We don’t seem to have a category for moral questions of the day, but…
One of our neighbours drives us nuts. He’s likeable enough but has alcohol problems. And he loves animals but is incapable of looking after them, so they wander pretty freely.
The goat problem seems now to be under control (although he has never paid for the damage they have done) and the pigeons have set up shop away from our house now.
But we now have his rabbits hopping over our garden. They have eaten the tops of 25 pots of tulips I was looking after that are destined for communal planters, have ring barked my medlar tree and chopped a lot of young plants in our veg garden. And they are not afraid of us or the dog…so just leg it under the fence until we have gone.
In desperation I have ordered a humane rabbit trap. If by any chance I catch one, what do I do with i?
I have ruled out returning it to him as I know full well he will not pay any attention and just let it free again.
There is a man in next village who has rabbits, and I could give it to him. But he eats them, so that feels wrong.
Do I take it to police station and say it is his (so many people have complained about him that they know who he is). Do I take it to the SPA? Do I put it on LeBonCoin for immediate collection?
cook it as a cocotte, transfer to a metal tray and leave it on the neighbours doorstep decorated with a few leaves from your tulips for additional effect.
@JaneJones
Super mean, all of them poor bunny.
RESCUE HIM!!! Keep him cosy and happy and he will become a nice friendly rabbit, they are easily housetrained and get on fine with catflaps for going in and out.
You should be able to take it to your local SPA but if it’s wild they will probably not want it. The SPA that I worked at took them in and rehomed them but every one is different and it will depend on your area and how they operate.
But then if I’m honest, I’m with @vero on this one. Rabbits make lovely pets.
They are friendly rabbits…certainly not wild. The man in question allows his animals to roam round his house at will - including the goats. No sign of any attempt at housetraining
But our dog would not accept competition, and I really don’t want more cleaning! I view them as starter pets for young children to learn about responsibility.
Can’t eat them, can’t keep them, but want them out of our veg patch!
In that case try your local SPA. I totally understand reference the dog. My rabbit was given to me because the old owners dog used to pick it up by its neck and throw it round the garden. It’s a dwarf rabbit too. I have no idea how it survived until it got to me!
I kid you not @DeTolkTW
The noise was incredible and it was only a small cat (alledgedly th runt of the pack) but as it was an old farm surrounded by ditches, we didn’t want to discourage it - it was it’s job as a ratter and he was good at it. Never saw a single rodent in all the years we lived there
Well cats will be cats. I have three who were all from ‘wild’ stock.
One of the families in the village came to complain because my cross-eyed Siamese 57 was catching birds mid-flight in their garden. My neighbour, who was talking to me at the time, and who loves my cats, said ‘thats bloody good for a cross-eyed cat’!!
My cats have always made a difference between creatures that live in the house and wild ones -eg wild rabbits = food; but pet rabbits = competition for the cosiest bit of hearthrug. Vole = snack, gerbil = tolerate.
You can always tell by the horrible screeching noise they make that a fox has a live rabbit on its way to its earth.
They take them to teach their cubs to kill.
I remember one morning opening the front door to see the cat proudly marching down the drive to the house with a rabbit in its mouth - apparently dead. I told him that he wasn’t coming in the house with it at which point he put it down, the “dead” rabbit sprung to life and ran off leaving one bemused cat with a surprised expression on it’s face!
Of course you are quite right, Jane, and the reason for my pedantic ‘sorry’. The term is American and was originally written with an apostrophe to indicate the missing ‘o’. The ‘real’ possum is Australasian and as far as I know does not have the habit.
poor bunny.
