Plague of rabbits

What is an acceptable way of getting rid of rabbits from a residential lot bordering a cornfield and a "mini-zoo"?

When we saw them running around our yard, they seemed cute at first. Now we find they are burrowing under our shed, which I has a slight list -- but I don't know whether that is the result of the burrowing or whether it has always been that way without my noticing before.

Back on the farm in UK many decades ago, my father used two approaches:

(a) A commercially available (at that time) product, "Cymag," containing a significant percentage of sodium cyanide (in 7lb cans!). Plug up all the holes but one, dump in some of this stuff, then plug the last hole. It reacted with the moisture in the soil to generate hydrogen cyanide gas, which made short work of the furry little darlings. Somehow I cannot imagine this being readily available in my local garden store (and it was banned in the EU with effect from the end of 2004).

Or

(b) A ferret with a collar and leash. I'm not so sure about that one either. Hungry ferret disappeared down the hole. Unhungry ferret emerged from hole.

My father had a double-12 shot gun too, but he didn't waste it on rabbits.

What is a socially acceptable remedy in this enlightened age?

Perce

Reply to
Percival P. Cassidy
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Shame to waste! Rabbit pie? Because if you want edible that rules out poisoning.

However if the rabbit is inedible; the rabbit skins can still be cured by application of salt then washed and oiled and are useful for people who do 'handicrafts'; a nice pair of rabbit skin winter gloves for example.

Suggest: Strategically placed Wire 'slips' i.e. loops that lasso the rabbits. Stainless or brass 'Rabbit wire' used to be available at most hardware stores.

BTW: Who says we are enlightened when we pollute and throw chemicals at every perceived problem that comes along? For example someone wanted to insect spray for wasps and bees! Wasps help control insects populations, such mosquitoes, which can carry Nile virus/malaria etc. and bees pollinate our food crops!

Good luck.

Reply to
terry

PS. For 'Hardware' read 'Ironmongers'!

Reply to
terry

get some cats

Reply to
AZ Nomad

They leave the kidney on the porch. Cats want the piss boiled out.

Reply to
Oren

Good quality pellet rifle, 4x scope....

Reply to
Special Ed

Oren wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Cats are worse than rabbits.

Reply to
Stephen King

Most dogs will be happy to break a rabbits neck. There are many repellant that can be used (dried blood) or you can use rabbit fencing. Encourage hawks and owls to your area. Cyanide compounds may poison rabbit predators.

Reply to
Phisherman

How so?! Cats frown on fresh rabbit kidney, doesn't make them less of an animal.

Reply to
Oren

Instead of Sodium Cyanide, we used Calcium carbide. When wet, it generates acetylene (the little rocks used to be used in miner's lamps). Anyway, block the holes as before, throw in some pellets, add water, cover remaining hole.

If you like, after a couple of minutes, toss in match and watch the BOOM!

Reply to
HeyBub

- Hide quoted text -

geez everyone wants to kill animals.

havahart trap catch and release bunnies a few miles away.

do fix your tilting shed, they only burrow where the digging is easy, unlikely under shed pilings, mre likely under shed floor.

spread some dried blood around, available from store, that discourages them.

everyone should try to live with nature rather than control it

Reply to
hallerb

Rabbit is tasty. Easier to eat when dead.

Never chase one into a briar patch.

Reply to
Oren

" snipped-for-privacy@aol.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@y21g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:

Yea, nothing bunch or war mongers around here :-) Like to see 'em mess with Killer Rabbit from Monty Python's Holy Grail!

Reply to
Red Green

Yea, I've used those, I have delivered about 8 racoons to someone elses neighborhood. Mike :-)

Reply to
amdx

I my rabbits. Nice and quiet, and fun to watch. I'm a city boy, when 2 of them keep mock-charging each other, are they disputing turf or courting? Sometimes, at dawn, when the subdivision is quiet, I even see them in the front yard when I leave for work, munching the little white flowers from the grass where it hasn't been mowed. I have a good brush'n'bramble pile filled with last year's leaves in one corner of the back fenceline, so they have plenty of places to hide from predators. And the will-never-be-used partially wooded back 40 of the graveyard is right past the fence, so plenty of space to burrow to their heart's content. (My shed is on a slab, so no worries there.) Also get turkey, racoons, lots of birds, and the deer have finally figured out how to walk around the fence the graveyard put up. And squirrels, too, of course. I don't use chemicals, or have a dog, so the back yard doesn't smell or taste funny to all the little furry things.

Of course, I don't have a vegetable garden, so YMMV.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

If it was less than several miles, it was probably the same 2 raccoons 4 times. They are good navigators. Most places, moving them without a license is now illegal. Well-sealed trash cans, not feeding pets outside, and not having low-hanging bird feeders, is usually enough to get them to go away, other than when tasty things are in the garden. Free Food is what guides them. Of course, a safe, warm, and dry place to sleep is also attractive, but if no food is around, they will probably look elsewhere.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers
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we have 3 dogs, a new bunny has taken up residence nearby. our fence is 6 foot high, the dogs cant get over it.

so mr rabbit sits on one side complacently eating while our dogs go insane on the other.

Reply to
hallerb

Talk with the farmer who owns the corn field. He'll almost certainly want to work with you on this.

Eliminating rabbits is a never-ending quest. They breed faster than you can kill them - Just ask an Australian.

An Aussie told me that it was not unusal for farmers to kill a few hundred rabbits a night. In OZ, you need a license to kill kangaroos and you can't sell the carcass to a slaughter house unless you shot the roo in the head. But nobody cares how you kill a rabbit.

While trapping may provide you with food and pelts, it will not make much of a dent in the population. Also if you are in North America, rabbits usually carry a virus and you need several days with a high temp below freezing before you kill them for food.

I had a neighbor who had two very well-trained Dobermans who would not cross where an electric fence once was. It was not unusual to find dead rabbits in his yard in the morning. One morning there was a very young deer dead in his yard.

To me at least, rabbits are a justification for assualt rifles.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

Hmm, You are mean. Our dog takes care of rabbits. He just chases them away.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

If your dog just chases them away instead of killing and eating them, he's really just a pussy--- same as you ;-)

Reply to
Special Ed

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