Rabbit Pest Control Milton Keynes, Bletchley & Newport Pagnell
One Stop Pest Control provide Rabbit control, eradication and prevention services in Milton Keynes, Bletchley & Newport Pagnell at cost-efficient prices to farmers, landowners and domestic households.
Wild rabbits are not native to the UK and have very few natural predators to keep their numbers checked. Instead, rabbits live communally, usually in a system of burrows known as a warren. Rabbits are not rodents as many people believe; they belong to the order Lagomorpha.
Wild rabbits leave many signs of their presence in an area; these include:
- Burrows -Interconnecting to form a warren system where some entrances are hidden in the scrub.
- Scrapes - Small excavations, usually with a few droppings among the soil.
- Runs - Pathways where the repeated passage of rabbits has suppressed the vegetation.
- Fur - Small bundles caught on either fencing or thorns or from attacks from other animals.
- Droppings - Spherical pellets 7-10 mm in diameter composed mainly of undigested plant remains. More severe droppings found in heaps are known as Latrines.
- Feeding Signs - Grazing of vegetation and loss of bark on trees and shrubs.
- Live and Dead - The presence of rabbits, be they dead or alive, indicates the population's size and extent.
Our pest control operatives can quickly identify these signs and access the population's size and the best methods to remove the problem.
The Damage Rabbits Cause
Feeding - Rabbits graze, resulting in damage to newly planted trees and shrubs as well as severe habitat changes where the grass can be entirely removed, leaving only moss. The rabbits are also attracted to nutritional foods, which could lead to local and crops being destroyed.
Reproduction - Breeding season tends to run from January until August. Considering every female rabbit can produce up to 5 litters per year, their numbers can quickly spiral out of control and become a huge problem.
Rabbit Control Methods We Offer
Gassing with Aluminium Phosphide - This is available in tablet or pellet form; these are placed in rabbit burrows. This method can be beneficial when correctly carried out and can reduce the rabbit population by 80%, sometimes more.
Shooting - A specialised technique carried out by experienced staff. This can be done either day or night but is more effective at night time; it is more cost-effective than gassing.
Snaring - Snares are intended to tether animals for subsequent humane dispatch. Therefore, they need to be visited at least once per day. Snares should be placed on well-used rabbit runs in short vegetation.
Spring Traps - These can be used to catch and kill rabbits; they must only be used within the overhang of a natural rabbit tunnel entrance or artificial tunnels. They must be visited at least once a day.
Baited Cage Traps - This is a galvanised wire mesh cage trap; this can be used all year round but is most effective in the winter. These should be set in short vegetation and checked twice daily.
Drop Traps - This is a large sunken box placed beneath a fence that rabbits tend to pass through. A tipping treadle forms part of the roof of the box. On occasions, the treadle is set so that the rabbits moving over it fall into the catching box. This must be checked once a day.
Long Netting - This is used at night time and involves placing a fine mesh net in a line between grazing rabbits and their harbourage once rabbits have emerged to feed. It is loose and baggy so that any rabbits that run into the net are immediately enveloped within it and are unable to escape.
Prevention of Future Rabbit Damage
Because rabbits are widespread and spread quickly, once your rabbit infestation has been cleared, they can return from the surrounding land they inhabit; because of this, we can provide rabbit proofing services to protect against future damage.
Prevention services we offer include:-
- Fencing
- Electric fencing
- Tree guards
- Effective repellents
For more information or a free no-obligation quote for Rabbit control, prevention and eradication services in Milton Keynes, Bletchley & Newport Pagnell or the surrounding areas we cover, please contact us.