fieldfare 1 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Well rabbits in Croatia got wiped out from over hunting and diesease,but have been re-introduced from Uk stock from Shropshire and Scotland and are now managed as "game".So it can and does work. Same as in France really,Rabbits are classed as game and are bred on large commercial game farms just like pheasants and then realeased on shoots,they are also inoculated againts mxymotosis(sp?),also expect a heavy fine for poaching a bunny in France.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
droid 11 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Are you saying there's a chance of them becoming extinct in this country? Because if you aren't I fail to see the relevence. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fieldfare 1 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 (edited) Are you saying there's a chance of them becoming extinct in this country? Because if you aren't I fail to see the relevence. No'ooo did'nt write that so read it again,just local populations in certain areas like around me,youre lucky to see 1 rabbit whilst out lamping on the sporting country estate i work on and its not from over shooting etc. And the RELEVENCE is,coney is'nt exactly extinct in France ,just like here were sometimes local populations almost vanish, and in france they are repopulated from stock bred on game farms. Just like on a sporting estate i worked on this summer in Languedoc,they spent the equivelent of a few thousand £'s on restocking rabbits bred from a commercial game farm. Edited January 4, 2009 by fieldfare Quote Link to post Share on other sites
droid 11 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Rabbits are vermin, so if they are locally rare then I would have thought that would be to the advantage of land owners. The only reason i can think of for 'restocking' in this country is for the benefit of hunters. But many rabbiters seem to style themselves as 'pest controllers'. Odd sort of 'pest control' to reintroduce the pest..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fieldfare 1 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 (edited) Rabbits are vermin, so if they are locally rare then I would have thought that would be to the advantage of land owners. The only reason i can think of for 'restocking' in this country is for the benefit of hunters. But many rabbiters seem to style themselves as 'pest controllers'. Odd sort of 'pest control' to reintroduce the pest..... True,Another persons vermin is another persons sport,just like one of the farms that borders the estate i work on,its a mixed livestock/arable 400acre farm and the land owner has asked me and another person not to cull the rabbits this season so theres enough to breed in the spring If you had the concent of the landower(s),wich i would for eg i dont see the problem Edited January 4, 2009 by fieldfare Quote Link to post Share on other sites
richie 1 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 ............. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
will.f11 24 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Countryboyo's next 'project'. Introducing rats so that he can enjoy a bit of ratting. This is Care in the Community stuff. agreed. Hes one hell of a tree hugger is our countryboyo.... I do not understand how the mods let this thread stay, which is discussing ILLEGAL ACTIVITY but delete the thread about JBS being deleted show me will, where it states that releasing healthy rabbits is illegal and what have I told you before about abushive posts, you'll earn yourself a warning lad Breeding and releasing rabbits is illegal. Like it is illegal to let a rabbit down for a lurcher to course. You should realize steve mate about how it is not fair on farmers which dont want the rabbits for them to be released. As a pestie you should understand. Just as when someone puts a post on here about poaching pheasants, and everyone comes up saying 'you are destroying a gamekeepers livlihood by killing his birds' But it is exactly the same about what this chap is trying to do to farmers. If any farmers down here found out someone was releasing rabbits for sport, they would give them a little bit more than name calling, thats for sure... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
will.f11 24 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 Rabbits are vermin, so if they are locally rare then I would have thought that would be to the advantage of land owners. The only reason i can think of for 'restocking' in this country is for the benefit of hunters. But many rabbiters seem to style themselves as 'pest controllers'. Odd sort of 'pest control' to reintroduce the pest..... True,Another persons vermin is another persons sport,just like one of the farms that borders the estate i work on,its a mixed livestock/arable 400acre farm and the land owner has asked me and another person not to cull the rabbits this season so theres enough to breed in the spring If you had the concent of the landower(s),wich i would for eg i dont see the problem But if you think, every bit of land has to join onto someone elses land, and rabbits dont keep to boundries and even if you get the next door farmers permission, he still joins onto another farm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fieldfare 1 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 (edited) But if you think, every bit of land has to join onto someone elses land, and rabbits dont keep to boundries and even if you get the next door farmers permission, he still joins onto another farm True,but i'm not talking about postage stamp sized grounds but very large areas,it is interesting to see the different reports on bunnies, i like most people have areas where numbers have crashed though this was mainly due to an unusual bout of mixie last spring which the breeding adults were hit hard in some area's, and other areas are doing worse with suspect VHD and they are noticeable from there complete absence!. I love rabbiting with gun and dog and ferreting and it makes up most of my sport until the main shooting season is over, but along with some friends we proactively protect this sport. I think another problem we face is as all field sports have increased in popularity and this puts an ever increasing pressure on the quarry, this is no biggie for pheasants etc as they are re stocked by the thousands but the poor old Bunnie has to do it the natural way and combined with the disease issue some places just don't recover, for a long time we have assumed that the numbers can take what ever we throw at them but now we are finding they can't. i think with responsible management(deal with them when they are a pest,not for the sake of it) all areas can be maintained but often requires more effort and control than some want to exercise but very encouraging that people are at least thinking about it now. Edited January 4, 2009 by fieldfare Quote Link to post Share on other sites
will.f11 24 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 But if you think, every bit of land has to join onto someone elses land, and rabbits dont keep to boundries and even if you get the next door farmers permission, he still joins onto another farm True,but i'm not talking about postage stamp sized grounds but very large areas,it is interesting to see the different reports on bunnies, i like most people have areas where numbers have crashed though this was mainly due to an unusual bout of mixie last spring which the breeding adults were hit hard in some area's, and other areas are doing worse with suspect VHD and they are noticeable from there complete absence!. I love rabbiting with gun and dog and ferreting and it makes up most of my sport until the main shooting season is over, but along with some friends we proactively protect this sport. I think another problem we face is as all field sports have increased in popularity and this puts an ever increasing pressure on the quarry, this is no biggie for pheasants etc as they are re stocked by the thousands but the poor old Bunnie has to do it the natural way and combined with the disease issue some places just don't recover, for a long time we have assumed that the numbers can take what ever we throw at them but now we are finding they can't. i think with responsible management(deal with them when they are a pest,not for the sake of it) all areas can be maintained but often requires more effort and control than some want to exercise but very encouraging that people are at least thinking about it now. If a rabbit is not breeding in an area, there must be a reason Quote Link to post Share on other sites
whippetmike 3 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 not sure what the law is but if the dog catches young rabbits or if we catch young rabbits when ferreting i drop them in my pocket and let them go later on on some ruff ground near home Quote Link to post Share on other sites
woodard 32 Posted January 4, 2009 Report Share Posted January 4, 2009 But if you think, every bit of land has to join onto someone elses land, and rabbits dont keep to boundries and even if you get the next door farmers permission, he still joins onto another farm True,but i'm not talking about postage stamp sized grounds but very large areas,it is interesting to see the different reports on bunnies, i like most people have areas where numbers have crashed though this was mainly due to an unusual bout of mixie last spring which the breeding adults were hit hard in some area's, and other areas are doing worse with suspect VHD and they are noticeable from there complete absence!. I love rabbiting with gun and dog and ferreting and it makes up most of my sport until the main shooting season is over, but along with some friends we proactively protect this sport. I think another problem we face is as all field sports have increased in popularity and this puts an ever increasing pressure on the quarry, this is no biggie for pheasants etc as they are re stocked by the thousands but the poor old Bunnie has to do it the natural way and combined with the disease issue some places just don't recover, for a long time we have assumed that the numbers can take what ever we throw at them but now we are finding they can't. i think with responsible management(deal with them when they are a pest,not for the sake of it) all areas can be maintained but often requires more effort and control than some want to exercise but very encouraging that people are at least thinking about it now. If a rabbit is not breeding in an area, there must be a reason yep there all bucks lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Countryboyo Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 Rabbits are vermin, so if they are locally rare then I would have thought that would be to the advantage of land owners. The only reason i can think of for 'restocking' in this country is for the benefit of hunters. But many rabbiters seem to style themselves as 'pest controllers'. Odd sort of 'pest control' to reintroduce the pest..... True,Another persons vermin is another persons sport,just like one of the farms that borders the estate i work on,its a mixed livestock/arable 400acre farm and the land owner has asked me and another person not to cull the rabbits this season so theres enough to breed in the spring If you had the concent of the landower(s),wich i would for eg i dont see the problem Well said lad and when out ferreting with my friend last year we met the farmer and he told us to make sure we dont take too many so there will be plenty to breed again for next year. I know that crop farmers wouldnt like rabbits anywhere near their land but I live in an area that is totaly dairy farming, obviously rabbits will eat a share of the farmers grass but most farmers dont mind a few rabbits on their land as long as they dont go out of control. Anyway Ive taken another step in the breeding programme and have got four wild rabbits off a mate. They are in my enclosure now, I have an artificial burrow made for them out of pipe, this pipe is covered in earth and is stuck into a mound of earth at one end, this will allow the rabbits to continue on burrowing and make their own warren. I dont expect any breeding to take place until the weather picks up a bit, also It will take a bit of time for them to get used to their new environment. Its early days yet but I am hopefull that it will work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest SJM Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 I think it would be a good idea for areas which have been wiped out by VHD. Nothing ventured, nothing gained so to speak so I voted yes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RatSnatcher 0 Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 You will have to get all your starting stock screened for mixie, before you start your project.......££ Spreading of myxomatosis, A person shall be guilty of an offence if he knowingly uses or permits the use of a rabbit infected with myxomatosis to spread the disease among uninfected rabbits, Pest act 1954 section 12 There is usually a reason why some land has no rabbits sometimes there are too many predators ect, seems a lot of fugging about to take a few pot shots maybe you should by some pigeon decoys instead Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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