'Rabbit chocolate' baiting (C2)

A member of the BLG Rabbit group mused that if baits could be like chocolate, baiting rabbits would be easier and more effective. What have we discovered?

Please note that Rabbit Sweep  always encourages strict adherance to the instructions on labels, especially when poisons are involved, but... what if we add something to the instruction list? The poison used in this exercise is Pindone oats, available from Bunnings or Wallington Rural and available for anyone.

A couple of other things are worth saying: birds are not attracted strongly to Pindone but don't use it on and on (perhaps no more than for a week). The other myth is that dogs will be attracted - Bellarine vets say they have never had a dog eat enough to be at risk. Even eating dead poisoned rabbits is not a risk for dogs or birds - they reputedly cannot eat enough for this to cause harm and anyway, the poison loses effect very quickly.

It turns out that fresh spinach juice is, indeed, chocolate for rabbits. We have been baiting with it and found some poisitive effects. So here's what we do.

1. Always choose carefully where to lay bait and when, in terms of seasons and the surrounding vegetation conditions. If it is a good time to bait, perhaps where there is rabbit poo is a good place? Rabbits have to eat their poo several times over so it is good to lay bait close by.
2. Rabbits only need a very few poisoned grains to die from their effects. So only a small amount is needed (perhaps as little as 6 grains each).
3. A not very long channel dug simply as shallow as 1.5 centimetres is a good place to spread the grains.
4. Adding the chocolate is easy then - simply use a kitchen appliance to make some fresh 'chocolate' juice (spinach, kale, or silver beet) and pour it onto the line of grains.
5. Cover the grains with soil and smooth the area so you can see what happens.
6. So what will happen? The instructions suggest several days of feeding oat grains to train the rabbits before using poisoned grains. We have found that is probably not necessary.
7. As indicated by the instructions, there is no need to use too many grains. That means check what has been eaten and adjust what is done the second night. Repeat the process until no more grains are being eaten (3 or 4 times?).
8. Remember to measure your success by observing the destruction caused by the rabbits rather than how many dead ones you see (they probably die in thier warren).

To make the channel for the Pindone you can use a suitable gardener's tool with a blade about 5 cm wide. You might want to share the purchase of Pindone and aim to use it all while it is fresh.