Thread: New Rabbit virus to be introduced next Autumn

If there was no more rabbits and possums that would suck.

Am glad my kids don't have pet rabbits,

Does anyone know if these virus's effect hares the same?

Rabbit viruses do not affect hares, but strangely enough they can on occasion act as vectors...how that works I do not know...

True for mixomatosis, but not sure for the VHD . Hare gets it as well I believe . But the hare getting it might die in a middle of paddock and that is it. As a rabbit getting it might contaminate his buddies in the hole and the whole local population can be wiped out.

mixomatosis Is bloody horrible. They look like a cat with cat flue.
Eyes all full of watery goo then blind and finally a slow death if there not run over eaten or shot.
Hate seeing it here. Oh sure it will clear out a warren for a short time but they do come back.

Bounty all the way.

This sort of animal abuse should be reported to the SPCA, If they took off the restrictions on selling rabbits for human consumption that would go a long way towards controlling them it works in the UK
there are wild game retail outlets all over the place selling rabbits hares venison and game birds the hunters are making a good living out of it,

Is any organisation opposing this?

Some of you are apparently quite oblivious to the damage that rabbits are doing..

This isn't about your average small block with a dozen rabbits chewing a bit of grass and molesting the lettuces.. This is about hundreds of thousands of hectares right up the spine of the south island where the rabbits are still constantly at work in their millions turning anything green into bare rock and soil, perhaps irreversibly. I have seen the damage and it is immense and ongoing.

There is a reason these stations are employing rabbiters, or dropping $50-150k in poison every 3 years.. and it's not because they've got too much money, or because they're trying to do you out of your evening shoot of a dozen rabbits once a month. It's a significant and very necessary battle for the ongoing viability of the land and their livelihoods.

If this virus worked to full potential, that 30% drop in numbers every few generations could make a big difference to the land and ability to control them. It's never going to get every rabbit, so don't worry about that. Instead of seeing 10 rabbits, you might see 7. For you - not a difference. For the guy trying to feed his sheep on a station shared with 25 thousand rabbits.. might make all the difference.

Originally Posted by shooternz

This sort of animal abuse should be reported to the SPCA, If they took off the restrictions on selling rabbits for human consumption that would go a long way towards controlling them it works in the UK
there are wild game retail outlets all over the place selling rabbits hares venison and game birds the hunters are making a good living out of it,

I don't know about a good living? But yes some do make a living.
If a get a load of pigeons then they go off to the game dealers...pays for a few cartages.....if I shot better it pay for its self last years prices where £0.20 for frozen £0.30 for fresh.
Venison you have to have done the course to sell it to the game dealer....the course cost you around £290.00 so you will need to shoot a lot to get that back. Not sure on beast prices, the same for rabbits.
You can pick up a barce of pigeon at the local butcher for around £4.50 not sure on pheasants etc.
The down side to this is the pouching
For get your image of a cartoon pouchier....... They are thieving bar stands