wild rabbits

The rabbit population is up and down from year to year. It is a natural process. Some years the enviroment will feed an abundance of rabbits and other years it will not. There is a balance there.

If TN is like NC, we had a bad drought last year and the first part of this year. I am sure this had an effect on your rabbit population. If there is nothing to eat they will starve. That is probably why you noticed a skinny rabbit. They are starving due to the drought.

Predator's can greatly reduce the number of rabbits. Do you see bobcats, foxes, hawks, owls??
If so they help in the reduction of rabbits.

There are so many reasons why the number of rabbits have declined. Hunters generally have little effect on the population. They actually help to prevent the long slow starvation process. Mother Nature is much more cruel that a responsible hunter's bullet.

As for the deer and Turkey, they move to where the food is at. I am sure they are in the area but relocated to a better food source.

 

Our rabbit population took a nose dive about 8-10 years ago due to predators and lack of habitat. We used to hunt them and I ran a trap line while I was in school. To protect what we had left we would hunt the fox and newly released coyote. Stray cats were taken care of.

A few years after a big track of timber was cut the brush rebounded. THe rabbits made a dramatic come back.
Now I have them all in my yard and you can see them all up and down our private road. They are coming back all around in my area. This week I noticed a fresh new batch of baby bunnies feeding on the new grass around the fence line.

The deer took a hit 6- years ago. Black tongue spread thru the herd. A good percentage was lost in some areas in NC. Now they are plentiful once again. I know this bcause I hit one with my truck last year and my wife hit another one with her Subaru in January. I have hunted deer all my life and want to be able to teach my children the sport I love so much. My oldest son, Tanner, shot his first buck this past November. It was his 2nd deer. My youngest son, Curtis, went on his first hunt this past season as well. He is only 4 and we saw a fawn and 2 fox. We had the best time watching them. Maybe in a few years he will get his chance at his first buck.

Now we raise chickens. Curtis loves them and checks on them many times during the day. He turns our white leghorns out every day so they can scratch in the yard. It is hilarious to watch them fight over worms they scratch up. He has to collect eggs several times day as well. We went from a few bantams to 48 chickens of various breeds.

It is addictive. My buddy bought some hens from me and now he has 85 plus chickens. He is starting his 3rd chicken house now. I just finished my first. I now have 2 that I use. My FIL lets me use his old house. I keep my bantams and young chickens down there. We just covered the floor with shavings today. I have to put curtains on the windows sometime soon. All the rain is blowing in and keeping the floor damp.

Darin

 

Too much TV and pillows.



Last summer there were few here due to some feral cats and the drought. They're picking up this year.

 

I have actually seen alot more rabbits, turkeys, and geese. But we got rain almost everyday ALL last summer. We broke rainfall records, and had major floods.