After a week of hard work, we have just completed one of the largest rabbit control jobs taken on this year.

It all started with the client based in Reading calling to enquire how we could rid him of ” a few” rabbits that seem to be getting worse, so we fixed a date and went to have a look at the problem. This was a 60 acre piece of land, surrounded by hedgerows and ditches – creating a “perfect storm” if you like for rabbits!

Having walked the site, it was clear that ferreting and gassing would be the best strategy, again this is exactly the right time to do this before rabbits do what rabbits do best, so the client gave us the go ahead to start immediately.

Ferreting is a two man job, so I enlisted the help of my Dad. Now Dad is 76 years old, but he is super fit and loves nothing better than getting stuck in. Apart from the “during the war” stories, he gets on with it and we do have a really good laugh – especially when he seems to trip over everything and fall into everything – bit like ferreting with Norman Wisdom!

The ferrets are in top condition and we soon had a few rabbits in the bag, but as normally happens you do get a few problems when the rabbits simply won’t come out, then the digging takes over – the part all ferreters really hate.

After the first day, we had done about 30% of the hedgerows, and had a good bag of rabbits. The way to look at it is every female removed at this time of the year removes dozens of rabbits later in the year.

The second day went really well, again we had to dig on a few occasions but all told, it was not too bad. The ferrets were starting to feel the pressure a bit now – when a rabbit will not bolt, the ferrets get a pretty good kicking and so need to rest up and recover – it is very energy sapping for them – but they kept going all day. We decided to give them a days rest before moving on.

After a well deserved rest, we tackled the worst of the burrows – not just in size, but in location. There was a very steep ditch with about 2 – 3 feet of water in it. The rabbit warren was all over this bank, so we had to don the waders to get anywhere near to netting them.

This particular day was a total nightmare, the problems were added to by the fact that you simply could not move due to the mud sucking us in. The rabbits also did not want to come out, so we spent most of the day paddling about and digging…but despite this we managed to clear the bank of rabbits.

We now have to plan some evening visits where shooting will be used to remove any rabbits which have moved in from neighbouring fields, then a final inspection of any holes opened up, which will be gassed.

Unless kept under control, rabbits can soon take over an area, competing with other livestock like horses and cattle for food. So if you have a rabbit problem and dont know what to do, call Rapid Pest Control now for advice and a price to remove your rabbit problem

Setting nets under extreme conditions