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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429
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 Posted: Tue Feb 01, 05 10:27 pm Post subject: Humanely catching rabbits |
 
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A friend rents a room in a really big old house, with a not small garden. It's got plum trees (he didn't know what they were till I picked plums from them), a great old pear tree (which he and his housemates manage to pick plums from some years), an apple tree and elder trees (which my mate didn't recognise, which worries me). So if I we go down there, depending on the time of year, there's all the free fruit you could want.
But there's also abundant free protein in this garden, in the form of rabbits. All the bunnies you can shake a stick at. They drift in at night, nibble things, and wander back into the neighbouring farm fields to cause more damage.
So in principle, a visit with an air rifle would be in order. But I haven't got one, nor would I be confident using one. And then there's the issue of whether the landlord would have to be consulted firstl; I'd have thought it would be a good idea.
Which begs the question of how else we might bag rabbits in such a place. I suppose that snaring is possible, in principle it's easy, legal snares aren't hard to get... Is it humane? |
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Lloyd
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nettie
Joined: 02 Dec 2004
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Lloyd
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Lloyd
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Jonnyboy
Joined: 29 Oct 2004
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
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judyofthewoods
Joined: 29 Jan 2005
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suraleb
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Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
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Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
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DarrenG
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens
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| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 05 9:51 am Post subject: |
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| Madman wrote: |
 Getting plums off a pear tree is a rare old timers skill indeed!
Why not visit your local gunshop and buy some nets?...Need to check them morning and night though. You place them in the runs, where the rabbits habitually use the same place for access and egress, avoid walking on the run yourself. Take advice from the shop on setting up, according to the type you buy, probably a purse net, having set it up (wearing gloves), singe the wires with burning matches to get rid of your own smell. And check frequently.
Or use the carrot under a suspended log approach!  |
you live upto your name dont you, setting purse nets wouldnt help at all, snares would do not singe the wires bury them for a weel, setting snares is extremely difficult to do it properly, live catch traps might be the thing for you, but then you still have to kill them afterwards, we catch plenty with traps, if you cant find one , I'll send you one of mine.
Longnetting which I spoke about earlier isnt an easy thing to learn either and also cannot be left in place |
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DarrenG
Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens
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| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 05 9:55 am Post subject: |
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| Treacodactyl wrote: |
I would think that a net placed well and then walking towards it when the rabbits are most active would drive the rabbits into the net and they can then be dealt with quickly.
I have no experience with dogs but a well trained one should be able to catch and dispatch a rabbit very quickly, although I can understand why people wouldn't wish to use one. Getting hold of someone with one would also be difficult. |
what you are talking about is longnetting, I only wish it was as easy as it appears in yr post, firstly, you need a strong wind in the right direction, the rabbits need to be feeding at least 150yds out from the warrens, and it needs to be a moon lit night, and the dog has to be able to quarter and know when to put the pressure on a fleeing rabbit and when not to, and btw most lurchers dont kill the rabbits but return them live to hand.
As for snares they are not indiscriminate if set correctly in the right place, if done properly a cat will NOT get caught in a rabbit snare, solely because of their different movement styles |
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429
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| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 05 11:33 am Post subject: |
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| DarrenG wrote: |
what you are talking about is longnetting, I only wish it was as easy as it appears in yr post, firstly, you need a strong wind in the right direction, the rabbits need to be feeding at least 150yds out from the warrens, and it needs to be a moon lit night, and the dog has to be able to quarter and know when to put the pressure on a fleeing rabbit and when not to, and btw most lurchers dont kill the rabbits but return them live to hand.
As for snares they are not indiscriminate if set correctly in the right place, if done properly a cat will NOT get caught in a rabbit snare, solely because of their different movement styles |
As I don't know how best to set a snare to avoid catching a cat, and as my mates housemate has a cat, I'll avoid snaring. But out of curiousity how do you set a snare such that cats don't get caught?
Trapping may be the best way forward; I'll most likely be able to find such things. What should I look for in a trap? |
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Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429
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| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 05 2:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Treacodactyl wrote: |
I was thinking along the lines that the rabbits in a garden would be more used to humans and thus a little easier to catch. Do people not use terriers for catching rabbits?
Cab, do you know anyone with ferrets?
But I'd agree, a humane trap and any rabbit quickly dispatched would seem the best bet.
How big is the garden? |
Big. More than fifty yards long or so (maybe sixty or so), three quarters as wide, and surrounded on three sides by farm fields. On the fourth side is the house, a thick hedge, a little bit of yard, and then the road. Oh, and no, don't know anyone with ferrets around these parts.
You can watch rabbits in the garden from the house; you could snipe at them from a window were you so inclined. |
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