rabbits destroy island

it is difficult to imagine that a meek animal like rabbit can cause such damage. but i have heard that they have an enormous appetite and breed pretty fast. so i can well imagine that if left on own they might as well spell disaster. here in India it is rats that are doing the same job and they simply don't seem to go away. a solution for rabbit problem??....declare rabbit meat a delicacy..

I remember in Galapagos that there were hunts to try and get rid of the feral goat and pig population as those introduced animals were playing havoc with the very unique ecology there. Perhaps we should round up all those rabbits and send them to Scotland?

The US is famous for bringing in animals and insects that destroy the area. There's so many to pick from I wouldn't know where to start LOL

At various times rabbits have been in plague proportions in Australia. In Queensland, where I now live, there is a law against owning pet rabbits for fear they may escape and breed. Most of the problems are in the south of the continent. We have used shooting and ferreting with minimal success. We also use a form of control called "ripping", which means driving back and forth over their warrens with tractors towing steel tines which dig into the ground and dismember the rabbits. Poison is sometimes used, but this makes the rabbits unusable as either human of pet food. The main control is biological. From Wiki: [i]Myxomatosis was deliberately released into the rabbit population, causing it to drop from an estimated 600 million to around 100 million. Genetic resistance in the remaining rabbits allowed the population to recover to 200-300 million by 1991. To combat this trend, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) developed and accidentally released calicivirus (also known as Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease or RHD) in 1996. The success of the virus was found to be higher in extreme heat. This was because it appears there is another calicivirus in the colder, wetter areas of Australia, and that this virus was immunising rabbits against the more virulent form.[/i] The rabbits still flourish. In Europe rabbits are farmed for meat, and have always been part of the food hunting cycle in Britain. Cooked well they are quite tasty, and rabbit stew played a major role in the Depression era in Australia, and rabbit hunting also played a major economic role at that time for those in real financial difficulty, with both the meat and hides being sold. Lash

We don't have a problem with rabbits where I'm from, but we have a huge problem with deer. Even though people hunt, there are huge amounts of deer. They wander everywhere, eating everyone's gardens and, worse, getting hit by cars and causing accidents. Deer are so beautiful, but they have become a liability in many parts of NJ. I remember when I first moved here I was thrilled to see deer in my backyard, thinking they were so beautiful and graceful - but that started to sour when I found deer tracks and dung all over the yard and the apples were all eaten on the trees. But by far the worst pest in NJ, making the deer look wonderful, are the Canada geese. These little monsters poop EVERYWHERE- they make beautiful lakes contaminated so you can't swim in them, they make it so that you can't walk or picnic everywhere, they are right vicious little b*stards, which will attack you if you get too near, especially if they have young. And did I mention they poop everywhere? You can't walk outdoors without getting green slimy poo all over your feet. Where I went to college they were everywhere and so was their poo- you couldn't walk to class without navigating mounds and smears of it. It stunk too! At the country club where my mom works they hire people with dogs (at 1000 dollars to hire) to chase the geese away. Or they get swans, which hate them, although too many geese can also gang up on a swan. They are evil little b*stards and I hate them, especially after having to put up with them for so long in college-

Bio control is in everyone's safest and best interest (over chemical pesticides). statistically (I know you loves you some stats jb!!!) bio control works more than it does not, such as the the Timber Wolf being reintroduced to our national parks or conversely, those rotten cane toads. The only way to render them (rabbits and other critters) unable to breed would be a hormone introduced into the water supply, but then what else are you negating by that? Fish & game that drink or live in the water supply (the entire food chain really). sorry I got serious on this one, I'll make it up to you,k?

Rabbits make tasty food, you know. Everyone should stop eating beefs and eat rabbits meat instead! Higher protein concentration, easier to breed, easier to slay, easier to eat :)