Rushie caught her 1st bunny! Update- more rabbits and mice

[Cowgirl-with-heart]

Skeksis

Cowgirl-with-heart

Skeksis

Cowgirl-with-heart

Nurse Scarling, Skeksis is in Australia where the rabbits are not native and are ruining the land,she hunts them all the time with her ferrets and now Rushie,it helps control the population,and she feeds them to them,so the deaths are not useless or wasted,as to Rushie congrats xD at least this time it wasn't a hare she was after! lol. If you were to call her off would she listen? say she found something NOT legal to kill,or something that might hurt her? or does she get too caught up in the excitement?

Yeah, she was ever so slightly outclassed by that hare. xd
She knows what she's allowed to have and what she isn't to touch- livestock and native animals are a massive no-go and she knows she isn't even allowed to look at them. She has a really good 'leave it'.

I don't think I could shout her off a bolting rabbit; the speed at which it all happens, her drive and the fact they can't hear very well when at top speed [something to do with their blood circulation and the wind resistance] makes it unlikely. I can tell her to leave it before she starts running and she will.

oohh I see,its cause the way you said it it sounded like you had no idea what was in tall grass,and I was like D: cause you know it could be something dangerous or something...

Ah, sorry for causing concern. smile The cover was a mixture of thick ground-creeper, grass and the occasional old fallen branch, ranging from ankle height to knee height. I knew it wouldn't be hiding anything dangerous [like a roo], or anything that would outclass her at this point [like a fox]. It was too cold for snakes. I thought it may have been a rat or rabbit, with rabbit being most likely as there are a few in that spot and I have seen them use that cover before. smile
I'm very careful with her. 3nodding

oohhh I got ya,I was imagining like 3-4 foot grass xD which you know could be anything lol  

[Skeksis]

Shearaha

Congradulations Rushi! I'm so proud of her, especially for standing so well for that pic.

Standing still took more effort than catching that rabbit, methinks. She didn't approve at all and was emitting this high eeeeeiiiiiiiieeeeiiiieeee noise the entire time. *Snort*  

[Whiskey On A Sunday]

Congrats to Rushie!  

[Azusanga]

Gabrielle_AnimalLuver

LOL she looks like she's standing for a police lineup. congrats!

LOL I was thinking the exact same thing. Congrats!

I wish Kayda wasn't too old to hunt. I wish I could bring her out hunting D:  

[Shearaha]

Skeksis

Shearaha

Congradulations Rushi! I'm so proud of her, especially for standing so well for that pic.

Standing still took more effort than catching that rabbit, methinks. She didn't approve at all and was emitting this high eeeeeiiiiiiiieeeeiiiieeee noise the entire time. *Snort*

I bet she was rofl

Oh and FYI, I am so going to be hitting you up for training tips when I finally get my sighthound puppy 3nodding whenever that may be stare  

[Mistress of Rain]

good job Rushie! sure she had fun, and I can imagine... the pleading she was doing. "I caught it.... Mommy I want it nowwww...'*pout/puppy eyes*  

[Skeksis]

Thanks all! Shearaha, hit me up anytime, they can be stubborn sods. What sighthounds are you contemplating?


We went out for a bit of ferret+hound vs rabbit action this afternoon. Roland worked a four hole warren on the side of a bank under a blackberry bush and bolted two huge healthy rabbits, which Rushie coursed and caught. So proud of her, she is doing so well.  

[imderanged]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to get all worked up & cuss you out as another poster did, but it did make me wonder... why does the idea of feeding live prey to reptiles make this guild go mad, but this is OK? I'm just curious.  

[ladycrotalus]

imderanged

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to get all worked up & cuss you out as another poster did, but it did make me wonder... why does the idea of feeding live prey to reptiles make this guild go mad, but this is OK? I'm just curious.

With feeding live prey to reptiles, both predator and prey are trapped in a glass box where neither can get away from each other should something go wrong. A properly placed bite can kill a snake just because of how the snakes kill. The rodents don't die fast enough and do suffer.

I have never seen her pup kill but my neighbor's barn cat comes over and goes after the rats attracted to my chicken coop and i let her in and when she grabs one i immediately here a crunch when she bite down and she kills it instantly and eats it.

Its also not like shes just letting her ferrets and dog kill for fun, they get to eat em. Its just a different form of hunting. Plus its helping with the rabbit population that is destroying Australia. JMO  

[Skeksis]

imderanged

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to get all worked up & cuss you out as another poster did, but it did make me wonder... why does the idea of feeding live prey to reptiles make this guild go mad, but this is OK? I'm just curious.

I suspect you'll get a variety of answers, ethics and morals being pretty personal and all. I can only give you my stance:

Live feeding doesn't sit well with me for a number of reasons. The foremost being the manner in which injury and distress to both predator and prey is so immensely increased. Neither can escape from the situation should they feel the need to. Both the ferts and dog can jack if they feel outclassed by something in these hunts...neither are ever forced into a situation. Reptile in a box can't do that. It's the reason I wouldn't drop one of my ferrets in a box with a live rabbit; the fert would get the stuffing kicked out of it. Would probably still kill the rabbit, but it would be a very wretched affair for both. And completely unecessary to boot. The objectives of my hunts are to obtain meat and for pest control, respectively. The methods I use are just whatever is most appropriate to the situation at hand.

That's my reasoning. 3nodding  

[Skeksis]

Oks, I have a bit more time on my hands now so you all get the extended version of this afternoon's happenings. xp

The location was just along from where she caught her first bunny, same bank, same stretch of impossible cover. Except with the added joy of blackberry. And of course there were holes under the blackberry...completely shielded from nets. Nets and blackberry do NOT mix well.
So down Roland went and all was still for a few minutes. Rushie was sitting down looking bored, not understanding why she wasn't allowed to go and hunt up like usual. Then that underground thunder started as Roland started to shift rabbits about underground and she started to pay attention. A bolter shot out from under the blackberry and turned out towards the open ground, hopeing to make it into the next patch of cover. Rushie was on it like a shot and put in a strike just as it dissapeared- one rabbit in the bag! And it didn't even get a turn in. She retrieved it and I gave her a quick fuss then took the bunny from her, told her to leave it [which she did, albeit grudgingly] and redirected her attention. The second course was longer; this rabbit was much more powerful and a much more cunning runner. It put in a few wrenches, made a ridiculous turn and gained a patch of Eucalypts [which holds another warren] with Rushie hot on it's tail. Both were then out of sight and I was sure it had gone to ground in that warren. Rushie didn't reappear immediately so I assumed she had her head down a hole trying to squeeze in after it.
A minute passed and she appeared from the trees...carrying the bunny! she bought it back, did a victory lap and relinquished it. It was a freakin' huge powerful rabbit. eek
So that was...basically textbook. Quick clean bolts from Roland, two great courses for Rushie.

Roland


Rushie bringing the second rabbit in...look at the size of that guy!


"We did well, didn't we?"
 

[Skeksis]

Managed to video the second course, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9DoUuKmbdk  

[Cowgirl-with-heart]

imderanged

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to get all worked up & cuss you out as another poster did, but it did make me wonder... why does the idea of feeding live prey to reptiles make this guild go mad, but this is OK? I'm just curious.

for me,killing with dogs seems much faster than slowly being suffocated,not to mention,as said before,theyre not trapped,and the prey animal has a CHANCE at escape,and rabbits are not native,and are taking over Australia,plus Im kind of bias for rats as food redface (as can be seen by my siggy) it just seems more fair this way to me,as they prey has at least a chance to get away....  

[Cowgirl-with-heart]

wow Rushie! that second rabbit is HUGE!!! good job,sounds like you have a good pair,good gads,what if you had TWO dogs,you would get soooo many rabbits! how old is Rushie now??