Ferreting can be an effective form of rabbit control if carried out properly. Nets are placed over the holes and around the warren, a ferret is then entered to flush the rabbits. I have been working and breeding ferrets for over 30 years and our team of ferrets are bred from carefully selected working stock.
Name: European Rabbit
Latin Name: Oryctolagus cuniculus
Family: Leporidae
Range: Europe and throughout world
Habitat: Woodland to grassland and sandy, scrubby areas
Diet: Grass, herbs, twigs, and bark
Head and Body Length: 14”- 18”
Tail Length: 2”- 3”
Weight: 3 - 5 lbs
Occasionally during the late summer and early autumn we do have ferret kits for sale, if you would like more information or are interested in purchasing kits then please get in touch.
longnetting is another effective method of rabbit control and yet it seems to be a dying art.
It is especially ideal if the rabbits feeding on your land are coming from neighbouring land such as railway and motorway embankments.
As the name suggests a long net is set between the rabbit’s harbourage and the feeding area, the rabbits are then driven towards the waiting net where they are caught. This method is carried out at night.
Traps are another useful tool used in the control of rabbits. Live capture traps such as cage traps and drop boxes can be employed in a variety of situations. The traps provide a humane method of capture and ensure that any non-target species, can be released unharmed.
With all live capture traps they must be checked at least once each day.
The use of kill traps can also be used in certain circumstances in rabbit control. These must be set correctly and in such a way to avoid the capture of non-target species. Only approved spring traps may be used (Spring Traps Approval Order 1975)
We have many years of experience in rabbit control and will only recommend the use of traps if other methods are not viable.
Rabbit fencing when installed correctly can be an ideal method of preventing rabbits access to feeding areas. If required we can also install Badger gates into Rabbit proof fences.
As with all pest control work no two rabbit problems are identical, and so we will carry out a free survey and assessment, then report our findings and recommend an effective rabbit control programme prior to any work being carried out. Where possible we advise that you liaise with neighbours/ landowners so that we can effectively remove more rabbits by dealing with the neighbouring warrens.Once we have reduced rabbit numbers we are able to maintain control with regular agreed visits.
Rabbit grazing can significantly reduce the amount of available grazing for livestock if numbers are left unchecked, and their burrows in paddocks or pastures may even cause injury to livestock.
In parks, gardens and on golf courses, areas where rabbits graze will often suffer damage from the rabbit’s droppings and urine or from the scrapes they create in search of roots.
In forestry plantations and orchards, rabbits will strip bark from around the base of trees, usually leading to the death of the trees affected. Rabbit burrows can undermine footpaths, roads and buildings which may cause subsidence, and burrows in railway and motorway embankments can cause these areas to become unstable creating landslips.
In some areas rabbit grazing is beneficial to the natural environment but even here if numbers become too great it can have an adverse effect.