Wiley Coyote method of rabbit control in Australia

[Akhlut]

I suspect the CSIRO has already been working on a new virus to use against the rabbits, as these viruses do a good job of keeping the rabbit population low for a time, and something will be released against them in the not to distant future.

A better idea would be to release 3 or 4 viruses at the same time in order to kill those animals which gain a resistance to one or two of them, with a follow up of destruction of rabbit warrens.

"We can control the deer population with dart injected contraceptives!" <--- this was actually proposed/done in my area. Ugh.

That's not actually as terrible of an idea as you think. The idea is twofold: prevent reproduction (obviously), and to deny resources to younger animals so they are more likely to die off.

Plus, a dart can hit a deer anywhere and still be effective; a bullet is less likely to be as effective if it doesn't hit a vital point, potentially meaning an animal that is both still alive and can still breed. Further, as long as we're not harvesting deer as an alternative food source to beef, most hunting isn't going to have the impact necessary to reduce deer populations. Unless we eliminate a great deal of beef from America, the deer population is going to remain too large.

[loomer]

Wow, Shep's ideas just get dumber.

Not as dumb as:
"Gee, maybe the third time around, our virus to kill rabbits will work, after the first TWO tries failed!"

You mean the viruses that wiped out 5/6ths of the rabbit population each time we used them? The two different viruses? The ones that basically solved the issue for about a decade each? Yeah, that's a real dumb idea to do that again with a new disease, for what essentially amounts to a 'spray and forget' method of dealing with bunnies, leaving us the freedom to deal with the survivors with extreme amounts of force, like the aforementioned fuel air explosives in warrens.

We're never going to be rid of rabbits, Shep. What we can do here is cull their numbers to a degree where they don't have anywhere near as significant an impact, and disease is one of the best tools for the job so far. At least until we get those gamma-badgers.

[eion]

I'm liking the 3 or 4 diseases at once idea. Probability is your friend.

Especially if one of the diseases had a side effect of non-fatal cases causing sterility.

Of course hopefully at some point we can use gene therapy to sterilize the bunnies en-masse.

[adam_grif]

The Australian thing to do would be to find an even more invasive species to introduce, so it can out-compete the rabbits, wipe them out and then become an even bigger problem than the rabbits were.

[Stark]

The American thing to do would be to create super ninja bunnies to bring down King Bun-Bun from within and not see the obvious consequences.

Ps saying someone else's idea is dumb somehow makes yours better. Right, kids?

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I'm not sure if disease is the best way to reduce populations. If the said disease mutates etc. and jumps to another animals, you are going to have more than just rabbits getting decimated.

How about introducing predators instead? Has that been done?

[Zor]

How about introducing predators instead? Has that been done?

Foxes and cats have been brought in (the former purposefully for the same reason rabbits were, the latter from strays) and do kill a fair number of Rabbits. The problem is that they don't stop with rabbits and go after Australian Native Wildlife as well.

Zor

[adam_grif]

How about introducing predators instead? Has that been done?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toad

Introducing predators isn't exactly high on the list of proposed solutions.

[mr friendly guy]

Viruses are usually tested on isolated islands before we introduce them to the mainland. Calicivirus did wonders for a while, however because it was released early, it led to poor coordination in regards to other anti rabbit measures. What we should have done at the same time is to hire people to pick off the survivors.

Hey, I wonder how wild rabbits taste like. Maybe hunters could export them to China, although I suspect they won't taste as nice as their homegrown variety. Apparently its more nutritious than a few common meats we eat. The other thing of course is, rabbit pelts are sold in China, but again it depends on whether the pelts of wild rabbits are in demand.

[adam_grif]

I get the impression that Australia is the only country that maintains a biological warfare programme dedicated to killing rabbits.

[Elfdart]

Viruses are usually tested on isolated islands before we introduce them to the mainland. Calicivirus did wonders for a while, however because it was released early, it led to poor coordination in regards to other anti rabbit measures. What we should have done at the same time is to hire people to pick off the survivors.

Hey, I wonder how wild rabbits taste like. Maybe hunters could export them to China, although I suspect they won't taste as nice as their homegrown variety. Apparently its more nutritious than a few common meats we eat. The other thing of course is, rabbit pelts are sold in China, but again it depends on whether the pelts of wild rabbits are in demand.

One of my older brother's friends is from Australia and he said that back home people regard rabbits as vermin and not something you make a stew out of. And they drive on the wrong side of the road, too (Australians I mean -he didn't say whether the rabbits drove on the left or on the right like in normal countries).

Wild rabbit is gamy, and like venison or squirrel has very little fat. So either you slow-cook it, grind it up or enjoy your rock-hard jerky. There is also very little meat on the typical cottontail rabbit, but then, I'm not sure what kind of rabbits they have in Australia (maybe domestic ones gone feral?) so maybe this isn't an issue.

[adam_grif]

Iirc during the great depression, rabbit meat became a popular food source in various places because it was so plentiful.

[Commander 598]

Iirc during the great depression, rabbit meat became a popular food source in various places because it was so plentiful.

Also, IIRC, they had HERDS of jackrabbits running around looking for food which made them rather easy to acquire...in bulk. I watched a video of people corralling them and then going in with clubs.

[mr friendly guy]

One of my older brother's friends is from Australia and he said that back home people regard rabbits as vermin and not something you make a stew out of. And they drive on the wrong side of the road, too (Australians I mean -he didn't say whether the rabbits drove on the left or on the right like in normal countries).

Wild rabbit is gamy, and like venison or squirrel has very little fat. So either you slow-cook it, grind it up or enjoy your rock-hard jerky. There is also very little meat on the typical cottontail rabbit, but then, I'm not sure what kind of rabbits they have in Australia (maybe domestic ones gone feral?) so maybe this isn't an issue.

Rabbits are a pest over here, although some keep them as pets. However I heard rabbits are farmed in China, albeit mainly for pelts although some regions do have traditional dishes which serve rabbit.

[tim31]

All of this because some fuckwit wanted something to shoot at from his verandah. As if periodic droughts, bushfires, and generally poor soil weren't already enough for agriculturalists to deal with. Way to go foresight!

[Elfdart]

All of this because some fuckwit wanted something to shoot at from his verandah. As if periodic droughts, bushfires, and generally poor soil weren't already enough for agriculturalists to deal with. Way to go foresight!

We had the same problem when some asshole brought starlings over from Europe because they were mentioned in Shakespeare.

[eion]

Viruses are usually tested on isolated islands before we introduce them to the mainland. Calicivirus did wonders for a while, however because it was released early, it led to poor coordination in regards to other anti rabbit measures. What we should have done at the same time is to hire people to pick off the survivors.

Hey, I wonder how wild rabbits taste like. Maybe hunters could export them to China, although I suspect they won't taste as nice as their homegrown variety. Apparently its more nutritious than a few common meats we eat. The other thing of course is, rabbit pelts are sold in China, but again it depends on whether the pelts of wild rabbits are in demand.

One of my older brother's friends is from Australia and he said that back home people regard rabbits as vermin and not something you make a stew out of. And they drive on the wrong side of the road, too (Australians I mean -he didn't say whether the rabbits drove on the left or on the right like in normal countries).

Wild rabbit is gamy, and like venison or squirrel has very little fat. So either you slow-cook it, grind it up or enjoy your rock-hard jerky. There is also very little meat on the typical cottontail rabbit, but then, I'm not sure what kind of rabbits they have in Australia (maybe domestic ones gone feral?) so maybe this isn't an issue.

The biggest problem is that rabbit (any rabbit really) meat is so lean that if you eat nothing but it (no veggies or higher fat meats) you will actually develop malnutrition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation

[hongi]

Hey, I wonder how wild rabbits taste like.

Suprisingly good, but lean and tough. A bit like kangaroo.

[Molyneux]

All of this because some fuckwit wanted something to shoot at from his verandah. As if periodic droughts, bushfires, and generally poor soil weren't already enough for agriculturalists to deal with. Way to go foresight!

We had the same problem when some asshole brought starlings over from Europe because they were mentioned in Shakespeare.

Mentioned in ONE LINE of a play...not even IN the play itself, just freaking mentioned.
Human stupidity still manages to surprise me from time to time.

[Akhlut]

All of this because some fuckwit wanted something to shoot at from his verandah. As if periodic droughts, bushfires, and generally poor soil weren't already enough for agriculturalists to deal with. Way to go foresight!

We had the same problem when some asshole brought starlings over from Europe because they were mentioned in Shakespeare.

Mentioned in ONE LINE of a play...not even IN the play itself, just freaking mentioned.
Human stupidity still manages to surprise me from time to time.

Actually, it is disputed whether or not it was based on his desire to introduce all the birds from Shakespeare's plays. He did, however, belong to the American Acclimatization Society, a group dedicated to shipping species from Europe to N. America in order for people in America to appreciate animals that'd be 'useful or interesting.' Luckily they only did as much damage as they did and not more. We could be up to our assholes in hedgehogs and ibex.