Irish Rabbits In Decline!!

[Saluki246 1,053]

 

Hope they are fine when you go to check on them tommy, as this thing seems to be spreading fast!

i hope so aswell mate, its very hard to get a place like this these days we have had some great days on there in the past some days we were coming away with 30 plus in the bag, would be sad to see this land getting hit with this

 

 

It is hard alright to get good rabbit places anymore. Just a few years ago, rabbits were every where, their was good few places to go to, now we have to travel and their going fast as well!

I remember back in the early 90's, getting bags of 40 or more on the lamp and ferreting double figures, them days seem all but gone!

[BIG G wheton machine 1,594]

it would be a sad day if it wiped them out all over, yes they can be a pest but they are the staple of th predators we hunt and gave us plenty of pocket money in the 90s selling them to the greyhound men, im sure most would agree that if they all died out hunting would collapse as it would affect the whole eco system

[Saluki246 1,053]

it would be a sad day if it wiped them out all over, yes they can be a pest but they are the staple of th predators we hunt and gave us plenty of pocket money in the 90s selling them to the greyhound men, im sure most would agree that if they all died out hunting would collapse as it would affect the whole eco system

 

It would surely!! I also hope that does not happen!

[BIG G wheton machine 1,594]

 

it would be a sad day if it wiped them out all over, yes they can be a pest but they are the staple of th predators we hunt and gave us plenty of pocket money in the 90s selling them to the greyhound men, im sure most would agree that if they all died out hunting would collapse as it would affect the whole eco system

 

It would surely!! I also hope that does not happen!

 

with any luck they will hopefully build up resistance to it and come back strong

[Banter 1,751]

best days ferreting we had was 22 out one set and the same ground now theirs not a rabbit, but iv lots of other ground that been teaming with rabbits from the 70s an still is today

[courseadog 231]

They will bounce back may take a year or two but its fast spreading so isolated pockets of rabbits will excape it's wrath and repopulate

At least in Ireland you can run other quarry

[weasle 1,119]

Think you will find it's being mixed with mixie, I have permission well spread about and what wasn't wiped out last year has been this year,as Johnny said it wipes them out and they never seem to come back.

Seen places hit 5,6 year ago still not a rabbit you see the odd couple and think they might come back then they seem to die of it's not good.

Edited November 30, 2013 by weasle

[jf1970 328]

i had 3 good areas to go at a few years ago, 2 have all but been wiped out by mixy and the 3rd has suppose to have been hit with this vhd, went out the other night and only seen 2 rabbits, i was expecting a good year this year aswell.

[jack44 187]

According to some reports, it could be the end of the rabbit in ireland....! Bloody hope not!!

would be my luck have a 7month old pup and he's my first lurcher so i hope they stick arond for abit longer ha. But seriously there is feck all around my way

[bendrover 556]

birds spread it on there feet , and it lies on the ground active for aprox 150 day it came from china , through pet rabbits . we ( Scotland) got hammered

[Andrew Beirne 78]

This seems very serious our permissions that were crawling at the end of the summer and now struggling to get ten out of it ...if they did get wiped out most other wildlife would struggle to survive..really hope the bounce back

[Poacherspocket 189]

From what lads have told me usually when there is a lot of rabbits on the ground after a good summer of breeding thats when mixy vhd and all other diseases spread fast and whipes them out. Luckily with VHD I think the disease dies off after a while and is spread through urine and bodily fluids unlike mixy which will lie dormant.

[Maximus Ferret 2,063]

From what lads have told me usually when there is a lot of rabbits on the ground after a good summer of breeding thats when mixy vhd and all other diseases spread fast and whipes them out. Luckily with VHD I think the disease dies off after a while and is spread through urine and bodily fluids unlike mixy which will lie dormant.

That's right about the myxy. It's spread by rabbit fleas and the fleas lay dormant in the burrows. If you feed myxi rabbits to your ferrets or dogs you will spread the myxi to your other grounds by way of the fleas.

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

 

 

From what lads have told me usually when there is a lot of rabbits on the ground after a good summer of breeding thats when mixy vhd and all other diseases spread fast and whipes them out. Luckily with VHD I think the disease dies off after a while and is spread through urine and bodily fluids unlike mixy which will lie dormant.

That's right about the myxy. It's spread by rabbit fleas and the fleas lay dormant in the burrows. If you feed myxi rabbits to your ferrets or dogs you will spread the myxi to your other grounds by way of the fleas.

Surely the fleas are dead once in the dogs gut? Or do you mean if your dogs and ferrets have got fleas?

[Maximus Ferret 2,063]

 

 

From what lads have told me usually when there is a lot of rabbits on the ground after a good summer of breeding thats when mixy vhd and all other diseases spread fast and whipes them out. Luckily with VHD I think the disease dies off after a while and is spread through urine and bodily fluids unlike mixy which will lie dormant.

That's right about the myxy. It's spread by rabbit fleas and the fleas lay dormant in the burrows. If you feed myxi rabbits to your ferrets or dogs you will spread the myxi to your other grounds by way of the fleas.

Surely the fleas are dead once in the dogs gut? Or do you mean if your dogs and ferrets have got fleas?

 

The rabbit fleas will live for a time on dogs or ferrets. I usually skin gut and freeze rabbits for the dogs but for ferrets I just cut them into bits of the right size then chuck 'em in, skins and all.