Dead rabbits, Airguns (?) and lurchers ... a country walk.

[bozzer]

I seriously hope this doesn't break any rules regarding dead animals. It's certainly not too graphic, contains no photos and isn't really about mass slaughter. It raises a few interesting topics ( for me ).

Okay ... So I set off yesterday to a regular country spot to walk the dogs. About ten mins away from the car, whilst crossing a large open field surrounded by woodland, we come across a young guy with a spaniel. He's friendly enough and he asks me if it is my dogs that are killing the rabbits. I tell him that we've only been out for ten mins and we haven't seen any rabbits. Now I don't hunt with the dogs, but they are lurchers. If they see a rabbit or squirrel they are off. They rarely catch the rabbits. If they do then the rabbit is killed very quickly and the one that has caught it runs off to a quiet spot and scoffs the lot in a minute flat. Fur and all.

This young lad explains that on his walk he has seen a few dead rabbits lying on the ground. I ask him if they had Myxi or had been shot. He had no idea. I carry on my way.

About 200 yards further into this field I come across a dead rabbit. Still soft. Adult. No Myxi. A single bloody hole in it's chest, so it's obviously been shot. No exit wound.

About a quarter of a mile further and we leave the field and enter into a small wooded area. There's a pretty stream that meanders through the trees and there's a cute bridge that crosses the stream. We cross the bridge and start to exit the wood on the other side and go back into another open field. Another dead rabbit. Still soft. Adult. No Myxi. This poor soul has a small hole in it's belly just in front of it's rear thigh and then about 9 inches away there is another hole in it's neck. The neck hole ( presume exit? ) has opened up to a tear about 2 inches by 1 inch. I've seen the lurchers catch themselves on one single barb on a fence and end up with a hole like that.

I don't hunt with the airguns. My first thoughts were that this person wasn't really worrying too much about head shots ... or wasn't that good a shot. Then I wondered whether an airgun would cause that sort of wounding. The one with the single hole in the chest ... yes ... but the entry wound with an exit wound 9 inches away, where the projectile had taken a lengthways path through the rabbit?

My next thoughts were why would someone just shoot them and then leave them there? Maybe they had been asked to shoot rabbits by the farmer but had no use for them so they just leave them there for the foxes/buzzards etc?

My next thoughts ...

As I said earlier ... If my lurchers catch a rabbit they scoff it instantly. They love them. If I throw them some left over meat bits at home ( so dead and cold meat ) they wolf it down instantly. I've seen these lurchers come across all sorts of disgusting things and eat it. Mouldy bits of bread etc. This walk was late afternoon and they were due to be fed when we got home so they were hungry. On arriving home they scoffed their biscuit and mix. I really expected them to see the dead rabbits, which were soft as I say, and grab them and run off and eat them. They looked at them, sniffed them and just walked off. No interest in them at all.

What's that about? Is it because they weren't pumped up by the adrenaline of the chase and the catch? Are they not interested in dead meat? I sort of get that but like I say ... if we go to the cricket club and there are some old uncooked burgers left lying around from a BBQ ... even several days old and stinking ... they wolf them down. Freshly shot and soft dead rabbit ... no interest at all.

Hopefully this thread is allowed and I'll get some interesting comments.

On the walk back to the car along the canal I met a boat person walking his bulldog. He was living in a 32 foot cruiser with his girl and his dog. Vegetarians ... no great surprise. What a decent and interesting chap he was. I enjoyed a chat with him for several minutes and then walked back to the car. Dropped the dogs in the car and then popped in the beautiful country church by the car park where you are invited to go in and make yourself a cuppa and enjoy a free biscuit or two. Rarely anyone in there so it was pleasant to sit and have a brew for 5 mins in the peacefulness, and the fading late afternoon light, before driving home.

A good walk that raised a few questions.

[Martin(rockape)]

I think you've correctly come to the conclusion that the person or persons shooting these rabbits is being irresponsible and wasteful.

On another pount you mentioned that your dogs will chase rabbits, if you haven't permission to do so on any property you yourself could fgind yourself potentially in trouble so be careful.
I myself used to have dogs and they too would just sniff and carry a dead rabbit for awhile before dropping it on command or when they lost interest in it. However if they found a completely dried out carcus they would scoff the lot.

Be careful next time you walk this area again as if the person shooting has disrespect for his quarry he may equally be unsafe regarding others.

Regards

Martin

[Gareth W-B]

.
Sounds an idyllic walk ... My take on the left rabbits is in line with your surmise, and as for the dogs not bring interested my money again is on what you proffer as no chase and no interest? ... Enjoy your country forays my friend: I am borderline envious (but in a "good for you" kind of way). Atb: G.

[robinghewitt]

We had a Bedlington X lurcher called Josie. Her rabbiting technique was to zoom down the side of a hedge then turn and look to see if any bunnies had frozen out in the field rather than diving for cover. I often wondered if she inherited the technique or worked it out for herself. She never killed anything, it was our Jilly who did the crunching

[bighit]

I have had a woman's dog lift some of the rabbits I have shot when she has walked past where I have been ambushing the rabbits coming out of the holes. They could be stone cold and solid but the dog still "stole " them and dumped them 50 yards further down.

I don't take all of my shot rabbits home as I don't eat them and my mates does not always want them for his dogs. the Buzzards and kites will take them or the foxes and crows.

If I leave one on the ground and walk the rest of the 180 acres and come back to the same spot the dead rabbit is usually ripped to bits or gone .

We don't get many walker's on the land so I guess the buzzards and kites won't be disturbed much.

[angrybear]

My first question would be are you following a public footpath ? the way you refer to open fields sounds like you're get going where you like.

If it is a public footpath then it could be that the shooter is very close has just shot the rabbits but is wary of collecting them (carrying a gun) while the public (you) are in the area, he doesn't know how you will react.
Equally it could be poaching so the shooter doesn't want to be seen, or pure vermin eradication where they're left for predators.
The wound sounds too much for an airgun.

I suppose it could be RHD/VHD where the shooter has seen that they were not acting normally so has dispatched them but decided they are not safe to take, the dogs might have been able to detect/smell the illness.

A couple of months back I found 2 dead rabbits still soft, unmarked, I skinned one looking for a wound thinking it was my idiot neighbour poaching but there was no wound & no sign of any internal haemorrhage.

[Muskett]

Rabbits are an agricultural pest.
I have a freezer full, and have a game dealer that take all I shoot. He wants head shot.
Many farmers just want their rabbits gone and have no time or real inclination to sell to a dealer who might be more than 30 miles away. So the rabbits are shot and left to rot. Many farmers really don't want the shooting so get others to do it for them. Farmers just want to protect their crops. Rabbits do loads of damage.

Game Dealers may pay up to £2, but most £1 or £1.50 is all they will offer. There is the demand for all the rabbits that the trade can get its hands on but its a numbers game. Requires 50, 100, 200 to make the travel and effort worth the cost of it all. If a dealer has the fridge/freezer capacity to shore the numbers then they take them.

Again for 5 or 10 on a vermin control session then it makes little sense to pick up other than home consumption.
My family can rarely stomach rabbit or trout having OD'ed on them over the years. Pheasant, partridge, venison, duck, then its keep to the seasons or take a rest. Its fantastic food but don't over do it.

The prep work is a bind in time. For rabbit its the smell that gets on one's hands. Nothing worse than a whiff of rabbit from your scrubbed hands in bed at night from processing a whole bunch.

Anyhow, a lot of rabbits are just shot as vermin and not going to be picked up. Its always been that way. Industrial farming has a cost. Zillions of slugs are killed and left to rot too. Any pest is removed so food stuffs in the shops are relatively cheap.

Lastly, for me dumped pigeon, or any game would be another matter. Just not rabbit.

[bill57]

All my rabbits get eaten by me, friends or family. The ribcage/heart/lungs gets chopped up for Ralph, the resident stray cat. Well he pretends to be stray, anyway.

[bozzer]

My first question would be are you following a public footpath ? the way you refer to open fields sounds like you're get going where you like.

Yes it's a well used public footpath.

Many people park on the car park by the church. The footpath is then signed and takes you around the back of the church and down to some woods and then over a bridge over the stream and through the woodland. You can then turn left or right and take footpaths that go around the edges of open fields, then through woods, through more open fields, over more bridges over the stream and up to the canal and back to the church. Many walkers use these routes. No matter what time of day or year you walk these areas there are other walkers/joggers/dog walkers walking the well trodden paths. If you stray away from the footpaths there are signs on trees asking walkers to respect the countryside and keep to the paths.

The first rabbit was about 15 yards from the path in the open field and the dogs had wandered over to it. The second rabbit was literally on the path by a kissing gate.

[Barryg]

Okay ... So I set off yesterday to a regular country spot to walk the dogs. About ten mins away from the car, whilst crossing a large open field surrounded by woodland, we come across a young guy with a spaniel. He's friendly enough and he asks me if it is my dogs that are killing the rabbits. I tell him that we've only been out for ten mins and we haven't seen any rabbits. Now I don't hunt with the dogs, but they are lurchers. If they see a rabbit or squirrel they are off. They rarely catch the rabbits. If they do then the rabbit is killed very quickly and the one that has caught it runs off to a quiet spot and scoffs the lot in a minute flat. Fur and all.

.

Hi Boz, Dogs and airguns a cool combination I had a Border Collie that would eat rabbits in minutes flat also and he was a fussy eater.
What are your dogs names? any connection with airguns, it would be nice to see a pic of them and any another member with a dog connected with airguns in some way
Anyway Here is a pic of my female pup, guess the name could it be DIANA LOL

[bozzer]

Barry

Nice looking pup. She can't be called Diana ... no plastic parts ( sorry ).

The two lurchers are called Fred (m) and Charlie ( f ).

When Fred was a puppy he was the reddest dog I'd ever seen. He's Dun. He's a tall Greyhound/Saluki. So a running dog or long dog really and not a true lurcher.

I looked at him and said ... He's Red ... So he became F Red. Fred.

Charlie as a pup used to love running manically up to the other dogs and nudging them and then getting them to chase after her. So she was called Chase me Charlie. She looks like a Whippet/Tri-Colour Collie ( black/white/tan ).

The Boradors are named Shmo ( m ) and Bandit ( f ). Working Black Lab ( dad ) and Border Collie ( mum ).

[bozzer]

Well that didn't work ...

"I looked at him and said ... He's Red ... So he became F Red. Fred."

The BBS swear filter kicked in and removed the phrase ... He's F ing Red. So Fred.