about the only animal who can eat up to 40% of their diet in animal fat ,because I work mine hard I have to feed them well ,so I have an arrangement with my friend who has a home kill butchering business ,that I visit when I get a text once or twice a week to pick up the waste which can be anything from sheep ,lamb ,cattle to deer trimmings and meaty bones .Only last week I picked up 150kgs  ,once I had sorted out the pure fat which I just dump I was left with about 100kgs so I do tend to feed the dogs a lot given that the cost is  just a couple of bottles of the good stuff per year, that's huge for me,,it also means because I have a small lifestyle block on a dead end road out in the country ,I can keep as many dogs as I like & I damn well do .

 cheers TB

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13 hours ago, toolebox said:

Yes ,slowly at first the pockets started to grow & have now reach high levels up from 80% kill on the first release. The virus still does a great job in 90% of the land in New Zealand  .

While my dogs enjoy a feed of rabbit once a week I couldn't feed they full time on it ,it fails to have any real fat that, dogs require for stored energy. Dogs are about the only animal who can eat up to 40% of their diet in animal fat ,because I work mine hard I have to feed them well ,so I have an arrangement with my friend who has a home kill butchering business ,that I visit when I get a text once or twice a week to pick up the waste which can be anything from sheep ,lamb ,cattle to deer trimmings and meaty bones .Only last week I picked up 150kgs  ,once I had sorted out the pure fat which I just dump I was left with about 100kgs so I do tend to feed the dogs a lot given that the cost is  just a couple of bottles of the good stuff per year, that's huge for me,,it also means because I have a small lifestyle block on a dead end road out in the country ,I can keep as many dogs as I like & I damn well do .

 cheers TB

a few photos to round it off would be great ,,,thats the kind of life i would have liked to live ,,...

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On 07/05/2021 at 15:58, poxon said:

Cheaper just to buy a decent air rifle out there an bin it before returning home. I could see uk dogs being binned quick if there’s numbers to go at a dog will soon get bored of being hammered regularly you’d need a constant supply of dogs that are good at numbers to rotate. I think the novelty of numbers would wear off quick an it’d be a boring do catching rabbits think that’s why the native people there can’t be assed to control them that’s why they rely on government to get diseases dropped an government grants 

If you’re a license holder in the uk then you can get a temporary license over there easily. If anyone was serious about the job then I’d be taking NV with me and buying a cheap semi auto rim fire. It’d be absolute murder and the easiest and most profitable way of going about it. The logistics of getting animals in would be a nightmare for a temporary thing.

In fact, f**k it, just take your own guns if you were to be a license holder and enjoy everything out there.

Edited by Born Hunter
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On 08/05/2021 at 03:33, SheepChaser said:

The issue is a lot of it isn’t very populated land abs some not so drivable. Central otago is sheep country. 

To be truthful the Central Otago hills shouldn't have been farmed in the first place  ,its all rocks with little top soil, great for growing grapes these days .It is for the most part covered in canes of bier and weeds. Driveable tracks  are far  & few ,a horse would be useful & this is what the old rabbiters used to carry supplies & traps out to their camps during the winter when they were trapping for skins  . Story's are told of whole farms being brought with a cheque from the sale of rabbit skins in the 40s & 50s  .Rabbit population's exploded during the war years when all the fit men went over seas fighting . What ever you think would work sitting back in England however there are factors too many to list that makes finding a answer to the problem  hard ,rabbit control can be done but it comes at huge cost ,moneys some just don't have .As selfish as it might appear I don't want them to get on top of them ,I want there to be rabbits about because history has shown us once the population's fall all control stops and along with that goes my living & lifestyle . 

Edited by toolebox
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9 hours ago, toolebox said:

To be truthful the Central Otago hills shouldn't have been farmed in the first place  ,its all rocks with little top soil, great for growing grapes these days .It is for the most part covered in canes of bier and weeds. Driveable tracks  are far  & few ,a horse would be useful & this is what the old rabbiters used to carry supplies & traps out to their camps during the winter when they were trapping for skins  . Story's are told of whole farms being brought with a cheque from the sale of rabbit skins in the 40s & 50s  .Rabbit population's exploded during the war years when all the fit men went over seas fighting . What ever you think would work sitting back in England however there are factors too many to list that makes finding a answer to the problem  hard ,rabbit control can be done but it comes at huge cost ,moneys some just don't have .As selfish as it might appear I don't want them to get on top of them ,I want there to be rabbits about because history has shown us once the population's fall all control stops and along with that goes my living & lifestyle . 

From what you have said and from the videos you posted it seems the method that worked the best was 1080 poisoning and with that now not happening it seems that long term the rabbits aren’t going anywhere. The numbers will no doubt fluctuate especially with the disease factor but they have been there 200 years and survived everything thrown at them so my guess would be your safe in your job! Top thread this by the way, keep the tales from the other side of the world coming!

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3 hours ago, Bobtheferret said:

it seems the method that worked the best was 1080 poisoning and with that now not happening it seems that long term the rabbits aren’t going anywhere.

That's good, over here they aerial bait wild dogs with it, it kills heaps of native animals and birds including Wedgetailed eagles. Good luck hunting with dogs in the areas baited. They should ban it.

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8 hours ago, Aussie Whip said:

That's good, over here they aerial bait wild dogs with it, it kills heaps of native animals and birds including Wedgetailed eagles. Good luck hunting with dogs in the areas baited. They should ban it.

I completely agree, I hate poison in any form tbh there’s always far to much collateral damage and horrible slow death. Was just a comment to toolebox that with no poison being used hopefully the rabbits stay and he keeps his job! 

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1080 is still being used in huge amounts these days but possums in bush land are the target ,paid for by the nz government .A number of years ago rabbit boards that were funded by a 50%  50%spit between rates from landowners and the government, used 1080 but those boards have been long disbanded .There is the odd drop done by some land owner's but its no longer the go to option because the block has to be destocked for about 2 months, and its costs ,so more user friendlier methods are more popular now.  Most of these problem population's are living in or close to towns ,so shooting & poisons are out ,leaving people pondering what can be done. This has come about because most of those involved in rabbit board control have long passed & there are now very few people left that know much about rabbits if anything in general ,this has been replaced with a number of old wives tails of what rabbits do & what they like .That's the major different   between people from the UK ,Scotland, and Ireland, you still do in the sport as you have always done ,in NZ there are so very few people that know anything or are interested to find out ,so in at least the short term nothing is going to change, there will always be good numbers of rabbits to chase ,after that I will be well gone & it wont matter .

Ps if I'm looking at new place that has a rabbit problem in central   & I find out the the neighbour  has used 1080 within the last 4 years ,I just shake my head & say sorry I value my dogs /mates too much ,to risk them dying from 1080 so sorry I'm not interested in taking on this job .......good luck ...bye ... I've only had one dog die of 1080 poisoning & ONCE was more than enough for me thanks .

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