View Full Version : Myxy
Just a quickie, I'm toying with the idea of buying an air rifle soon to try a bit of lamping (or dusting of my old one and seeing how bad the sights are on it). Do you have to worry too much about myxomitosis or is it easy enough to spot in a dead rabbit (easy to tell when alive I know)?
Myxy isn't a problem for humans anyway and poses no risk to you from handling/eating infected animals ... however, it doesn' give you the highest quality meat.
Check for swelling around the head or eyes and running eyes, these are pretty obvious.
The liver is the real indicator to health though ... if should be clear and not spotty and gray.
Hope this helps.
Buckshot
29-04-2004, 08:59
There's not too much of it around my neck of the woods now. we get the occasional one affected but not much.
The tell tale sign is inflamation around the eyes and a yellow/white liquid like puss oozing out - not nice :yikes: (I couldn't find an icon for throwing up)
Also when the rabbits are alive they're pretty lifeless and shabby looking - like they haven't cleaned themselves for while, which is probably the case. Also, often they're thin because they haven't been able to see to feed.
I've seen a lot a rabbits with scare tissue around the eyes where they've recovered from myxy so it's not the devistating killer it once was. :-D Which is a good thing IMO.
But because of this the powers that be have been talking about introducing another type of disease to wipe out the rabbits once again on a similar par to when myxy was first introduced - yuk
Does anyone know if myxy is piosonous to us. I know it looks revolting and is enough to most people off eating an infected rabbit but will it do any harm if someone did ? :shock:
Also, is it transferrable to humans by an infected flea feeding on a human. :-?
I've not heard of any cases of either, has anyone else ? :-?
Thanks
Mark
Buckshot
29-04-2004, 09:00
Opps Adi you just beat me to it
Cheers
Mark
But because of this the powers that be have been talking about introducing another type of disease to wipe out the rabbits once again on a similar par to when myxy was first introduced - yuk
Ah man, I hope not! I grew up in Watership Down country, and as a lad in the 70s when myxomatosis was rife it seemed that we put hundreds of rabbits out of their mysery (though it probably wasn't that many)
Surely they're best off being eaten to control the numbers? Introduce some predators I say! Oh and get Gordon Ramsey and the other super-chefs to make it trendy to eat them in posh restaurants
Cheers peeps, rightie, now to speak to a certain farmer I know of and see if I can use his land :-D
Actually just another afterthought, is there any prep needed after getting your rabbit, ie do they need to be hung etc for any length of time?
Actually just another afterthought, is there any prep needed after getting your rabbit, ie do they need to be hung etc for any length of time?
No, not rabbit, but hare benefits from it.
C_Claycomb
29-04-2004, 09:58
Make hunting unpopular, make hunting weapons hard to get, fix it so fewer and fewer people are out shooting. Make it harder to sell the rabbits for food. Oops, oh look we have too many rabbits...lest practice some biowarfare on them. :evil:
In the days of yore, when I had somewhere to shoot, myxy wiped out the rabbits several times. They took a long time to come back too.
Health wise, I would be more worried about tularemia than myxy. I don't know whether it is something that occurs in the UK though.
http://www.medicdirect.co.uk/clinics/default.ihtml?step=4&pid=2270
Cheers peeps, rightie, now to speak to a certain farmer I know of and see if I can use his land :-D
Actually just another afterthought, is there any prep needed after getting your rabbit, ie do they need to be hung etc for any length of time?
The only thing I'd say needs doing is to gut the rabbit as soon as possible (ie in the field) after you have dispached it. Other than that it will be ready for the pot as soon as you have got it home and skinned it. When I buy rabbits they are usually the night befores catch and I cook them same day.
Cheers
David
Whats lamping?
Shine a bright enough lamp in bunnies eyes and he will sit there staring at it while you shoot him!
Buckshot
29-04-2004, 16:51
Unless they've been lamped alot in which case they get wise and dissapear as soon as you go into the field :-(
Mark
Roving Rich
29-04-2004, 17:00
I love lamping with a dog. Its got a very bad press, but to me it seems the most natural way to catch a coney.
It is the very reason that man befriended the dog and invited him to share the fireside.
It also gives the quarrie a sporting chance, as the fittest and smartest get away. Its just fantastic, finger on the trigger of a slip lead, show the dog the rabbit, pull and its off, the thunder of paws across the field. It seems as though you ought to be on an African Savannah watching a cheetah and springbok.
Now its under threat with the damn fox hunting.
:twisted:
Rich
Whats lamping?Getting your misses to blind 'em with a bright white light while you shoot 'em! :wink: (sometimes whilst hanging out the bedroom window in her nightie! :twisted:)
the naughty boy
29-04-2004, 18:59
one other tip though ,if your going to shoot bunnies then go for headshots every time and if you cant hit a golf ball from 40 yards consistently then consider snaring instead!
also use at least .20 calibre as .177 will sometimes go straight through and mr bunnie will die slowly under ground.
lamping is good craic [good fun] but carefull about calculating distance as things seem much closer in the dark and if your not used to your scope then open sights make things easier :wink:
one other tip though ,if your going to shoot bunnies then go for headshots every time and if you cant hit a golf ball from 40 yards consistently then consider snaring instead!
also use at least .20 calibre as .177 will sometimes go straight through and mr bunnie will die slowly under ground.
lamping is good craic [good fun] but carefull about calculating distance as things seem much closer in the dark and if your not used to your scope then open sights make things easier :wink:
Spot on advice!
My edgar brothers is a .22 . I know about the penetration thing. It would be a disaster for the rabbit to die slowly and pointlessly. I'll try snaring as backup, however, knowing my luck, im pretty certain i wont even see a rabbit!
:lol: :roll:
Indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !! :shock:
Whats lamping?
A bright light shone at em stimulates the stun response. The sit bolt still and play dead while you take careful aim. Handy! :lol:
MartiniDave
30-04-2004, 09:15
I hate to risk stirring up a can of worms but...
I swear by .177 for all my air rifle hunting, have done for over 25 years now. I even prefer it to a .22 rimfire most of the time.
Mind you, each to their own. Use what you are happy/confident with, shoot humanely and enjoy what you do.
Dave
the naughty boy
30-04-2004, 10:24
.177 has a much flatter trajectory[ stays straighter in flight] than the other calibers ...20 .22 .25 and if you use a heavier pellet like the rabbit magnums then .177 is a great hunting caliber provided you use a more powerfull rifle,12 ft pounds is a little light in my opinion for hunting at .177.
i dare say you must be quite accurate after 25 yrs martinidave and probably seen it all by now..just like me ...but for someone new to airrifles id start at .22.
over here you need a firearms certificate for all airguns even below 12 ft pounds so people automatically go for something between 20 and 30 ft pounds unless its for field target which is set at 12 ft pounds. ps im ranked in the top 40 in the world after the last championship :-D cant tell you exactly or everyone will know who i am...and that would never do eh :wink:
MartiniDave
30-04-2004, 11:15
NB,
My comments were all based around using 12 ft-lb rifles, where I prefer the flatter trajectory of .177. I think back when I started there were simply better quality pellets in .177 too.
I took a break of about 12 years from the airgun scene to shoot full bore pistol, coming back to airgunning after the ban in '97. The biggest change I noticed, apart from the array of cheaper pneumatic rifles, was the staggering improvment in the quality of pellets, due mainly I beleive to demands from FT shooters.
I fyou are still competing good luck for the coming year.
Dave
the naughty boy
30-04-2004, 16:58
cheers m8.
yes the pneumatic guns are great,id never shoot spring class again.and 40mm targets at 55 yds in a blowing wind are quite a challenge :lol:
not competing this year as i have other fish to fry and its being held in germany this year :-(
oh well been there done that ...moving on...... :-D
i would be very careful shooting a golf ball as the pellet'. will fire straight
back at you caused by the shape of the ball and the dimples in it i i know this from fist hand exsperience on being hit in the head by a returned pellet :-(
i would be very careful shooting a golf ball as the pellet'. will fire straight
back at you caused by the shape of the ball and the dimples in it i i know this from fist hand exsperience on being hit in the head by a returned pellet :-(
the naughty boy
30-04-2004, 22:54
lol. i didnt mean actually shoot a golfball as ive seen the samething happen at my old club but it didnt hit anyone.
anyway golfballs taste yukky and you would chew it for hours without being able to swallow it :wink: