Shooting Rabbits, Hares, Easier Before Midnight

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30575, 19 October 1964, Page 12

Shooting Rabbits, Hares, Easier Before Midnight

In the destruction of rabbit and hare populations by shooting, operations before midnight are rather more effective than after midnight Rabbits do not seem greatly scared by shooting in their area, but there is some indication that hares are more timid. These conclusions were reached by three members of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research as a result of a project carried out with the help of the staffs of 12 rabbit boards, including

three in the Canterbury area. The scientists are Dr. R. M. Williams, formerly of the applied mathematics division and now of the State Services Commission; Dr. J. H. Darwin, of the applied mathematics division; and Dr. K. Wodzicki, of the animal ecology division. The rabbit boards which took part were Eketahuna, Tinto, and Wairarapa in the North Island, and Conway, Rangitata, Upper Pareora, Palmerston, Leaning. Rock, Waipiata-Pateoaroa, Benmore, Eamscleugh, and Pukerau, in the South Island. In each rabbit board's area, two shooting sites were chosen of roughly comparable terrain, rabbit density, and size; the shooting was carried out by one team from each board. Each team—most consisted of a driver and two shooters, though occasionally there was only one shooter—worked one site until midnight and then changed to the other site in its board’s district! a week later it shot over the same sites but in the opposite order. Most shoots were carried out in October, though a few were delayed till December. Tallies were taken of the kill in each of two periods before midnight, and in each of two periods after midnight, the length of each period being 100 minutes in October or 75 minutes in December.

The additional average kill through using two shooters instead of one was 22 per cent.

To see if shooting had an effect on timidity, a comparison was made of the kill during each pair of adjacent 100 or 75-minute periods; there was little different with rabbits, but the kill of hares tended to be lower in the second of each pair of periods.

When the kill before midnight was compared with the kill after midnight, the earlier shooting time was clearly favoured, the difference in the number of animals shot averaging 12 per cent.

There was no significant variation in sex ratio or age distribution from period to period.