Bonzer Words!: Rabbits
...By far the most effective and sophisticated method of rabbiting was spotlighting. My mates and I drove a ridiculously dangerous paddock bomb around the farm at night, picking up the rabbits' eyes in the spotlight and then administering a dose of 'lead poisoning'.,,
Rod Wise spent his childhood living on a sheep (and rabbit) grazing property in central Victoria, Australia. He is now a teacher and writer.
Although my father ran a sheep grazing property when I was a kid, I sometimes wondered whether he was a sheep farmer at all. He was more of a rabbit exterminator. Rabbits competed with his sheep for grass, their burrows caused soil erosion and so rabbits were a threat to his livelihood. Consequently, he had a deep-seated hatred of them and spent much of his time in combat.
Dad used some imaginative strategies. Fumigating was popular. After blocking up all the entrances to a rabbit warren, a foul-smelling white powder was pumped into the burrow. Later, he switched to carbon monoxide. We simply put the one end of a large plastic pipe down the rabbit hole, connected the other end to the exhaust of the ute and revved her up until blue smoke wafted from every entrance. Then we blocked up all the holes with soil and drove on to the next warren.
10-80 poisoning was more subtle. A trail of carrot pieces was laid across the paddocks to attract the rabbits. Two or three 'free', non-poisoned feeds were laid to ensure the word had spread around the local rabbit population, then a trail of carrots, laced with sodium monofluoracetate was laid. Dad also loved myxomatosis, commonly called 'myxo', and celebrated whenever he saw a rabbit showing the telltale signs of this lingering death sentence.
If he was feeling destructive, Dad used the tractor and ripper to plough a series of deep cuts into the earth, effectively destroying the warrens. Sometimes, we would dig out an entire burrow by hand using shovels and mattocks to follow the hole to its end, effectively destroying the rabbits' home. These often stretched for many metres and burrowed deep into the ground. However, there was a bonus. As we reached the end of the burrow our dogs became increasingly excited, scenting the rabbits waiting there. Stretching my hand up the burrow, I could feel fur and then pull out the petrified bunny. I put my hand up again hoping for more fur. Sometimes, we would get eight or ten rabbits from a single burrow.
A local bloke had a huge fridge and he paid about 50 cents for each pair of rabbits he bought. This introduced me to more serious methods of rabbiting. By far the most exciting was ferreting. One or more of these small, smelly and often vicious creatures were put down rabbit burrows after string nets had been placed over all the entrances. Rabbits clearly did not like ferrets very much because after some time, the rabbits would bolt out, and get caught in the nets. Rabbits were popping out as I ran from one hole to the next, hoping none would escape. Those that did manage to get out the nets were often run down by my dogs.
While I gave little thought to the suffering of rabbits poisoned with 10-80, or the terror induced by my ferrets, I did realise trapping was cruel. I caught my fingers in the jaws of metal rabbit traps often enough to work that out. However, this did not prevent me using them, at least for a while. The traps were set in the evening and checked the next morning. Being nocturnal creatures, most rabbits were caught at dusk, and then thrashed around in agony until I arrived many hours later. By then, their leg was completely smashed. I gained a little satisfaction putting them out of their misery as quickly as possible but one day, when I started to cry during this process, I realised trapping was not for me.
By far the most effective and sophisticated method of rabbiting was spotlighting. My mates and I drove a ridiculously dangerous paddock bomb around the farm at night, picking up the rabbits' eyes in the spotlight and then administering a dose of 'lead poisoning'. On a good night, we shot as many as 300 rabbits. We never managed to shoot ourselves, but came pretty close on a few occasions, especially if the driver hit an unexpected pot-hole or stump.
Despite all his efforts, Dad never did defeat the rabbits. In fact, they were developing greater resistance to his beloved myxo right around the time he died. A few years later, rabbit haemorrhagic disease caused by the calicivirus was released in Australia which quickly reduced rabbit numbers. In some districts, it is estimated there has been a 90% decline in the rabbit population. I'm sorry Dad missed it.
© Rod Wise
**
Rod writes for Bonzer magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au
