Pests, roaming around the yard at all hours of the day and night, Raccoons, Skunks, and Possums mostly. One pest I have turned into a hobby of sorts, I suppose that is the proper way to phrase it. I am hunting the dreaded tomato worm or the Hornworm. Early in the morning I go to the garden and start looking, anyone that has searched for them understands at least one thing. They have adapted perfectly to their environment, I have the hardest time finding them amongst the curled up tomato leaves which they mimic exactly, I found one this morning and one this afternoon. My friend Mike comes over, walks to the garden and starts picking the little monsters off the limbs, he found 5 this morning. I can live with most of the critters we call "Pests", some others are harder to take due to the mess they leave, the plants they eat, or the number of them. I was talking to the "Bunny Lady" early this morning, we've been neighbors for over 15 years. Her schtick is rescuing Rabbits, she feeds them, takes them home, finds homes for them, and yes she will take them to the Vet for neutering or be patched up. During our conversation, she told me some of the people on our stretch of the levee have spoken to her about the Rabbits. Many people do not want them around and they want her to stop feeding them.
 |
| A tiny bunny, it is about a month old, these are black, we have an assortment of colors. |
A bit of background information is in order. The Rabbits overtaking our small island on the California Delta are domestic pets that have been "set free". Many years ago there were bunnies on our island in the numbers we are seeing now, suddenly they disappeared. Overtaken by Coyotes, Foxes, and Raptors, seeking refuge in the water the rabbits swam across the slough to another extremely small island which happened to also be a marina. Living under the docks, the place is built on a huge granite boulder, the bunnies had no predators and they flourished. Hundreds of them lived under those docks, then two years ago during our winter of heavy rain the island flooded. Rabbits swim well and these are no exception, they all swam the 30 yards or so to our levee, some swam the opposite direction 100 yards to a larger island. I suspect the survival rate was low on the far side island, there are no trees or hiding spots for them as it's mostly a pasture. Now they are thriving on our island, they have a litter of 4-6 every other month, or so it seems, the population is booming.
 |
| The Rabbits swam from the Island with the building on it to the far side, and to this side also, they are good swimmers. |
Gardens, fruit trees, and wild berries offer a wonderful menu for them, plus with the Rabbit Lady feeding them every morning and most of the other women tossing vegetables to them, they lead a good life. It's a short-lived life but they are well fed, and that is one of the complaints, stop feeding them. Stop feeding them and they will go away or so the thought goes, I don't know if they would disappear or not, it seems doubtful.
On the island, we have "bird" people, animal people, and like everywhere else we have "Cat Ladies". This is a rural area with the entire interior of the island serving as a huge pasture, there is a lot of open space. Encouraging all sorts of wildlife which are crossing the road towards the river for water bringing them across gardens, yards, and living spaces, it is part of living in a rural area. Many of those that have moved from the Cities because they like our lifestyle do not understand what it is to live amongst the critters.
Rabbits attract Rats, they can but don't have to if they are domesticated Rabbits, in the wild, there is no way to control it. Cleaning of the hutches and disposing uneaten foods each night will keep the rodents away. Rats attacking the bunnies is rare although reports of it happening have been recorded, people raising rabbits are well aware of the precautions that must be taken. In a hutch it could be a major concern, however, in our situation with "wild" domestic animals it isn't a situation we should be too concerned about. I say that because the rats are here anyway, we rarely see them because they occupy the same space in the food chain as our local squirrels. They don't come inside the houses, but they do haunt the wooded areas, wood piles, compost heaps, and under abandoned sheds and building.
They dig holes, under fences, in gardens, and in the Levee. Not as bad as Beaver or Ground squirrels the majority of rabbits holes are about the same size as the Skunks dig, small about 2 inches in diameter. But when they dig big holes they are big, not always real deep but the diameter can be up to 2 feet. (.60 meter) There are a lot of holes everywhere on our levee, shallow, narrow holes none the less a levee is no place for them. Breaches are sometimes caused by holes dug by animals, Otters, Beaver, and Fox all live on the banks of a river. They all dig dens in them creating a problem large enough for our municipal district to keep a trapper on retainer. I spoke to him one-day several years ago during an unusual uptick in the population of Beaver, they are a nuisance due to their living under wooden docks and chewing them apart. On this day he was humanly trapping a nuisance Beaver for relocation to another island, he told me an amazing story. He had found a Beaver den dug into a levee on our island, as he was digging the hole opened up exposing a cavity large enough to park a 3/4 ton pickup truck in, now that is a major problem. Rabbits do dig holes, although not real deep they still compromise the levees.
The rabbits eat everything and multiply like crazy, there is no denying, they are everywhere. One of the neighbors, a weekender, is being driven nuts by them and he wants to trap them and dispose of them in no uncertain terms. They are eating his ground cover, ice plants, and flowers which are overtaking his levee in leaps and bounds. Talking to him I told him that soon his entire levee would be covered and he will welcome the grazers as they will keep his plants under control, needless to say, he wasn't buying into that theory. His wife told my wife she told another neighbor and on it goes, until the Rabbit lady stopped me and I got the 5th degree, the word was out Mitts wants to kill the bunnies. I didn't prevail in any of those conversations mostly due to my reply, "well he doesn't want to kill all of them." sometimes old Jacques trips all over his reasoning and tongue. Now when it comes to the rabbit "problem" my lips are sealed.
They carry diseases that humans can be infected by, yes they do, one disease SepticemicTularemia is potentially fatal, a multisystemic disease in humans. The disease may be transmitted to humans by handling the infected animal tissue while processing the animal for food, and by eating undercooked infected meat. The Rabbits share many diseases with Rats, Gerbils, Hamsters and other rodent type animals.
(Follow this Link to see a list of the common illnesses carried by Rabbits.)
The Rabbits are a problem, how big of a problem depends on one's perspective, in my opinion. We have flocks of wild Turkeys, for example, I was going past my neighbors chicken coop that had been overtaken by them. He raises Peacocks, Chickens, and Ducks in one section of his farm all in the same coop, the Turkeys overran it. He put a number of domestic Turkeys in the pen and they ran off the wild ones, in California wild Turkeys are an invasive species and may be eliminated if they are creating a financial hardship to the farmer. We still have the birds running around so I'm certain he did not shoot them.
I don't think anything needs to be done with the rabbits, everything in my life takes a natural course, I'm convinced this will as well. We have sheep ranchers and sheep attract Coyotes, all of these bunnies running around will attract them also. The Coyotes will move in, I am convinced they are already hunting rabbits. Part of what I do for the area is removing road kill after animals have been run over, or dead animals I find in peoples yards and lots. I don't find very many, a few squirrels every month, a possum about every six months, and rabbits about once a week. I have not found an animal killed by a Coyote, but I have found some killed by dogs, and lately, I found a small one killed by a Fox. Dogs are simple to figure out if they are the perpetrators, domestic dogs merely kill the animals consuming no part of it, they let them lay. Foxes on the other hand only go after the small bunnies, for one they are easier to catch, and two a full-size Rabbit will fight a Fox and is able to cause life-threatening injuries to the small canine.
 |
| An adult Rabbit, it must be related to all of the other black ones. |
How much of a problem are they? I will relate another short story. I was on my scooter when a lady I stopped to talk, she asked me,
"What do you do about your Racoon problem?"
I looked at her with a skewed look on my face and said to her, "I have a raccoon problem?"
She replied, "Everyone else does so I thought you did as well."
To which I answered, "Well, I leave a bucket of fresh water out in the garden for them, and the food remnants I don't compost I leave outside the trashcan so the critters don't spread my garbage all over the place."
She didn't answer me, it was a thought that never entered her head.
That is why I said earlier it depends upon a persons perspective, I choose to live with the wild animals, It is the easiest way to deal with them. The wild animals take turns in overpopulating the place, not too long ago someone suggested re-naming the island to "Skunk Island", due to us being flooded with the polecats. Raccoons overran the island in the past also, and we have just passed the Turkey boom, right after we were buried in Feral Cats, so it does run in cycles.
The next animals to overrun the island will be Coyotes, Hawks, and Kit Foxes, they will be after the Rabbits. When the Rabbits are thinned out the predators will move along to another well-stocked area.
They will be gone soon enough, it will be unnoticeable to most of us until one day someone says "I wonder what happened to all the rabbits?" I already hear comments such as "We don't have any wild cats around here any longer, I wonder what happened to them."
Personally, I don't think they (the Rabbits) are a big enough problem to be concerned about, it's a matter of perspective which adds to my self-awareness in recognizing the cycles of life expanding my appreciation of the natural flow of things around me. To my friends and neighbors, I will say, "Just be patient, they will be gone before long, they will probably swim across the river to the small island and refuge."
Red Wing Blackbirds are on the list of pest also, my favorite birds, they were decimated by West Nile Virus, they are making a comeback and we will all realize once again why we have a "Bird Island". Some people call it "Grass Island", boy are they in for a surprise next spring, I will write about it then.
 |
| Red Wing Blackbird, when numbering in the thousands they are noisy, we'll hear them again next spring. |
Thanks for reading and sharing my blog, I realize overpopulation of Rabbits can be a nightmare, Austrailia went through it several years ago, some people fear that's where we are headed. I don't see how we can be, every dog on here has one thing on their mind, Chase Rabbits. I will be on the lookout for the Fox, and the howl of the Coyote will get closer. Thanks again.
jacquesandkate EmergencyKitsPlus.com
ayam ayam tarung ayam bangkok
ReplyDelete