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My quest didn't lead me to the Co-Op, but the video store. I read the movie reviews and decided I wanted to see the movie. So I drove down to the video store, picked up the movie and returned. Only to find that Rabbit-Proof Fence was starting in 5 minutes on the Indy film channel. Good thing, because the movie in the DVD box wasn't Rabbit Proof Fence, but League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Rabbit-Proof Fence is a good, true story. League on the other hand, was just a special effects flick on steroids.
Finding rabbit-proof fence online proved too time-consuming, but a visit to the Co-Op was successful. Alas, they had no movies to rent.
Rabbit-Proof Fence is a good, true story.
We've a 6 foot chain-link, in place since 1990. We've had TWO rabbits, one of which our now long-deceased Brit got and killed (which we "rescued" and freezered for later consumption - tasted great too!), the other one was grabbed just last week by a HUGE rattler, Layne shot the snake but the rabbit was already toast.
We have TONS of rabbits here, both jacks (rack-jabbits to my granddaughters) and cottontails. They just don't get into our fenced garden area much....
We also have skunks, which don't seem to like what we plant thankfully; and foxes which want meat generally so we're safe there (ever seen a full grown male go OVER said 6-foot chain link? Scary....)
The fence was really for deer....
I liked the story, and a bit of reading indicated that there were some truths evident in the movie. ;) Enough for me.
>>rabbits
Also got a lot of coyotes, LOTS of coyotes. If the fence can keep rabbits out, it will keep coyotes out. Hot wire is going around the cow pasture, just too much area to cover with wire patch. A thirty minute walk through about 5 acres scared up dozens of bunnies. Too bad rabbit season is still a ways off.
One person's rabbit is another person's snake.
Unless you live in the middle of no-where, you shouldn't shoot snakes. Call your local animal control to properly relocate them.One person's rabbit is another person's snake.
mattglet, we don't HAVE animal control - the nearset control officer is like the nearest law enforcement: 40 miles/1 hour away on a GOOD day. For things like poisonous snakes and rabid dogs, cats, and squirrels WE (those of us who live here full time year round) are the animal control.
We leave the snakes to themselves if we see them when we're out of the residential area. However, within the town environs many children basically run free - that's part of the attraction. You can't allow rattlesnakes to take up residence where the next child can literally stumble over one and get bit. Sure, "they" now say that most rattlers' bites don't carry enough venom to kill even a child. Do YOU want to chance that?
Since you do live in the sticks, I don't frown upon your decisions. You have to do what you have to do, and I understand that.
But there are 1000 different ways to remove a snake without shooting it, or killing it at all. IMO, you should only shoot a snake if it has bitten. And even then, it's not 100% neccessary. By using a broom/rake/shovel, a pair of gloves, and a pillow case, you can easily remove any snake you will ever find in the US without harming a scale on it's body or yourself.
No, I would definitely not take the chance of a child getting bit. But rather than kill the snake, it's just as easy to relocate it safely.
I'm not trying to spar, I just don't want to portray that it's ok to shoot snakes, that's all. I'm just a reptile enthusiast trying to make the general public more informed. No offense at all.
One of these times, I'll invite you out here to deal with a 6 foot long, 8 inch circumference rattlesnake WITHOUT a gun. You ARE aware that one that large can "get" you far beyond a shovel-handle distance away, right?
[Edit: btw, a few years back, instead of just shooting the very large timber rattler coiled up under my house waiting to eat one of my cats, I called DWR (Utah's version of Fish and Wildlife). I was told to deal with it myself, they didn't have time to be bothered with what was most probably just a harmless snake of the bull-or-king variety (it wasn't - I'm not an idiot, I know the difference....) So rather than shoot that one, I threw rocks in its general direction (AFTER removing my cats!), and which didn't budge it at all. I wasn't about to get close enough to try for it with a shovel and a pillowcase (being as how I was alone here at the time with no phone, and should I have got bit MIGHT have had a problem - not fatal most likely, but surely not comfortable). By afternoon it hadn't moved, so I drove 17 miles to the nearest phone, called a friend and asked for advice. He drove 40 miles one way to bring a VERY long water key - about 8 feet total - with which we nudged the rattler out from under the house and off my property. I don't like to kill them - I really don't, and we DON'T if they aren't "right here"....]
[[And again: reptiles of various sorts are the BEST rodent control one can have....]]
lawman
There's a couple of catalogs around where I've seen "rabbit proof fencing". One of them is Brookstone (I think), the other is Solutions. They both exist "online", so you should be able to hunt them up.
Also, try Tractor Supply and IFA (Intermountain Farmers). You may not have either locally as far east as you are, but I'm pretty sure they're online as well.
<added /> vkaryl beat me to it.
