Monitoring:
“Monitoring is simply having a look at what is happening with the rabbit population in a standardised repeatable way and recording what is found for your immediate action and for those who may follow you.”
- Monitoring is the difference between knowing what you have got and just guessing
- You can beat the rabbit but to do so you must know what the rabbit is doing on your land
- Better decisions come from having good quality information
- Quality information can be collected by monitoring rabbits on your land, in your district, and in your catchment
Benefits of monitoring:
Individuals, Rabbit Action Groups and Landcare groups can benefit from being able to demonstrate with quantitative and qualitative data, the extent of their rabbit problem. The ability to demonstrate success of rabbit control, actual or proposed to state or federal funding bodies may assist with resourcing future on-ground rabbit control.
Monitoring creates action:
Monitoring is an on-going requirement, not something that is just done at the start and end of a program. Immediate action keeps areas rabbit free. The bigger the gap; be it weeks, months or years, between the monitoring of rabbit populations and action, the more rabbits you will have, the more damage there will be and the greater the cost of control.
Record what you find:
map the area
Get an aerial photo or plan of your property/area.
Map your paddocks/land areas and identify:
- rabbit feeding areas
- rabbit prone soils
- areas of wildlife congregation
- rocky areas
- warrens/burrows (size and number)
- rippable” warrens /burrows (ie. able to rip. year 1, year 2, etc.)
- steep areas, unsuited to ripping with machinery
- above ground surface harbour (type of , area of )
- above ground surface harbour that is removable – indicate Year 1, Year 2 etc
- spotlight transect route (where it is / where it will go)
- areas of high, medium, low rabbit infestation
- show any rabbit free areas
- boundary fences (rabbit proof /not rabbit proof)
Types of rabbit monitoring
There are a number of different types of monitoring that can be used by land managers. The common and simple methods are spotlight transects, warren monitoring, warren/rabbit counts, and the Gibb and McLean Scales.
Spotlight transect counts
Spotlight transect counts give a good indication of the general numbers and density of rabbits across the spotlighted area. Spotlight transects can only ever provide an index of changes in rabbit numbers and are not a measure of absolute population levels in an area.
A spotlight transect is a particularly useful tool when used to monitor general pest animal declines, caused by poisoning campaigns or disease outbreaks.
Spotlight variations
Variations have been measured in the range of 40% in individual spotlight counts. Spotlight counts must be done on at least two consecutive nights and if there is a variation of greater then 10 %, the count should be repeated. Results are variable because of weather, changes in vegetative cover and differences in spotlighting techniques by different operators.
What is a spotlight transect?
A spotlight transect is a route through a rabbit prone area. This area needs to be representative of soils types, topography and land use where rabbits are prone; are likely to be, and /or have been in the past.
The route must be trafficable at all times of the year and from which an observer can see and count rabbits at night with the aid of a spotlight. Transects can be made on foot, with a utility, 4WD or four-wheel motor bike as is appropriate for the terrain.
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