[BAKEWELL11]

Hi
I LOVE this site!!! so much to learn so much knowledge and experience all in one place, soooo much to learn!!!

Now then....my field is SERIOUSLY  overrun by rabbits. At least 60 holes of various sizes ranging from huge to small bunny size, it's terrifying as I have horses. If I fence all the holes off I lose at least a quarter of the land. Plus, I have no grass, even after resting the fields, bunny droppings and very very short grass.  Badger man came out tonight to check for resident badgers and thankfully no badgers living on the land, sooo I want rid of the bunnies, rid of the warrens, FOREVER!!!!!!!!!
Lots of ppl have offered to come over with guns/ferrets/dogs/birds of prey, but will any of these methods be able to clear such a large number of rabbits? gas? digger? Not sure of the most humane, efficient method??
I am an animal lover and not into mindless slaughter... but can't live with bloody rabbits any longer! 
Any advice gratefully accepted.

[Rosemary]

We have rabbits also - not as bad as yours, but it won't get better on its own. We're planning to contact local pest control. At Longcarse, we had them gassed which worked well for a while. Ferrets were no good on the land - it was reclaimed and rubbly in bits and the guys weren't keen to commit their ferrets.

Where are you?

[oldwolf]

When I was a teenager and early twenties I was into hunting Rabbits amongst other things, probably a cultural thing as just about every kid in the village did it.  the most humane and efficient method of almost eradicating rabbit infestation is heavy hunting from about now with ferret and nets. I ahve used shotguns, air rifle, lurchers and birds of prey, but the most eeicient method is ferreting.  After initial heavy bags the catch will dwindle, and you will be left with the elusive houdini.  Up here when the snow / hard frosts come you can spot which holes are still being used and work accordingly, although I suspect you climate may be more mils in which case block some of the holes with grass/ bracken etc and see what gets moved.
You could ask your local ferret or lurcher club to come in,  a couple of lads with ferrets and purse nets with lurchers running loose to mop up the sprinters.
I seem to recall back in the eighties the isle of man council putting a bounty on rabbits, but this may be expensive.

[BAKEWELL11]

Hi
Thanks for your comments.
[quote it was reclaimed and rubbly in bits and the guys weren't keen to commit their ferrets.

Where are you? ][/quote]
i am on Isle of Wight..... the land was quarried once and the area with the bunnies is sand, know the ferret alds wouldn't come out all summer due to baby bunnies causing ferrets to stay underground, so we've been waiting. Good news was no badgers are presently living on site.
Gas is going to be an expensive option due to the large area,
I am now thinking free for all ferreting followed by digger on warrens, I  have also been told to get some sonic deterrants??? Do horses chickens or pigs hate these?
Anyone fancy a holiday? bring your own ferrets nets and dogs, I'll hold yer coat!!

[lazybee]

I find a good way to move them on, is to use an air rifle with a scope mounted lamp. It is fairly humane as a head shot is necessary and if you miss (which you should avoid) it's no suffering. If a shotgun is used the guts are ruptured and the meat is tainted. I would treat it as a kind of harvest, it's seems such a waste to gas them. The rabbits will soon wise up and bugger off after a few nights. When I go out rabbiting I move to different places to avoid them moving on. They certainly will depart if a particular field is 'overworked'

[BAKEWELL11]

Really?? My hubster has been shooting at dawn/dusk a few times with air rifle,  my reason for not going with guns was that I thought it would be a bit of a drop in the ocean taking a few rabbits each night....didn't realise they would actually move out. 
I like rabbit meat...and we have a giant freezer full of oven chips...(yes.. I am ashamed!)
You're right, we should at least try to use what we kill. And what with ferrets lurchers and air guns, with any luck they'll go find bunny paradise somewhere else!!
You've given me food for thought, off to look up bunny recipes!!   

[Greenerlife]

We fight a constant battle with rabbits as the drainage ditches around my garden and land provide them fantastic opportunity to dig into their sides, thus undermining my hedge that has now died and continuing to overrun everything!  I HATE RABBITS!  we were quoted for gassing, but the guy was extremely honest by saying it would be a waste of money as there were so many holes, after gassing they would just re populate a few weeks later in the old holes. Also, gassing can kill other critters which are lovely to have around, like stoats (I have stoats and have watched one take 6 rabbits out of one hole for tea when they have young - awesome to see)  ferreters are great if they come in at the right time of year (about now if I remember correctly). If you get the buggers now, it saves you having to get rid of 8 later!  The local farmers shoot regularly at night which helps and although I was a city girl before, I am now dead eye dick when it comes to shooting rabbits!  Creosote soaked cloth deters them from using the burrows, so worth a go.  I also use traps (they like broccoli) and then shoot them in the traps (I am going on a course soon to kill and butcher them, but I don't know how to at the moment).  If they are as big a problem for you as for me, my heart goes out to you - it is a constant
battle.  Good luck!

[darkbrowneggs]

Hi - I suffered from rabbit damage for many years, and tried just about everything.  Had traps down, ferreted regularly planted repellent plants.  Have to say nothing worked permanently.

Every so often Myxsy or HVD would sweep through and destroy them, but within a few months we would be back where we started.  In the end I decided the only course was rabbit netting all round the edge.  Took absolutely ages and cost pounds.  I used 4ft high netting, buried slightly and turned  45 degrees and 15" out

After a few weeks I watched a rabbit climb the fence, so we had to go round the top with another 18" high run.  Then ferreted often inside to sort out the stragglers, and so far (thank God ) 5 years later, still clear.  It was a mammoth effort, but did actually work

All the best
Sue

[BAKEWELL11]

Thanks so much for help!!  I am now motivated and officially at war! Gun has been brought out ready, have placed ad for local ferreters and dogs to come look. And.... (Shhhh) I happen to know that we do have some creosote tucked away somewhere! so we'll shoot regularly and fill freezer, hopefully will hear from some ferrets, and end the year with a bloody great digger and some kind of deterrants to boot!  I love having a plan!!!  Fencing would be last resort, apart from expense, we would fence everything else in or out, wouldn't want to cause too much chaos to local wildlife as our land adjoins farmland on one long side and disused land the other so badgies foxes and whoever else is around paddles across us on regular basis. We would force them all onto gardens and roads if not careful.
Kids have agreed to eat bunny! I already have a collection of "lucky" feet... they don't work!!!
Thanks ppl, will let you know how it goes....

[waterhouse]

After a lot of trial and error (we have a brightly lit main road on one side and common land on the other) I found that the highest bodycount came from using 12 bore subsonic 32gram rounds during the day. I get better range than a precharged air rifle with very few surviving the first round.

The subsonic rounds seem to confuse the bunnies who often stay put rather than scattering as they do with ordinary cartridges

[loosey]

Lamping is how we take out most of the population here. (Nice dark night, one person on the lamp and the other with a 2.2 rifle ... I won't let him use the shotgun around the horses!)My OH does pest control for local farmers and brings the rabbits home, either to eat or for the ferrets. We have one peice of land which is just over 11 acres which has horses on and he will never shoot less than 20 to 30 in 2 hours there. They'll never be gone completely but it's kept it at a reasonable level (and kept our ferrets tummy's full!).

[blackcat]

Get one of these ...

[loosey]

Get one of these ...

I have one of those! He only tends to chew the head of though, choosing to leave the rest on my brand new landing carpet!! 

[waterhouse]

Interesting point.   We have two cats which we got from one of the animal charities as ferals with a clear understanding that they weren't domesticated.  Both live out and turn up every few days usually when we're doing the horses in the evening.  One can occasionally be stroked but the other has probably been handled twice in the two years we've had them.

We leave some dry food in a stable but they mostly hunt the fields.  They keep the stable yard clear of vermin and get baby bunnies but fully grown rabbits are beyond them.  That's what the fox is for and has done an awesome job this summer.  Unfortunately he also got 7 chickens when the son and heir was in charge and left the hen house open and the electric fence off.

[lachlanandmarcus]

I also got 2 ferals from the cats protection specifically as mousers and they have decimated the rabbit and mouse population without touching the hares. They get one meal a day but very much enjoy their work and sleep in the hay barn. Minus 20 degrees plus last winter but they were cosy as toast in there and I reckon they have the best of lives, we certainly have very few rabbits and very sleek shiny coated stable cats. We are lucky tho being a mile from any tarmac at all.