How quick does it actually take for a rabbit to die using a snare?
The thought of it wriggling and panicing as the life is squeezed out of it
would put me off ever considering this method.
I think we've moved on since 'Trapper John' days.
Get someone who knows what the're doing, has the right rifle, to do the job.
You find you might sleep better, and not have dreams of rabbits squerming on a wire
and their little lives being slowly drained from them.
Is that a haiku?
But seriously, when they do strangle themselves they don't take long because usually they are running and they pretty much do themselves with that first push through. When they slip through gently, you get the 'sitter' situation that I described before.
You could try longnetting if you wan to take a good few - the only faff is the net itself, I think electric fence posts are probably the thing to run it out on, I used to use hazel (again), but it is quite cumbersome. There are two ways of doing it - you run the net out in situ between the grazings and the warren along a fence or hedge preferably with the back of the net tied up off the deck so the bunnies can move freely (in the day - unless you are some kind of masochist). You then sneak in at night and drop the net (so tie it using loops and a bow at one end) and scare the rabbits into it using a dog or moving along clapping etc (some people use bags on string with pebbles in so they 'flap' carried between two people).
Or: If you need to do the whole operation in one night (can't think why you might do that....
) - you attach the net to the posts and fold it in such a way that you can release it walking backwards (so you line the posts up with the net hanging down between them), making up some sort of 'jig' to rest it on is fairly easy, you then cary the lot round your neck. (I have heard of people rolling it round their torso and then putting a coat on over it - again, I can't possibly think why one might be doing that, either....
). You pay the whole lot out between the rabbits and burrows, staking in the posts as you go, then drive the bunnies back into the net. For this to be truly effective you need a dark, moonless night with a breeze (not a gale - they stay under the ground then) blowing your scent away from the feeding rabbits (ie towards the burrows).
Either way, once you have spooked the rabbits you can turn your torch on and go along the net killing the rabbits tangled in it.
When doing this, walking lightly and knowing where the wind is blowing your scent is vital. Its no use doing it on a shiny night - the rabbits will see you from miles off.
