August 1999

Rumour has it that in NSW RCD baits are being used already despite the fact that the use of such baits in Australia at this time are illegal under present law.

Here is an email received from NSW.

fwd...."My neighbour told me about 1080, some years back. He said he used to buy it for his acreage, but that it was no longer able to be purchased in NSW.

The RCD baits dropped around our acreage were supplied by the [State Government] Dept XXXXXXXXXXX. They ask you to place chopped up carrots in locations where wild rabbits travel every second day for 1 week. This trains the bunnies to come looking for their free feed. Then they deliver to each property a 10 kilo bag of carrots (finely diced). They then pour liquid into the bag of carrots to 'infect' them. The liquid is made by chopping up the livers of rabbits infected with RCD for this purpose, and mixing them with water. The virus is now on the carrots. This enables the virus to spread in the same way that a cold virus can spread from one human to another by touching a surface that has previously been touched by someone with a virus. You wipe your nose, or touch your lips, and whammo! You have given yourself a cold.

Viruses can only live a short time without their 'host'. This is why we were to 'train' the rabbits to come looking for their freebie carrots at a particular time, in a particular place each day. This way, they come right to the virus, rather than coming across it by chance. Which would be the case if you just dumped it once, without the untainted 'free' feeds first.

Apparently death occurs in between 12 and 72 hours. The poor sods in my paddock must have been leaning towards the 12 hour kill rate judging by the fast results. Some rabbits didn't even make it to their burrows to die. We found them dead on the tracks that lead from one burrow opening to another.

Very impressive results, and humanely fast.

I don't know how awful a death 1080 gives them, but another system my neighbours have employed involves cyanide pellets. They block up as many borrow openings as they can find, then place the pellets in an entrance, add water (to release the gas) and block up the entrance. Sounds terrible doesn't it?

Poor old bunnies!

Nice chatting with you.