RABBIT NUMBERS

[micky 3,325]

Over the last 50 years i have taken about a thousand rabbits a season from land in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire , and Lincolnshire, that is a rough figure as when i went lamping i had a lot more, i am lucky to be on some very big  farms that have large rabbit populations i also know many little hot spots where i could go freelancing in safety, in the past i have only taken rabbits  as i wanted them and if i needed a hundred i could get them  this season on all that land  i have caught  4 though i have been lucky to have been out with a couple of lads and catch a few more.

MAKES YOU THINK DONT'T IT

[The one 8,488]

Last year we took 3000 off a new permission next door to one we currently had four fields with highland cattle in them round the big house  one day my mate says look at that place on google earth it looks like a swiss cheese  it was great for giving guys a day out you always got a few  , they gave the fields to the farmer next door to improve them and he did  ploughed it then filled in the burrows only burrows are left are on the slope where the tractor cant reach last week we got 6 rabbits 

[EDDIE B 3,166]

It's sad to see. The very same thing is happening here in Ireland, and thing is, there aint a dalm thing we can do about it. Where will we be in another ten or twenty years? Will there be any good rabbiting area's left? Will they be able to build up immunity to these new virus's, or is it already too late? Will the sport inevitably end up being nothing more than a distant memory?

[The one 8,488]

Im sure the 70 where great rabbit years apart from remembering ferreting in a t shirt  ive a few good memories it comes in cycles like everything else you just got to weather it  a lot have already packed in and sold there gear , Is it going to be like the myxi when the rabbit numbers came back only a few had ferrets and some from pet homes ? who knows time will tell 

[Rabid 1,936]

I can remember certain places we knew as hotspots, in particular, one private park, we ferreted it every Sunday without fail, it was nowt to see 5 or 6 hundred rabbits out and about, the place was moving.

our best day was 362 rabbits, we were all shattered after that day.

sadly I had a little walk around it last year and saw 3 rabbits.

 

A few more spots have gone the same way, unsure if it's hunting pressure, Mixy, land management or what, but certainly not the amount about.

 

Now I have a bit of ground, my attitude has changed towards them, I only keep the numbers in check,  once upon a time I would have been out ferreting, shooting and long netting day and night to clear them out, but I try and preserve certain areas, it's nice to know I can walk out with the rifle and get a couple when I need them.

[neil cooney 10,416]

2 hours ago, EDDIE B said:

It's sad to see. The very same thing is happening here in Ireland, and thing is, there aint a dalm thing we can do about it. Where will we be in another ten or twenty years? Will there be any good rabbiting area's left? Will they be able to build up immunity to these new virus's, or is it already too late? Will the sport inevitably end up being nothing more than a distant memory?

Eddie, maybe I've asked you this before but have you read the book "The Rabbit Industry in Ireland" ? Released last year.

Would open your eyes to what the rabbit did for this country and how a few selfish men destroyed it and then along comes VHD and here we go again. It's a very concise book.

[EDDIE B 3,166]

49 minutes ago, neil cooney said:

Eddie, maybe I've asked you this before but have you read the book "The Rabbit Industry in Ireland" ? Released last year.

Would open your eyes to what the rabbit did for this country and how a few selfish men destroyed it and then along comes VHD and here we go again. It's a very concise book.

I've read a little snippet of the book neil. Found it online somewhere. Just a couple of paragraphs. Looked like a fantastic read. Thanks for reminding me of it, cheers!

[Outofnowhere 93]

Had a few permissions in the past we called  rabbit city.  Good bags and good sport . i've took  6 since the summer . Very sad

 

[tilimangro 1,013]

I’ve a few spots that hold good numbers of rabbits

i keep these to myself now

its very obvious the rabbits days are numbered if things don’t change

 

[Fat-Ferret 857]

3 hours ago, neil cooney said:

Eddie, maybe I've asked you this before but have you read the book "The Rabbit Industry in Ireland" ? Released last year.

Would open your eyes to what the rabbit did for this country and how a few selfish men destroyed it and then along comes VHD and here we go again. It's a very concise book.

Some good parts in the book Neil but a lot of nonsense too...not the authors fault really he just took what he was told as truth. He's a nice man and did well putting the book together.

He covered a part of the country and spoke to and interviewed several men who claimed to be involved in the rabbit trade in that area, they talked about snaring and the three of them couldn't set a mouse trap let alone a snare ...and came from farming families and were never involved with rabbits.

 

There was only really one family involved in the rabbit trade in that area and the last of the men died nearly ten years ago at 98 years old....He told me Snares were never used in the area by commercial rabbit men only long nets....the rabbits were sold for skins so anything else risked damaging the skins.

Take a look at the snares shown in the book by the "experts" and that will tell you all you need to know, they are shop bought ones with hairy twine on them, "Just like the ones we always used"

However there are some very good parts in the book from people who are telling the truth. 

 

 

 

 

[neil cooney 10,416]

It wouldn't surprise me if some folk exaggerated the truth because IMO the Author not only tried to cover every county but every parish within those counties and that might have been too much . But I do know that what he wrote about the rabbit men in my area was accurate. I started rabbiting in the 80s and hunted with those men who made a living out of the rabbit up 'till the 60s even after the myxy. Some of them are still alive.

[earth-thrower 493]

On 1/1/2018 at 11:18, micky said:

Over the last 50 years i have taken about a thousand rabbits a season from land in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire , and Lincolnshire, that is a rough figure as when i went lamping i had a lot more, i am lucky to be on some very big  farms that have large rabbit populations i also know many little hot spots where i could go freelancing in safety, in the past i have only taken rabbits  as i wanted them and if i needed a hundred i could get them  this season on all that land  i have caught  4 though i have been lucky to have been out with a couple of lads and catch a few more.

MAKES YOU THINK DONT'T IT

Aye, its worrying Micky, to say the least,...

[earth-thrower 493]

On 1/1/2018 at 13:18, EDDIE B said:

It's sad to see. The very same thing is happening here in Ireland, and thing is, there aint a dalm thing we can do about it. Where will we be in another ten or twenty years? Will there be any good rabbiting area's left? Will they be able to build up immunity to these new virus's, or is it already too late? Will the sport inevitably end up being nothing more than a distant memory?

Aye, its getting a real concern now ?

[Guest Navek]

This is why I’ve started poaching pheasants instead of rabbits ..plenty of lads out there breeding pheasants for poor unfortunat peasants like me to take..?

[The one 8,488]

1 minute ago, Navek said:

This is why I’ve started poaching pheasants instead of rabbits ..plenty of lads out there breeding pheasants for poor unfortunat peasants like me to take..?

Its no even worth the bother of getting into trouble for pheasants as you can get them given to you for free now days