Reduction and Limitation of Rabbits The rabbit scourge in this
country is not comparable with the rabbit scourge in Australia, but it is serious enough none the less. The Report on " Damage by Rabbits " published by the Select Committee of the House of Lords on Monday holds out no substantial hope of the mitigation of the evil. Rabbits can be kept down by guns, by snares, by traps or by gassing, but in spite of all they continue to multiply, and the Lords Committee finds no existing method of attack satisfactory, nor can it suggest any other. The negligence of individual landowners in allowing rabbits to multiply and damage neighbouring holdings is serious, and the suggestion that in such cases the County Council should be empowered to require action and, failing it, to institute legal proceedings is reasonable. There is, moreover, a humane side to the question. The common steel gin trap undoubtedly inflicts serious suffering. Some trap, e.g., one with rubber jaws, less cruel than the gin and not less effective could quite possibly be devised. That, it is suggested very reasonably, is a matter into which the Ministry of Agriculture should make enquiry.
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