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Rabbits: No more warm fuzzies

 

BY ROB POOLEY

rabbit pest-73Long eared and fluffy is about where the loving ends for a number of Mangawhai residents who collectively relate that Mangawhai could be undergoing something of a rabbit plague. 


Watership Down this is not. Peter seems to have worn out his welcome. The warm fuzzies of Easter are long gone. The gloves are off as these furry fellows, and their burrows, are being seen in increasing numbers.

Pest exterminators are also not what they used to be with control methods of yesteryear unpopular. Going back over 50 years, rural councils employed a ‘rabbiter’, a man with a team of dogs of small mixed breeds, narrow and sleek that could squeeze down rabbit burrows and ‘exterminate’ those who lived within. 

Rabbiters also carried gas cannisters which blew poisonous gas down the holes, also to great effect. 
Of course a .22 rifle was generally the weapon of choice in the days when farmers went on cursory shooting escapades and many a rabbit headed towards the stew pot for a wholesome family meal. 
Increased local activity has been reported in Driftwood Place, Alamar Crescent, Robert Street, North Avenue and the golf course, then further out in the Devich and Lawrence Road areas.

The protection of other species through the trapping of weazels, stoats and feral cats has reduced the numbers of natural rabbit predators. Last summer was particularly wet with big bursts of rain likely drowning many kittens in their burrows but this year the dry weather has given ideal conditions for rabbit breeding and survival. 

Apart from the grass they eat, they are also partial to any summer vegetable garden that may appear within their browsing area and can strip the bark from young native and fruit trees overnight and to a height well above half a metre standing on their hind legs. Their burrowing habits may also cause concern on golf courses causing ‘unnatural’ hazards for golfers and groundsmen alike. 

Generally wild rabbits are able to breed from three months of age. Many regularly produce litters of up to seven young, often doing so four or five times a year due to the fact that their gestation period is only 28 to 31 days. So you don’t have to be a maths genius to work out they multiply like, well, rabbits. 

The Northland Regional Council (NRC) pest control arm don’t have traps for rabbits but can provide a toxic bait called Pindone, no licence necessary. A spokesperson for the NRC said there had been mention of rabbit numbers increasing but, although they don’t become involved in control they will support residents or groups who wish to deal with the problem. 

A significant pest, rabbits can populate in destructive numbers. PHOTO/DOC

 
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