Tag Archives: Life of a rabbiter

Rabbit season 2021

2 Replies

So the rabbit season for 2021 has begun and I think it’s going to be a very interesting time. First younger rabbits for the year have been got in Central Otago at least, havent heard about the rest of New Zealand yet. I think the very wet July killed quite a few young rabbits which is something at least.

Ferret backpack

I do love this wee pack for carrying the ferrets around, a mile better than the normal cat cage or box. I need to get another one just for a spare.

A few staff changes lately as the main offsider went into the army. So a new night shooter who is going well and a new day helper who is going very well, really good with both the dogs and ferrets.

We are starting to have major supply issues just like everyone else, the big problem being ammo. So far it hasnt held us up but we’ll see where that goes……

Starting to see a lot of rabbits around the place which is normal for this time of year but every year it seems to catch people out. They get all shocked with how many are around.

Cute puppy photo just because

Newsroom on rabbits

Leave a reply

Melanie Read from Newsroom was down in Otago doing an in depth report on rabbits. Along with George the camera man, they were all over the place, even down to Southland.

Below are the links to the series of items they did. Very interesting! All the people need to realize that it isn’t just an Otago problem but is cropping up all over the country.

Action from central government is ZERO!! But they have proved how incompetent they are when it comes to all the pest control, but what would you expect from a bunch of fools as successive governments have proven themselves to be.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/return-of-the-rabbit-plague

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/rabbits-its-as-bad-as-its-ever-been

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/rabbits-march-on-queenstown

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/moeraki-rabbits-rabbits-take-over-a-town

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/rabbits-a-million-holes-in-one

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/rabbits-turning-the-tables

Catch up

2 Replies

Well there is a lot going on in the rabbiters life at the moment including lots of rabbits to be dealt to around Otago. In fact it seems to be the same story in many parts of New Zealand! Rabbits everywhere I go (And a few Wallabies around the place as well) plus all the rabbits in other areas people are telling me about.

Got the new longnet going the other day, so nice having a good setup again. It just makes life easy.

New longnets

Wolf had pups, the father is Arthur who is now with another rabbiter. She had 3 but one was born dead which was a shame, two wee girls survived. I’m keeping one and the last I heard the other is going to a neighbour which is cool. They got a couple of spare ferrets off us not long ago so this pup will round out their rabbiting team nicely. Their kids are young and all over this rabbiting gig.

The one we are keeping has been named Dingo.

Dingo’s first photo

Got the rabbit netting manufacturers down next week so the yarn up with them will be interesting, hopefully we can get some major improvements happening which is sounding really good. Fencing being the very first step in a good control plan it will be nice to get a better product to put up.

Just got the knew trailer painted last weekend, purpose built as it was taking me two trips to get to jobs, and of course two more to get home. You get over that real fast!

New trailer

And here’s a few random pics just because…..

Honey in the mirror
Crank

Rabbits almost everywhere

2 Replies

It’s quite easy to see who has been keeping on top of the rabbits and who hasn’t!

I didn’t realise how long since I last posted here, but with good reason. The dogs (well not so much as it’s been to hot), ferrets and I have been very busy killing rabbits. The places that haven’t been doing any rabbit control are starting to have real problems….and it’s only going to get worse!
I’ve had a lot of people saying “we need to get the virus here”, meaning the RCD (rabbit calicivirus disease).  What these people fail to realise it’s here all the time, however there is roughly an 80% immunity to it now which changes from area to area. Alarm bells ringing yet?  So for every two rabbits you see dead there is another eight that are immune. Once the conditions are right the virus activates and we start to see a few dead ones around.

The photo below is from a block I last did 5-6 months ago,  to say I was happy with how it looks is an understatement.   Yes it still has rabbits but over all it is looking bloody good! This farmer rings me when he starts to see a few around and I shoot in and have a quick mop up.   In fact this property is proof of how well a good pest management plan works.  A little often so any problems are nipped in the bud before they turn into big expensive problems.

Dogs from the left: Jack, Tom, Shake, Otis (big hairy one with the nickname wanker), Fly, Penny, Bolt, guy and in the foreground Patch. The shotgun is a Yildiz 20 gauge side by side.

_DSF0866.JPG

Till next time have fun…