To want to take a machine gun to the bunnies

[Litchick]

We live in the country and are over run with the little feckers. As I sit here I can see at least ten feasting away in my back garden. There is rabbit shit everywhere. The lawn is like the surface of the moon.
Suggestions anyone. We have always been against guns but am beginning to wonder if it is the only way.

GentleOtter - nobody should have to live with that. I am quite sure that the Local Authority have sufficient powers to force the landowner to do something about the waste, the rats and your house.

That is simply not acceptable.

It is awful and has gone on for three years, thousands in legal fees and many sleepless nights.
Our landowner is a law lord and despite our winning the case, he simply chose to ignore so we have to do it all over again. Feudalism is rife here and we are treated shockingly as if we were serfs. It is not just us but the other tenant farmers (on the same estate) too. People are terrified to speak out as they face eviction or their land is taken via 'resumption' and no compensation given.
The neighbouring farmer is a tenant of a different laird and faces the land court soon as his laird wants him off the farm asap.
SEERAD, SEPA etc do not want to know and the council are strangely corrupt reticent to assist.
Some days I just despair as it is difficult creating a safe environment for the children due to the smell of the 'sludge', the rats and the crumbling buildings.

Poor Gentleotter

Please don't "get a gun" unless you know how to shoot properly and are prepared to finish the job by hand if you make a balls of it. You could find a ferret man, a terrier man or fence the garden. If a few sneak through then certain plants, like lavender, are supposed to be rabbit proof.

The Cats Protection League home feral cats that are mostly great hunters and live happily in outbuildings, they've usually come from farm colonies I think. A good sized cat can take a rabbit and will certainly put them off.

I can totally sympathise as I'm up to my buns in bunnies too. I have got to thin them out a bit or they're going to be overcrowded and the chances of them getting the dreaded myxy (which is just awful) will increase. I bought DH an airgun after doing a bit of research to check out which type is best for shooting rabbits. He practised loads (tin can and targets time) and now pots a few every now and then which does help to thin them down. We both eat rabbit (it's delish and very low fat!) as do friends, so there are always willing recipients!

Don't start shooting until you are confident you can make a clean kill though. With an airgun you'll be fairly close anyway as their range isn't too great.

sorry I should have said that please dont use any sort of gun without the proper training. My dh has been shooting since he was tiny and has a licence etc for all his guns so it wasnt a flippant remark I was making about him.
There is no substitute for the correct training as it allows for a clean kill which is what its all about at the end of the day. No one wants an animal to suffer

Gentleotter - your neighbouring farmer sounds like mine I'm thinking of taking mine to court to force him to deal with his massive rat problem.