EDITOR:
Re: Without ban problem to multiply, Murphy's Law, May 4
The editorial highlighted the problem of uncontrolled rabbit populations.
Wherever rabbits have been allowed to proliferate, they have caused problems, exacerbated by our removal of their natural predators.
British colonists unwisely introduced rabbits into Australia more than 100 years ago, and they (the rabbits, that is) have since grown into a major pest to farmers there. In addition, they have forced many indigenous small mammals to near extinction.
Farmers responded by adding poisonous chemicals into their burrows, but that did not work. So scientists introduced the rabbit myxoma virus in the 1950s, which initially resulted in millions of rabbit deaths from myxomatosis.
However, after some years surviving rabbits became resistant to the virus, while the virus itself mutated to a less virulent form. Consequently the rabbit population skyrocketed again, and remains a pest.
Apart from sterilizing the local bunnies, there is another solution: trap them and eat them. In Northern England in the 1920-1930s, my grandfather, like many of his friends, was on the dole, but he decided to raise rabbits for food, which turned out to be a profitable and tasty exercise.
In many European countries rabbits form part of the national cuisine, so why not adopt the habit here? I'm sure somebody local could find a way to regularly trap these animals and sell them to enterprising butchers and restaurants.
James Hudson
