Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Old 15-02-2004, 08:24 PM
Archimedes Plutonium
 
Posts: n/a
Default Better Rabbit trap for those with rabbit problems

I have young trees and every winter the rabbits manage to harm many of
those trees, especially fir and cherry. Funny how they never bother to
eat currants.

In the summertime I use a high powered BB rifle. Which works great
because the rabbits think nothing is going on and do not run whilst I
pump up the rifle for the next shot. Trouble with a BB is that it
takes about 10 penetrations to put the rabbit down. Some days I would
shot about 3 or 4 rabbits via BB. I hate other rifles because of the
*lead* that ends up in the soil. So I use only BB. I wish the
manufacturers would make a Copper Pellet rifle instead of Lead Pellet.

In the recent snowstorm I have figured out a way of clearing out
perhaps 1/2 or more of the rabbit population all in one fell swoop. I
notice that the rabbits dig themselves out of the snow with 2 tunnel
entrances. I notice that some rabbits have made concrete blocks with
their holes as a home.

Years ago I noticed that rabbits in winter in heavy snow love to eat
elm bark from limbs sawed down in winter. So I used elm limbs as bait
and at night time would shot rabbits with BBs eating at the elm bark
bait.

New Trap: what I plan to do is to get out a 8 foot section of that
drain pipe whose diameter is just able to fit into a concrete block
hole where some rabbits have made their home. So I block off the one
end and I stuff the other end with this drain pipe and I thence force
the rabbit to begin to enter into the plastic drain pipe which I have
a wire in the end to prevent the rabbit from escaping. So as the
rabbit begins to enter the plastic it is unable to turnaround.

So, what I do to get the rabbit population under a decent control is
to find where they have made a home, and look for the 2 entrances
borroughed out of the snow. Stick the plastic pipe into one end and
run a wire into the other forcing the rabbit to enter the pipe.

I have not tested the above yet, but am anxious to test it out today.
Will report back as to success or progress or setbacks.

If it works well, then next summer I plan to take about 5 block
whereever I see a rabbit scamper off and align them for the rabbit to
make those blocks its home and one day when I see a rabbit make it a
home I will get out the plastic pipe and capture the rabbit. It sure
will beat the time spent on BB hunting them.

Archimedes Plutonium
whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots
of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies
  #2   Report Post  
Old 16-02-2004, 01:04 AM
Gregory L. Hansen
 
Posts: n/a
Default Better Rabbit trap for those with rabbit problems


You're putting a lot more time into hunting and trapping rabbits than you
might have spent putting chicken wire around the trees you want to
protect. Chicken wire would do a better job, too, as you'll never run out
of rabbits.

--
"We don't grow up hearing stories around the camp fire anymore about
cultural figures. Instead we get them from books, TV or movies, so the
characters that today provide us a common language are corporate
creatures" -- Rebecca Tushnet
  #3   Report Post  
Old 16-02-2004, 03:51 AM
Archimedes Plutonium
 
Posts: n/a
Default Better Rabbit trap for those with rabbit problems

Belay my last. Belay the entire previous post about Rabbit trap. I
found out today that this hole in the snow did not have any rabbit, so
I cannot be sure that rabbits shelter below snow tunnelling to their
hiding places.

I further went along the grounds where I had seen many rabbits in the
summer find shelter thinking that there would be tunnels in the snow
for rabbits. There were none. In the woodpiles where rabbits love to
hide had no tunnels in the snow either.

So I guess rabbits when there is huge snowdrifts they simply shelter
behind trees and are exposed in the open. Some hide underneath the
branches of spruce trees.

And they love trailers which are open underneath.

So I am back with the old proven method of baiting them with branches
of elm trees strewn near the house and with a floodlight, I shoot them
with a BB rifle. Trouble is that it takes several BBs to bring a
rabbit down. But whether the winter cold may require just one BB, I do
not know. I have Prunus tomentosa, or bush cherries and they really do
an awful number on bush cherries.

One thing good about rabbits is that if in the future, all meats are
not good to eat due to various reasons, or whether we have another
Great Depression. Those that can stomach to eating rabbit will not
starve.

Archimedes Plutonium
whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots
of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies
  #6   Report Post  
Old 20-02-2004, 03:46 PM
Gregory L. Hansen
 
Posts: n/a
Default Better Rabbit trap for those with rabbit problems

In article ,
Archimedes Plutonium wrote:
(Gregory L. Hansen) wrote in message
...
You're putting a lot more time into hunting and trapping rabbits than you
might have spent putting chicken wire around the trees you want to
protect. Chicken wire would do a better job, too, as you'll never run out
of rabbits.


Not really. Try putting chicken wire around a thousand or more trees.
And most small trees have side branches.

BB rifles work better in winter in that one shot can bring a rabbit
down. Got 2 the other night.

I am thinking of a newer method. I bought a halogen spot light and am
thinking that like deer they can be mesmerized. So I have a new angle
on the problem.

Archimedes Plutonium
whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots
of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies

(www.iw.net/~a_plutonium) website of the science of AP under revision



http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pubs/press/foxes.html


--
"There's nary an animal alive that can outrun a greased Scottsman!" --
Groundskeeper Willy
  #7   Report Post  
Old 20-02-2004, 04:02 PM
Iris Cohen
 
Posts: n/a
Default Better Rabbit trap for those with rabbit problems

Try putting chicken wire around a thousand or more trees. BRBR

It sounds as if you have more of an ecology problem. Since you are out in the
country, you need to encourage predators, such as owls & hawks. You might also
try removing surrounding underbrush. Your local agricultural agent might be
helpful.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Moles - to trap or not to trap clarissa United Kingdom 20 01-10-2007 09:26 AM
better Japanes beetle trap Joel Downey Lawns 10 29-07-2003 04:42 PM
better Japanese beetle trap Joel Downey Lawns 0 09-07-2003 05:08 AM
Better Japanese beetle trap Joel Downey Lawns 0 14-06-2003 02:20 AM
a better Japanese beetle trap. Joel Downey Lawns 0 21-05-2003 05:56 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:49 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 GardenBanter.co.uk.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Gardening"

 

Copyright © 2017