Help wanted for Rabbit Problem

[Brian_Ewen]

Guys
My home club has always had a rabbit problem , but this past couple of years it has definetely gotten worse .

The rabbits feast on our greens , making them very patchy , not a pretty sight , and not easy to putt on .
There seems to be an acceptance of this problem by our Greenkeeper and the greens committee , and that the general feeling is that nothing can be done , but I travel to other courses in Scotland and see rabbits running around but their greens are never like ours .

I just find it unbelievable that in the year 2003 , there can not be a solution to keeping rabbits off our greens .

So I want to ask the great minds on this discussion group for some help , all your ideas wil be gratefully recieved.

Brian Ewen

[cary lichtenstein]

It is a 2 step process. The humane way is to feed them lots of birth control pills. That should stop the longer term problem, because rabbits multiply like crazy.

Now, if you want to get aggressive, rent the old movie Caddy Shack. C4 is not recommended.

Find out what type of animal is the rabbit natural predator, probably the coyote. Wait til your off season, and bring them in. Throw some foxes into the mix and you guys can sit in the club house in the winter and what all the action.

 

[cary lichtenstein]

I forgot to respond to the greens superintendent and greens committee indifference to the rabbit problem.

This 2 is a 2 step process. Feed them birth contol pills as well, as they should not be allowed to breed.

Lock them in a large metal cage with only water and 8 live rabbits. Let them out only if they kill the rabbits and eat them to survive.

 

[Brock Peyer]

Propose a new local rule with a 15th club in the bag, a pellet gun!!!!

[Steve Curry]

Brian,

Birds of Prey!!!

We have a family of red tail hawks that keep the small animal populations very much in check.


Regards,
Steve

[ForkaB]

Brian

Dornoch had a rabbit infestation problem about 10 years ago.  They chose the following weapons of mass destruction:

1.  Traps
2.  Gas
3.  Ferrets
4.  Lurchers
5.  A dedicated member of the green staff who drove the most infested areas of the course in the middle of the night in an SUV with blinding headlamps and a shotgun
6.  Seriously cutting back the whins.

#'s 5 and 6 seems to have been the most successful WMDs.  Without peace adn quiet and their snug little hollows to breed in the rabbits eventually moved on elsewherewhere it was more fun.

PS--#6 made the course play easier, particularly for the average player, but that is not a really bad thing.

[Bill_McBride]

I just spent a fruitless half hour skimming through Dr. MacKenzie's "Spirit of St. Andrews" because I seem to recall some pithy advice about rabbits, but no luck.  But this exercise did remind me what a great read that book is!  He gives a great deal of practical advice on greenskeeping, soil management, etc, but apparently nothing on rabbit management.  There is a public course in Anaheim CA (maybe Anaheim Hills?) where I saw more rabbits than I've ever seen before in one place.  The 16th or 17th tee was the highest point on the course and we arrived at just about dusk.  There must have been at least 200 rabbits hopping around and grazing.  But no damage to the greens that I could see, maybe something in the chemicals they used there.

[Brock Peyer]

I had a problem with mice in my garage and purchased a device that you plug into an outlet and it emits and high frequency that people don't hear but rodents do and don't like, could that work on rabbits?

[Steve Lapper]

1. Matt Ward and a jumbo bucket

2. Brad Miller and a large bucket

3. Slapper & Naffer with headlights and 2 irons!

[Joe Hancock]

If I'm not mistaken, the Good Doctor saw the de-populization of rabbits around golf courses as a problem, not over population.

Ah, but things have changed!

Joe

[cary lichtenstein]

Use google search engine and type in "rabbit problems"