General News
2 May, 2025
BARRY'S CORNER: Bunnies on the hop
Pesky rabbits have been making themselves obvious this season with the extended dry conditions exposing burrows, tracks and rest spots.
Until last weekend, most of western Victoria had been just coping without any decent rain, and because a lot of the grassers and lower vegetation had been chewed off, the destructive rabbits were much more visible.
It seems there's a lack of funding for any rabbit research and some of the previous success stories are starting to lose their vitality so do not kill off rabbits like they were planned to do.
It's important to keep the pressure on these pest animals or we'll quickly have too many extra mouths to feed unnecessarily.
At times such as this we face an age-old problem and a known cycle where we turn our backs on rabbits, thinking the problem has been solved.
When we aren't looking, the bunny will explode in numbers and it will become harder and more expensive to get the suppression effort to knock the figures down again.
Dealing with rabbits takes time and money but all methods of eradication should be considered.
Having a dog running around can help chase the bunny into a burrow or warren and then it can be gassed.
To complete the job it pays to thoroughly rip the burrow site.
Poisons can be applied with efficient results.
Targeted poisoning can be effective.
It's important to carefully select the site and any access to animals.
Rabbits will not be attracted to poisoned areas if they have to travel too far so it's wise to take the bait closer to the rabbit.
There are still some ferrets in some districts and although they can be frustrating to work with they can harvest a lot of animals out of the population.
Spotlighting will give an idea whether there is a manageable number to deal with.
Rabbits are one of the most destructive animals ever exported to the colonies.
Once they hit the country they populated rapidly and turned their tastebuds to most types of grass and understorey plant species.
They have created much employment and opportunity such as in wire-netting manufacturing.
It seems to be a far-distant dream to think we might ever completely eradicate these pests but we need to try.
Research needs to be given a real boost.
Let's watch out for any increase in populations.