Restocking Really Low Rabbit Numbers

[peterhunter86 8,627]

There's to many were I am cnuts are every were

[trenchfoot 4,243]

There's to many were I am cnuts are every were

send us a postcode, we will send a relocating committee!

[mushroom 12,870]

Do the existing rabbits not scrap with the newcomers??

[VOON 1,317]

I did it many years ago. The rabbits bred and lasted a few years, but they all died out in the end.

 

My cousin dropped some off a couple of years back on another patch of land and they are going strong still.

 

I fancy having a go next spring with a few cages of tame does and a couple of wild bucks to service them.

I thought you couldn't cross pet rabbits and wild rabbits??? Or doe you just mean tame wild rabbits?

[J Darcy 5,871]

 

I did it many years ago. The rabbits bred and lasted a few years, but they all died out in the end.

 

My cousin dropped some off a couple of years back on another patch of land and they are going strong still.

 

I fancy having a go next spring with a few cages of tame does and a couple of wild bucks to service them.

I thought you couldn't cross pet rabbits and wild rabbits??? Or doe you just mean tame wild rabbits?

 

I think you can buddy......we've done it before, many, many years ago. My uncle used to call them 'net busters' due to their size

[VOON 1,317]

 

 

 

 

I did it many years ago. The rabbits bred and lasted a few years, but they all died out in the end.

 

My cousin dropped some off a couple of years back on another patch of land and they are going strong still.

 

I fancy having a go next spring with a few cages of tame does and a couple of wild bucks to service them.

 

I thought you couldn't cross pet rabbits and wild rabbits??? Or doe you just mean tame wild rabbits?

I think you can buddy......we've done it before, many, many years ago. My uncle used to call them 'net busters' due to their size

Don't know I thought I read it in a Plummer book that pet rabbits were a type of hare, a farmer was actually telling me yesterday his brother had released pet rabbits and now there's black and white and orange rabbits up there. I thought he was telling porkies. We'll have to ferret the net busters so. ??

[Fly The Boy 339]

I only knew of 1 burrow where I let rabbits out put them in and no time they were digging new burrows,,,,,,4 or 5 first time see how they get on then few weeks let out some more,,,,,,,,,,,,I let out 20 I think thats enough its up to them to breed,,,,,,,,but make sure it is good dry land with good green grass or they will move off........

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Rabbits, be they wild, tame, semi-fecking tame,...whatever,...will readily mate, with one another....

This is what they do.....they enjoy doing it,...

 

Bred several litters from wild bucks and does,..put them in with tame meat rabbits, New Zealand Whites, Flemish Giants ,.even the strange (but incredibly beautiful) red.. 'Belgian Hares'....

We had good litters and dropped a few well grown kits,. in safe, quiet areas..

Observed some plump and juicy progeny,...but, within two seasons,..the colonies reverted to type..

 

Even when kept as pets,..a further hybridisation twixt the half crosses, back to their original wild Sire, instantly brought the size back down..

 

Good fun though,..quite a common experiment locally,...a bit of a pipe dream ...

 

Mind you, these are the kind of things,..mad keen hunting kids do

Edited September 30, 2015 by Phil Lloyd

[J Darcy 5,871]

 

 

 

I did it many years ago. The rabbits bred and lasted a few years, but they all died out in the end.

 

My cousin dropped some off a couple of years back on another patch of land and they are going strong still.

 

I fancy having a go next spring with a few cages of tame does and a couple of wild bucks to service them.

I thought you couldn't cross pet rabbits and wild rabbits??? Or doe you just mean tame wild rabbits?

I think you can buddy......we've done it before, many, many years ago. My uncle used to call them 'net busters' due to their size

Don't know I thought I read it in a Plummer book that pet rabbits were a type of hare, a farmer was actually telling me yesterday his brother had released pet rabbits and now there's black and white and orange rabbits up there. I thought he was telling porkies. We'll have to ferret the net busters so. ??

 

No buddy, the rabbits can interbreed, but eh hare and the rabbit cannot.

I think there's been a bit of confusion between the Belgian Hare and the real hare, the Belgian hare is actually a rabbit.

[jukel123 7,957]

I've released wild/dutch type hybrids many times just for the fun of seeing dutch coloured rabbits turn up. As has been said you get 'sports' appearing from year to year but eventually they revert to type.Not surprising evolution has dictated that the wild colour stands most chance of survival.

Anybody ever read'The Way to an Island', It describes how a guy tried to colonise a welsh island with meat rabbits. He intended to live off the money he made from 'farming' the meat rabbits. Turns out he couldn't completely wipe out the wild population so his plan failed to be a viable concern.

I've played with the idea of vaccinating against mixie and then releasing young uns -in the hope this would give them an advantage over the wild stock and give them a chance of establishing themselves. Anybody tried this?

Edited September 30, 2015 by jukel123

[VOON 1,317]

http://www.msd-animal-health.ie/Binaries/SA-12-21_-_Myxo_RHD_6pg_Detail_Aid_FINAL_tcm102-136686.pdf

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Interesting comments Jukel123

 

Never seen a wild rabbit vaccination program, done on a large scale,..but, I have some info and data, regarding an amazing experiment ,.undertaken by a large team of men,.that involved,....buckets full,.. of 'flea powder'....

Edited September 30, 2015 by Phil Lloyd

[Guest vin]

Just as a matter of interest...how much would someone be expected to pay for a Live bunny ? because its potential HalHal menu also once bagged alive ? I've been asked many times for a few from the spaniel trainers to put in their training pens etc etc.. Its a lot of hassle depending on where you ferret them and how far away from vehicle etc etc.

[jukel123 7,957]

Just as a matter of interest...how much would someone be expected to pay for a Live bunny ? because its potential HalHal menu also once bagged alive ? I've been asked many times for a few from the spaniel trainers to put in their training pens etc etc.. Its a lot of hassle depending on where you ferret them and how far away from vehicle etc etc.

A friend of mine, a spaniel trainer, got me to supply him with wild rabbits for his training pen.

The spaniels sure knew the difference between the semi tame rabbits and the genuinely wild. They would hunt the latter with far more gusto.

I'm not sure whether it was the scent of the truly wild rabbits or the panicked reactions of the wild ones when hunted up that excited them. But they knew all right.

[slip lead 862]

I was getting £15 each 2 for a pony about 10 years ago.