Small game getting gone.

[rabbitearl]

Just went to a place today,never been there.Thick Thick.Nobody hunts it.No Rabbits.Nothing but cats tracks.I believe the biggest problem in small game is cats.In jan were I posted Something getting my rabbits.Well I ve catch three cats and just yesterday Not one but two Bobcats cross the road at the puppy pen and Duke has been in the pen all day with dogs.Them cats want scare.Now putting traps all around the pen.has it got to a point now that our woods are so infected with cats thats its just unreal.I know in Aug And Sept ticks get there share of rabbits and hawks,but I believe cats are the biggest.I remember fox hunters love to run a bobcat but now I don t ever see somebody fox hunting anymore.I don t know I just wish the wildlife people would look and try to get small game back.I talk to and old friend today and he said he would rabbit hunt in the 60s and somebody would stop and ask them to come to there land and kill them rabbits.There eatting up my garden.I ve never had that to happen to me.I told everbody 5 years ago, if you re having rabbits problem call me and I will catch them for you.Nobody has call.

[yoteslayer]

I was thinking the same thing today, as I was hunting. I had one particular timber that Is loaded with briars and tree tops. didnt jump a single rabbit in that spot. It is by far the best looking spot I have to hunt. I found lots of cat tracks though. and saw two hawks and an owl. So you tell me whats to blame.

[Rowco Beagle Kennels]

We have bobcats, fox, coyotes, owls, fire ants, and hawks, but in my immediate vicinity, I see more free roaming house cats, especially when there are young rabbits on the ground. ROWCO

[Rcoff]

I moved in a new house a while back. The guy I bought it off of said it woun't do you any good to have beagles around here, there aren't any rabbits. I took my dogs back anyways, shot rabbits. Got to talking to the neighbers later, found out that a retired state highway patrolman trapped out the fox the prior year. the place was loaded with rabbits. I hunted another place off of a guy that I work with. He had a place that was a honey hole for rabbits. One year he told me of a family of fox that was raised behind his barn, he liked watching the pups play. We started to see a definate decline in rabbits starting from that year on. He said he didn't even have any ground hogs. We couldn't hardly find any rabbits to hunt, it got so bad, until his step son learned how to trap fox. He got good at it. The rabbit population came back up for quite a few years, now the fox are up again, and the rabbit population is going back down. My brother-in-law has cats; they do the same thing.
Thanks,
Bob

[19rabbit52]

I read an article about cat predation. House cat and feral house cats. It said they were the #1 predator of small mamals and birds. It said they actually kill BILLIONS of small mammals and birds every year. Scientists were advocating the need to eliminate all free roaming cats.

[rabbitearl]

Hey yall.Just went out tonight at the FFA supper and talk to some farmers and they though that CLEAN FARMING has a lot to do with it.I don t know, were I was at today.They want no farming going on.

[DIXIEDOG]

I read an article about cat predation. House cat and feral house cats. It said they were the #1 predator of small mamals and birds. It said they actually kill BILLIONS of small mammals and birds every year. Scientists were advocating the need to eliminate all free roaming cats.

I read the same article, I know they can wreak havoc on a training pen....they climb the fence....kill all the rabbits and go back home to lay on the couch with the kiddies. Owners simply can't grasp the concept that their pet is a killer.

[eddywilliams]

Kill more cats and no rabbits maybe a few .

[Jakeboy]

Mink and weasel are a huge problem also especially on lil ones. Two years ago we didn't see any lil rabbits on our grounds and the overall population was down. I trapped almost 20 weasel off the grounds last winter and a couple mink. This year we had rabbits everywhere.

[ronh]

Everything preys on a rabbit!!!

[pilotknob]

Mink and weasel are a huge problem also especially on lil ones. Two years ago we didn't see any lil rabbits on our grounds and the overall population was down. I trapped almost 20 weasel off the grounds last winter and a couple mink. This year we had rabbits everywhere.

What is the best way to catch them?I know I have some around here.

[NCSportsman]

There are horse farms all around me and the owners keep lots of cats for their barns.

Needless to say, I keep a loaded 22 in the garage. My wife thought I was shooting firecrackers one afternoon!

[Jakeboy]

To trap the weasel i make a box out of 1x6 lumber about 12" long in one end you drill a hole 1.5" where the weasel can get in the box. you put a rat trap facing the hole. Place your bait in the back of the box in summer i put fish oil pills in there and in winter I put any fresh kill I can find like mice squirel and rabbit. For mink i make a box out of 1x8 lumber and leave one end of the box open and put a 110 coninbear in there and use the same bait. These predaters are curious animals I have caught them in traps without any bait in. I will try and post some pics of the traps on here tomorrow.

[nchunter102]

It's a combination of predators and farming habits IMO. I went to a place this year that is usually full of rabbits. The dogs spooked two red foxes out of the woods. Two were jumped that day. Everything eats rabbits.. Snakes, owls, bobcats, house cats, foxes, coyotes, the list goes on and on.