Slingshots

[Kittyhawk]

Rabbits are terrible in NZ, particularly in the south island where they have decimated large areas of the high-country grazing land, bankrupting farmers.
I recall fly fishing once in one of the remote high country lakes. It was just before sunset in late summer and the tussock hills were pretty brown. I looked across to the hills and the whole landscape appeared to be shimmering - I thought it was a trick of the light but no, it was wall to wall rabbits. Thousands of them.
Meanwhile the authorities are sitting on their hands muttering oh dear, how sad..So a couple of enterprising farmers when to Australia and smuggled some of the Calisi virus back into NZ and this almost wiped them out but they are making a comeback.
We have 12 years in Whangamata and this is the first time I have seen rabbits here in the village.
And I notice that each new batch of young ones are bolder than their parents, now showing almost no fear of humans and not much of dogs either. And the latest is our dog is going berserk when out on the deck so I think a few have moved in beneath it but can't look without lifting the decking.
I have some experience with club archery but the worry is a non-fatal hit resulting in a rabbit galloping through the village with an arrow up its backside would not be a good look.
They are tame enough now that it's possible to get to within a few metres of them so I think the slingsht/catapult is worth a shot.
I know I won't make any impact on the numbers but hopefully word will spread throughout Bunnyville that our immediate neighbourhood is not such a desirable location to call home.

 

[TRITON]

I am seriously against people trying their hand at 'pest' control using things like catapults.
For starters you aren't a really good accurate shot and all you do is cause fear and extreme suffering.

People thinking that have the capability of slaughter small furry animals DO NOT offer a humane dispatch.
If you need this done - Hire a professional.

 

[sawtooth-9]

Now this is a real opportunity to combine some serious woodwork, skill development and pest extermination.
Make a cross bow !

 

[Kittyhawk]

I am seriously against people trying their hand at 'pest' control using things like catapults.

For starters you aren't a really good accurate shot and all you do is cause fear and extreme suffering.

Don't get me wrong, Im not a crazed animal activist, I'm an Ex Butcher and have been inside an abattoir in full swing. I have no problems with witnessing death and blood on a big scale, plus i'm highly skilled in dismembering animals, from cattle, sheep, pigs, game birds etc etc.



So if you want pests controlled, you call an expert. Someone who can kill humanely.

Amateurs do my head in when it comes to this.

SERIOUSLY NOT WORK SAFE --
You tube - Blood of the beasts. A french film. Thankfully it's a 1949 film and its in black and white. Were it full colour, I think most watching it would become vegan overnight.

I'd put the direct link up, but the mods would remove it,it is pretty horrific, but effectively thats what you are doing by attempting such yourself.
People thinking that have the capability of slaughter small furry animals DO NOT offer a humane dispatch.

Yes, I take your point.
I've been in abbatoirs too - I used to send my bobby calves there and I'm pretty certain that cattle, wide eyed and bellowing in the race awaiting their turn for the captive bolt gun know exactly what's about to happen to them. In my seafaring days I sailed briefly on ships which, in the lyrics of the shanty, go a-fishing for the whale.
My conclusion from these events is that there is no nice way to kill anything.
Rabbit control in NZ is in the hands of government and its appointed exterminators and to achieve this they use the calicivirus and mixamatosis. These induced diseases are highly transmissable within rabbit populations and the symptoms before inevitable death are days of lethargy, loss of appetite, organ failure and bleeding out via the nose, mouth and eyes.
By comparison, I want to shoot a few rabbits with a catapult, assuming of course after practising that I can hit the target with a degree of certainty. As Keith66 pointed out, trying to control a rabbit population by roaming the hills with a rifle is futile but evidence suggests that protecting a small area will result in rabbits keeping clear, preferring greener (safer) pastures.
I imagine that two weeks protecting my patch will tell me if this is true. If, during this time I pinged 100 rabbits with a 50% kill rate, this leaves 50 injured rabbits that will either recover or die.
I'm sorry if this 'does your head in' but I think 50 possibly maimed vermin is preferable to an entire population sentenced to a horrific lingering death at the hands of the professionals.

In the garden now..

 

[Richard_C]

I think you need to persevere with the council, or club together with neighbours and get a professional in. Even if you do become a proficient catapault user, or some other means, it won't really dent the population. Rabbits breed like rabbits!

Depending on species, gestation about 14 days, give birth to 1-12 at a time, can be fertilized again 2 or 3 days after giving birth, mature enough to start breeding at 2 to 3 months old, breed for about 8 months of the year - longer if it is mild and there is food about. You have no natural predators in NZ as far as I know, and its early in your spring/summer breeding season.

I don't know if they have a 'collective memory' of dangerous/safe places so its worth a try I suppose.

If its a problem now, do a few sums and work out how many you would need to despatch to make a difference.

 

[J-G]

If its a problem now, do a few sums and work out how many you would need to despatch to make a difference.

Very few 'sums' needed - just review the Fibonacci Series !

 

[TRITON]

Yes, I take your point.
I've been in abbatoirs too - I used to send my bobby calves there and I'm pretty certain that cattle, wide eyed and bellowing in the race awaiting their turn for the captive bolt gun know exactly what's about to happen to them. In my seafaring days I sailed briefly on ships which, in the lyrics of the shanty, go a-fishing for the whale.
My conclusion from these events is that there is no nice way to kill anything.
Rabbit control in NZ is in the hands of government and its appointed exterminators and to achieve this they use the calicivirus and mixamatosis. These induced diseases are highly transmissable within rabbit populations and the symptoms before inevitable death are days of lethargy, loss of appetite, organ failure and bleeding out via the nose, mouth and eyes.
By comparison, I want to shoot a few rabbits with a catapult, assuming of course after practising that I can hit the target with a degree of certainty. As Keith66 pointed out, trying to control a rabbit population by roaming the hills with a rifle is futile but evidence suggests that protecting a small area will result in rabbits keeping clear, preferring greener (safer) pastures.
I imagine that two weeks protecting my patch will tell me if this is true. If, during this time I pinged 100 rabbits with a 50% kill rate, this leaves 50 injured rabbits that will either recover or die.
I'm sorry if this 'does your head in' but I think 50 possibly maimed vermin is preferable to an entire population sentenced to a horrific lingering death at the hands of the professionals.
View attachment 146073
In the garden now..

I've no problem with humane slaughter. We in the meat trade and through legislation have gone to great lengths over the decades to render this process as quick and painless as we can. Which is why im so against people attempting to do such themselves
As an ex butcher, Ive been asked many times by the unscrupulous to do a bit of 'rustling' in the form of sheep and deer, and Ive always refused because in the field there is no way i could administer such without causing suffering. That has to be carried out in a controlled environment and by trained professionals under the close watch of government health officials also highly qualified in this subject.
" I've been in abattoirs too - I used to send my bobby calves there and I'm pretty certain that cattle, wide eyed and bellowing in the race awaiting their turn for the captive bolt gun know exactly what's about to happen to them"
This is not so. In a slaughter hall, the passageway between the lairage and the factory floor is separated by a steel door that lets one animal at a time into a stunning pen. There is no way the animal behind can see what happened to the animal in front. The door slides open, the animal goes through into the pen and the door slides shut behind it.

What people dont seen to take into account is the suffering they are causing, they seem oblivious to the horrific death such a poor animal suffers, sometimes for hours.
Subject matter aside. I edited this at 3am, because after adding it about the French film it was a bit too much and thought I'd restrain my opinions on that
So how come you can post it at 8am ? despite me deleting it ?

Just a question. I've noticed this a couple of times and cant see how members have access to edited content.

 

[johna.clements]

Subject matter aside. I edited this at 3am, because after adding it about the French film it was a bit too much and thought I'd restrain my opinions on that
So how come you can post it at 8am ? despite me deleting it ?

Just a question. I've noticed this a couple of times and cant see how members have access to edited content.

I would assume that the reply was started before you made your edit.
Then the answer was posted latter.
Maybe @Kittyhawk had to go chase rabbits.

 

[Sachakins]

You won't have to kill as many as you think, self preservation and the herd instinct kick in quite quickly and they'll move on.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11556224..._TECSIwRW6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Kittyhawk]

So how come you can post it at 8am ? despite me deleting it ?

Just a question. I've noticed this a couple of times and cant see how members have access to edited content.

Because, I think, I started a reply to your post almost immediately immediately, attaching it as I have done above. But then the child bride came along and told me off for not getting on with the renovation work. So I left it and came back to it hours later. I did not notice that you had amended your original post and I apologise for including content that you did not intend to publish.
I am in awe of your abbatoirs. Here, (last time I was in one was years ago) the cattle were in a race which terminated in booth arrangement that had a sideways tilting metal floor. The animal was dispatched, the floor tilted sending the carcase down a shute and the next one took its place. Pretty awful and hopefully we've moved on since then.
Concerning our local rabbit problem. The government will not get involved in matters that are under council's jurisdiction. Council are OK at weed spraying and the like and apart from rat destruction have nothing in place to deal with a rabbit infestation. Neither they nor private exterminators are or ever will be licenced to use viral control measures which is the only way to deal with rabbits, unfortunately. Police will not take kindly to armed citizens prowling the village and releasing volleys of gunfire at real or imagined rabbits.
So those of us living on the reserve where the infestation is most severe have a big problem and in my view we have a right to protect our properties from damage. I admit I'm cooling off a bit on the catapult plan, mainly because it doesn't present a time-effective solution. Also, I do not wish to inflict unnecessary suffering on the rabbits but here my motives are probably biased and ill considered. Who wants to cause misery to a cute little bunny which his droopy ears and his wiggly nose? But rats? Kill the beggars any way you can.

 

[Ttrees]

Did you try finding someone who rehabilitates wild animals who might know someone who does the same for raptors?
Sounds like it could be perfect situation for a captive release project or something of that kinda thing.

 

[thetyreman]

Now this is a real opportunity to combine some serious woodwork, skill development and pest extermination.
Make a cross bow !

which I said in post #12

 

[Kittyhawk]

which I said in post #12

Been considering archery again, long bow, not crossbow.
Looking into the law, long bows do not come under the firearms act so I can use one wherever so long as in doing so I do not pose a risk to the public - a moot point on our reserve. The photo attached to my original post shows the reserve where the rabbits congregate and you will note there are no people to be seen. This is normal, there ain't nobody here 'cept for us rabbits..
The reason for considering archery as a deterrent is that as alluded to in an earlier post, 60 years ago I shot at club level and my 4 arrow grouping was 18cm on the 60 metre range. Rusty, no doubt, but I still have the same eyes in my head and practice should recoup much of what I've lost in the interim. I can shoot from off my deck and the range would be in the region of 12-15 metres. I may set up a target at that range and if I can't hit a rabbit sized bullseye dead centre with a broad tip which would ensure a clean kill on live prey... well I'll just go off and sulk.

 

[Ttrees]

If you get tired of that, stick one on a pole, and If you see a raptor getting a feast, chances are it would return.
Still super cautious and normally gets spooked if it sees you through the window,
but somewhat less I guess.
Always seems to be around the magpies, crows were chasing it away during summer, some gray crows seemingly indifferent compared to rooks or whichever species of crow or ravens they are.
Likely knows when the mice will be getting cold.

 

[Orraloon]

I did a fair bit of rabbit shooting as a lad growing up in Scotland but it was for the pot. No way you will make much of a dent in the population whatever you shoot them with. They do taste nice and the odd couple for the pot is some consolation. If you are going to shoot some then aim to be as humane as you can and you will have to put some wounded ones out of their misery. Thats just a fact of hunting. Even with a .22 or a shotgun the kill is often not as quick as desired. An airgun would just be sheer cruelty and not very effective. I knew some bow hunters and rabbits and small game are shot with blunt arrow heads known as blunts. Archery shops sell them but some used steel hex nuts on wood shafts. Anyhow however hunting is done there is a responsibility on the hunter to do it right.
Regards
John

 

[sometimewoodworker]

I wonder if anyone has any experience in the use of slingshots to visit a serious amount of mayhem and murder on an out of control rabbit population.
This is public reserve in the front of mine and the neighbours homes and at dawn and dusk the grass is alive with rabbits.

Despite claims to the contrary rabbits can certainly be controlled or, around our area, eliminated. The most usual tool is one of these

to eliminate them all you need are enough people motivated by free food, a supply of small stone, and the availability of wildlife.

The catapult illustrated probably costs about £1 as it is a luxury model

 

[Trainee neophyte]

This is how I would do it:



Obviously you can't have the ferret, but your ground looks like lurcher heaven. It would be self - exercising, too. And who doesn't want to own a 40mph couch potato? Best dogs to own, by far, but I may be biased.

 

[JimJay]

For those interested, a mate of mine, Jorg Sprave, has a Facebook presence, "The Slingshot Channel" - I think you'll find a lot to intrigue/fascinate/outrage you on it.....

 

[Keith 66]

In the semi urban situation & country you are in best tool for the job would be a good powerful air rifle, it will do the job out to the range you can shoot accurately, for me with a .22 & scope that was 30 yards. Modern air rifles have come a long way from those of the 1970's. Free food & a bit of pest control whats not to like. Shooting a .22 rimfire around houses is probably overkill & danger of richochet is high.
If you leave it to so called professionals nothing will ever get done!
Here we used to be plaged with rabbits but myxy came & hit them hard, ten years back the new disease viral haemoragic fever came & all but wiped them out, they have never really recovered.
Now there are as many muntjac deer as rabbits. But controlling them is a whole different ball game.

 

[Suffolkboy]

Personally. If I was going to reduce a population of rabbits I'd be thinking of trapping.

Baited live catch cage traps during the leaner months on a three week cycle, week 1, bait the area.

week 2 set traps on prebait, bait the traps.

Week three set the traps to catch, reduce the bait in the traps. Hek the traps twice a day.


Very rare that shooting, whatever method you use is enough to have a significant impact on a large population in a short space of time.

That said, effective shooting over a period of years can surpress populations.

A combination of the two is the ideal.


Also not sure of the legalities in NZ but have you considered Aluminium Phosphide?