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Rabbit Sweep use cases

In the tech world, when developing a product, system architects use a case model - a representative example of the problem to be solved and what the system should do. Currently, almost everything considered here is done by humans but some of the work could easily be done by a suitable program which helps organise the work.

We have four examples of use cases reflecting different land sizes and uses:

Other use cases might focus on the circumstances of the landholder, presence of cultural heritage artefacts or perhaps the ecology of the relevant land.

Rural land

Jack manages a property of 400 hectares and is sick of rabbits but has given up trying to control them in recent years. He is aware that he might be close to water and knows he has a scar tree. He is worried about how to respect these precious cultural heritage items. He calls/emails the Rabbit Sweep for help.

Peri-urban land

Mary has a 2 1/2 hectare property on the edge of a development. There are rabbits coming and going, spoiling her lawn, making her paddock dangerous for her horse, and making her plantings ugly with too much corflute. Her neighbour has 2 special dogs that roam the paddocks with her children. She calls/emails the Rabbit Sweep for help.

Urban land

Joe lives in a develoment and notices rabbits on the nature strip and running across the road at night. His daughter has a pet rabbit. His wife hates finding holes in her nature strip and her garden plants eaten. Joe loves the birds and is worried that controlling rabbits will put the birds of prey at risk. He calls/emails the Rabbit Sweep for help.

Land on border with public land

Susan's property is private but next to public land managed  by the xxx  corporation. She has had help before with rabbits but they just come back. Now they are burrowing under her shed and she sees entrances to their warrens on the other side of the fence, on public land. She calls/emails the Rabbit Sweep for help.

Rabbit Sweep response

The Rabbit Sweep is happy to work with anyone on the Bellarine if it will help control the rabbits. The Rabbit Sweep welcomes the contact, and makes it clear that there are some principles to be respected. Having explained these principles, the facilitator will ask a few questions to get an overview of the problem.

The following are indicative initial questions:

  • how big is your property?
  • where is it - in terms of the Bellarine?
  • has there been rabbit control work in recent times? 
  • have your neighbours been controlling rabbits?
  • do you want help engaging with your neighbours?
  • do you want the problem solved or to do the work yourself?
  • are you after a short term fix or a long-term solution?
  • do you want help assessing the problem and suggestions for solving it?
  • do you want info you can use to research the problem?
  • do you like written scientific papers or friendly videos? or?
  • etc

NOTE: these questions will be taken from a clearly constructed flow chart. (In time, they should be available online as a quick, responsive survey.)

The caller's neighbours may be invited to participate - according to the wishes of the caller.

Once the landholder's parameters are established, the Rabbit Sweep may arrange for a facilitator and expert to visit the site and help develop a potential problem solution profile (PPSP). A set of resources will be recommended (the catalogue may be used for this). The PPSP will not be a list of rabbit control task instructions for the caller but rather it will start with a list of possible ways to do the work - eg call in an expert/consultant, attend a training/field day, teach-yourself from online resources, ... It will detail the actions to enable the caller to understand it (with enough detail for the caller to know what is proposed, involved, likely to be the result, and the cost, item by item). 

The Rabbit Sweep will offer to contact the caller's neighbours. If the caller wants to proceed, and wants help, Rabbit Sweep will call the neighbours to see if they would like to meet and possibly work together.

The PPSP will be incremental in some cases or respects, or comprehensive, according to the wishes of the caller and cluster members. It can be revisited and modified at any time.

For each action/task chosen, the caller will be offered information about who can help them, with what (eg with tasks, equipment or consumables), at what cost, and how to arrange for the work to be done. The caller will be enabled to check with a contractor or volunteer what exactly they will do, what are the risks and costs, and how will they be assured the work was done efficiently and recorded.

The Rabbit Sweep will provide a list of who and what can be available/contacted/contracted to do the work. (The Rabbit Sweep will aim to automate this in time building on precedents that fit the criteria.)

The Rabbit Sweep will offer to check proposals in PPSPs and to evaluate reports of work when it's completed.

NOTE: The challenge for the Rabbit Sweep is to develop the infrastructure for someone to maximise the desired results with minimum work. Implicit in that challenge is to also maximise the potential for 'callers' to be assisted and for on-ground workers/volunteers to most appropriately and easily be engaged for the best possible results.

Rabbit Sweep Principles

The principles mut be considered by everyone as the process goes along.

  •  Someone should always be ready to take a phone call or email from someone intersted in controlling rabbits on the Bellarine.
  • In developing tech solutions, the Rabbit Sweep will clearly identify tasks for humans and those that can be automated.
  • Developing systems that can help humans will be a priority - this is not to deny the use of AI but to use it effectively and only when appropriate.
  • It is known it is better to work as neighbourhoods than individually and independently.  Neighbours may include public bodies. Equally, the caller may be from a public body so the neighbours are private landholders. The same process will be initiated.
  • Where appropriate, everyone will need to be insured when they undertake Rabbit Sweep onground work.
  • Volunteers will be treated the same way as contractors and Rabbit Sweep will charge for work done by contractors and volunteers.

See also    "Using Information Technology to Enhance Community Engagement" Prepared by Dr. Theodore R. Alter, Dr. Jeffrey C. Bridger, Paloma Z. Frumento, Madison S. Miller, and Eleanor S. Polley 2014 (https://community.invasives.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/07/Using_Information_Technology_to_Enhance_Community_Engagement.pdf).