Rabbits thrive in dry conditions and what I am seeing across the North Island at present represents possibly the single biggest increase in rabbit numbers in the last 2-3 decades.

Farmers that have always had a few rabbits at the back of the farm are now being greeted by them at the back door each morning and many of my clients are having to spend hard earned money on rabbit control for the first time ever.

Very dry conditions assist rabbits in a number of ways. An expanse of exposed bare earth makes digging new burrows much easier, and in the absence of any serious rain newly emerged young don’t require burrows at all.

So burrows are reserved largely for breeding and the bulk of the population lives above ground, ever increasing and spreading out across the landscape.

The dry stubble-type grass we see at this time of year is also well suited to rabbits and the more your land looks like Central Otago, the faster your rabbit numbers will increase.

We have always advocated undertaking rabbit control when the population is at its lowest number during winter, so you effectively have fewer rabbits to deal with.

What we are facing at present is rabbit damage on such a large scale that people simply can’t afford to wait for winter and even if they could, winter mortality simply wouldn’t reduce the population enough to make it worth the wait. 

I recently worked for a client that had de-stocked half of the farm due to burrow damage making it too dangerous to run stock on. The barn was on a dangerous lean and on closer inspection I realised the whole building had been undermined with an extensive network of warrens. He had stopped parking the tractor in there last summer out of fear the building would collapse, so the direct cost to him also included a winter’s worth of wear and tear on his tractor.

We fixed all of the rabbit problems on this farm for less than the cost of two good cows and it could have been as little as you would spend on a birthday shout had he only acted earlier.

The rabbit epidemic we are seeing at present will not fix itself; Calici virus has come and gone and we still have rabbits. The increase in rabbit numbers over the last two summers has amazed even those of us in the trade. Rabbits are not only spreading out, they are now numerous in areas that were historically rabbit-free.

Rabbit control is achievable- how much it costs you simply depends on how soon you act. Dig out those rabbit recipes, for small and newly established rabbit problems you may even be able to eat your way to a rabbit-free property!

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