New Rabbit virus to be introduced next Autumn

The ODT had an article about this today...

"K5" could prove effective rabbit killer | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

Bugger.

How is it that we have the means to prevent humans reproducing, but cant seem to do it with small mammals such as rabbits and possums. ?
Poison this. Virus that....clean green nz ...tui ad

Scary shit.... nek minute - mutant immune bunnies !

Yes, they should be careful of what they wish for.
In Scotland where the population of rabbit was huge 30 years ago ( I remember my uncle would shoot close to 300 rabbits in one night once a month and would feed his hawks with the carcasses), there is now hardly anything thanks to mixomatosis and the VHD virus. To such a point that apparently people have to sell their 22's as they no longer have a good reason to own them.

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Originally Posted by ebf

Scary shit.... nek minute - mutant immune bunnies !

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We're gonna need a bigger boat.

What we should have is some common sense, and allow such things as these... with subsidized ammo... lol :P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h0s_62jXuk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8nGUp5F_OA

I understand that rabbits are a real problem is some areas, but having just got back in to small game hunting and really enjoying it, can't say I'm too thrilled at this news!

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Originally Posted by Pengy

How is it that we have the means to prevent humans reproducing, but cant seem to do it with small mammals such as rabbits and possums. ?

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Putting condoms on rabbits and possums would be a really frustrating job :thumbsup:

Hope mixi doesn't get released here in NZ, apparently it's a horrible way to die for the animal.

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Originally Posted by Pengy

How is it that we have the means to prevent humans reproducing, but cant seem to do it with small mammals such as rabbits and possums. ?
Poison this. Virus that....clean green nz ...tui ad

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:ORLY: have you seen how much the worlds population has grown in just the last 25 years:wtfsmilie:

Someone needs to read a book called Rabbits Galore and find out about controlling rabbits the good old fashion way!

Ironically, the wife's lab group is researching methods to genetically alter female possums so that they only produce infertile males.
Fantastic science.

They should release coyotes would be way more fun to control then a virus when they get out of hand

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

yip that would be fun

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Originally Posted by Tussock

If you are aware of something, you should really pass it on. The places where we used to store all the poor people are full.

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It is usually referred to as `The Pill`

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Originally Posted by hamsav

The only way to selectively cull rabbits is to shoot them ..... maybe Ferrets too ( dying art ?). They are survivors and no matter what biological bullet we throw at them they will overcome it eventually and bounce back with a vengeance.
I think the ,as far as the RHD virus is concerned some people ( the smug looking fuckwitts on telly ) who were mincing up dead rabbit ( RHD victims ) bits and distributing it around really fucked any chance of it working ......deliberately infecting an animal with dead virus is called vaccinating . Humans have done t successfully for years with small pox , rubella ....ect............. all they achieved was to speed up the rabbits ability to resist the disease ..... like before the follow up crew (us hunters ) could clean up the survivors. Personally I cant understand why we don't have a bounty thing going on here...........it could get a lot of people off their arses , and the hard to get to areas would be covered if the bounty price was right . Dunno if its true ( probly not ) but I head the DOC possum cull somewhere on the west coast wound up costing something like $90 per possum..........its an old argument that no one in power wants to listen to because to many fat cnuts at the top are getting paid to much to ever change things

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@hamsav, mention bounties and the white shirt people go hysterical...weird, they see a bounty price and go blue in the face, yet what would the 1080 drops cost the taxpayer each year...like the possums in the 70s, etc...mention a bounty and you were looked at as if you had dog poo over your face...far cheaper in the long run and you have a willing 'work force'...

The notion of sterilization is utterly ludicrous...in my experience with possums, lead is very effective...

If there was no more rabbits and possums that would suck.

Am glad my kids don't have pet rabbits,

Does anyone know if these virus's effect hares the same?

Rabbit viruses do not affect hares, but strangely enough they can on occasion act as vectors...how that works I do not know...

True for mixomatosis, but not sure for the VHD . Hare gets it as well I believe . But the hare getting it might die in a middle of paddock and that is it. As a rabbit getting it might contaminate his buddies in the hole and the whole local population can be wiped out.

mixomatosis Is bloody horrible. They look like a cat with cat flue.
Eyes all full of watery goo then blind and finally a slow death if there not run over eaten or shot.
Hate seeing it here. Oh sure it will clear out a warren for a short time but they do come back.

Bounty all the way. :thumbsup:

This sort of animal abuse should be reported to the SPCA, If they took off the restrictions on selling rabbits for human consumption that would go a long way towards controlling them it works in the UK
there are wild game retail outlets all over the place selling rabbits hares venison and game birds the hunters are making a good living out of it,

Is any organisation opposing this?

Some of you are apparently quite oblivious to the damage that rabbits are doing..

This isn't about your average small block with a dozen rabbits chewing a bit of grass and molesting the lettuces.. This is about hundreds of thousands of hectares right up the spine of the south island where the rabbits are still constantly at work in their millions turning anything green into bare rock and soil, perhaps irreversibly. I have seen the damage and it is immense and ongoing.

There is a reason these stations are employing rabbiters, or dropping $50-150k in poison every 3 years.. and it's not because they've got too much money, or because they're trying to do you out of your evening shoot of a dozen rabbits once a month. It's a significant and very necessary battle for the ongoing viability of the land and their livelihoods.

If this virus worked to full potential, that 30% drop in numbers every few generations could make a big difference to the land and ability to control them. It's never going to get every rabbit, so don't worry about that. Instead of seeing 10 rabbits, you might see 7. For you - not a difference. For the guy trying to feed his sheep on a station shared with 25 thousand rabbits.. might make all the difference.

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Originally Posted by shooternz

This sort of animal abuse should be reported to the SPCA, If they took off the restrictions on selling rabbits for human consumption that would go a long way towards controlling them it works in the UK
there are wild game retail outlets all over the place selling rabbits hares venison and game birds the hunters are making a good living out of it,

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I don't know about a good living? But yes some do make a living.
If a get a load of pigeons then they go off to the game dealers...pays for a few cartages.....if I shot better it pay for its self:ORLY: last years prices where £0.20 for frozen £0.30 for fresh.
Venison you have to have done the course to sell it to the game dealer....the course cost you around £290.00 so you will need to shoot a lot to get that back. Not sure on beast prices, the same for rabbits.
You can pick up a barce of pigeon at the local butcher for around £4.50 not sure on pheasants etc.
The down side to this is the pouching :angry:
For get your image of a cartoon pouchier....... They are thieving bar stands:angry: