Rabbit Drop Boxes

[john b 38]

I've been waiting to post this topic for a little while now, but wanted to wait until I had the whole photostory.

 

In February of this year I was contaced by Steve, who'd bought a copy of my book, Trap Making Step by Step, and had made some of the traps from it. Out of the blue I got an email with these pics attached; clearly Steve had been very busy.

 

 

 

 

 

Now as you might imagine I was really interested in the drop boxes he'd made and to see where this went. All the designs in the book are tested but this was an opportunity to follow a truely independant field trial of the drop boxes.

 

Before long the boxes were all prepared and ready for installation.

 

 

 

By mid Feb the boxes had been dug in but remained locked while the rabbits got used to them. Interestingly these have been installed with the tunnels running long the outside of a rabbit fence, not through as they often are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For reasons of access the traps were then left unset until mid March. On the first night of operation they caught 6 rabbits in one trap and 2 in another. Steve then closed them again and baited the area with carrot.

 

By the 28th or March they\'d had another 38 and they are now catching regularly.

 

I have to say I\'m delighted.

 

 

[stealthy1 3,964]

Must be nice to see one of your designs being used, and catching, well done.

[cumbrianrabbiter 0]

cracking pics well done

 

atb gaz

[richie 1]

good to see them catching....

[stubby 175]

are the bottoms meshed john, for drainage, or solid

[john b 38]

are the bottoms meshed john, for drainage, or solid

 

I don't know Steve - I'll try and find out. This whole project has been done independantly from me so I only know what they've shown me.

 

A wire mesh base is what I recommend in the book though.

[J Darcy 5,870]

Top Post...

[jack crowley 5]

DOES THERE HAVE TO BE THAT FENCING AROUND THEM OR CAN THEY BE PLACED NEAR A DITCH

[woodga 170]

a most unusual way to site a tunnel iv seen tunnels like that before but on both sides of the fence with an a joining opening allowing a catch from which ever side the rabbit entered as it had to go over the the trap door,

boxes certainly work as we were in scotland on the estate at hill house where they were first ever tested the first time they were set and emptied they had over 500 rabbits in the boxes

[ferret boy charlie 0]

nice one mate ill take some pics of the ones i made soon ive still got them locked though as im unable to check them at the mo

[TOMO 24,837]

john what was the reason for setting them like that??

 

it goes to prove that no idea's are set in stone

 

but i cant help thinking would they have took more if the tunnels went through the fence. i think once a rabbit had been through once or twice and realised it wasn't going anywhere . they wouldn't use them again.

 

intresting stuff though, and those boxes look very well made

[john b 38]

john what was the reason for setting them like that??

 

I asked the same question Tomo. According to Steve the boxes were set this way at the request of the site owner. There is an area of the garden fenced off to protect it and these boxes are set round the exterior of the fence.

 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the long term. Either the rabbits will find another way through then fence, or they may get caught running round the fence trying to find a way in.

[TOMO 24,837]

cheers john

 

thats the thing with drop boxes, the land owner has just spent thousands fencing the rabbits out, then along comes a pester and says , put some drop boxes in. what do they do they ask , wel they let the rabbits through for about a month till they get used to them.

 

there reply is , let the feckers in . i got thousands of pounds worth of wheat growing there

 

just been in this position my self, trying to get one of my farmers to pay me to run and intall some boxes for him

Edited April 21, 2009 by TOMO

[Matt 160]

I always set a few boxes up like that to catch the rabbits that run up and down the fence line. They work well.

 

The thing about drop boxes is to 'sell' the principle of 'managed access'. Unless you provide managed access, the rabbits will just dig under the fence.

 

I did an english heritage job a few years ago where they installed their own fencing. They went down nine feet with the wire, and the rabbits still dug under it; because there was no 'managed access'.

 

They wont make that mistake again..........

[bosco 3]

goodpost .just revieved the larsen springs and ur trap book very impressed gud stuff