Rather than break in to the earnest discussion about dogs and rabbits I thought I might amuse a few of you with some of my less than perfect rabbit moments.
I was sweeping a wood after the drive finished, my Flatcoat went on point by some cover, thinking (stupidly) that she was on to shot game I encouraged her to "get in". Out came the bunny, hotly pursued by the dogwhoshouldknowbetter . She chased it clean out of the wood and across the field in front of guns, beaters and management...
On a quiet walk with the Cockers one stopped dead in front of me on a narrow path, "get on" I said irritably, she did, out popped bunny who decided to run between my legs followed by said Cocker who was, unfortunately, somewhat wider than the bunny...
In life, it is important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong.
We've had way too many these past few years but this summer they seem to be going down with something - some have mixy, others appear to have viral hemorrhagic disease, poor beggars.
In life, it is important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong.
That would be really bad. I like the rabbit. Common here, called Cotton -tails. One would think a Wildlife Org. would look into a vaccination initiative for them to prevent it. Mike
Mikew wrote: ↑Sat Aug 02, 2025 7:01 pm
That would be really bad. I like the rabbit. Common here, called Cotton -tails. One would think a Wildlife Org. would look into a vaccination initiative for them to prevent it. Mike
Unfortunately, both myxomatosis and VHD were deliberately spread to control the rabbit population. Myxy goes back to the 1950s but VHD was introduced more recently. I first came upon it about 20 years ago and it’s much more aggressive than myxy.
Mikew wrote: ↑Sat Aug 02, 2025 7:01 pm
That would be really bad. I like the rabbit. Common here, called Cotton -tails. One would think a Wildlife Org. would look into a vaccination initiative for them to prevent it. Mike
Unfortunately, both myxomatosis and VHD were deliberately spread to control the rabbit population. Myxy goes back to the 1950s but VHD was introduced more recently. I first came upon it about 20 years ago and it’s much more aggressive than myxy.
I'm not sure what the symptoms are for VHD? I'm assuming excessive bleeding as that's what I am seeing but they also seem to have the messy eyes, poor beggars. I wouldn't wish that on them but we did need a major cull which, of course, doesn't go down well with the fluffies.
In life, it is important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong.
If diseases are a factor in our rabbit population I am not aware of it. It seems it is a much more predator/prey relationship. Foxes are fairly uncommon most of the time where I live but when rabbit populations get very high as they are now they start showing up and quite quickly reduce the population significantly. However coyotes hate foxes and kill every one they see. I don’t think coyotes are quite as deadly on rabbits as foxes so when coyotes are in ascendancy rabbits do well. But then when coyotes get thick on the landscape they get mange, rabies and distemper and give room for the foxes to rise again. A year ago I was seeing coyotes almost every day. This year I have not seen one in months so I expect to start seeing foxes again which is fine with me.
I'm suspicious of people who don't like dogs, but I trust a dog when it doesn't like a person. - Bill Murray
Mikew wrote: ↑Sat Aug 02, 2025 7:01 pm
That would be really bad. I like the rabbit. Common here, called Cotton -tails. One would think a Wildlife Org. would look into a vaccination initiative for them to prevent it. Mike
Unfortunately, both myxomatosis and VHD were deliberately spread to control the rabbit population. Myxy goes back to the 1950s but VHD was introduced more recently. I first came upon it about 20 years ago and it’s much more aggressive than myxy.
I'm not sure what the symptoms are for VHD? I'm assuming excessive bleeding as that's what I am seeing but they also seem to have the messy eyes, poor beggars. I wouldn't wish that on them but we did need a major cull which, of course, doesn't go down well with the fluffies.
They usually die down their burrows and within a few days of contracting the disease, so it’s not long and drawn out like myxy, where the rabbit really dies a slow death from secondary infections. The ones with VHD that I’ve found were lying in the mouth of their burrows and looked fat and in good condition apart from a bit of blood on their mouth. Both diseases were brought over from Australia. The problem with VHD is that it is much more robust than myxy, stays on the ground for a long time and rabbits don’t bounce back from it like they do from myxy. It wiped out our rabbit population nearly 20 years ago and they’ve struggled to build numbers again, many areas being devoid of them to this day.
. She chased it clean out of the wood and across the field in front of guns, beaters and management... 
