Warrens Research Articles

Harbouring pests: rabbit warrens in agricultural landscapes

Context Warrens are central to rabbit biology and available warren space can set a limit to the number of rabbits living in an area. Therefore, quantifying and analysing the distribution of rabbit warrens is a key step towards the management of the species in agricultural lands where it causes significant damage to crops. Aims The present study investigates the distribution and spatial pattern of wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) warrens in an intensively managed agricultural landscape within the rabbit’s native range in semiarid southern Spain, where rabbits constitute an emerging pest problem. Methods All natural rabbit warrens within two sites were mapped, and information on their size, use and protection was recorded. The effects of environmental variables (e.g. habitat features and distances to key resources) in determining warren occurrence were evaluated using binomial generalised linear models (GLM). Key results The main variable explaining warren occurrence was the distance to the nearest neighbouring warren. Habitat variables and the distances to key resources played only a secondary role, and were mainly related to frequent ploughing linked to agricultural practices that prevent warren construction. Conclusions Habitat instability resulting from agricultural practices (i.e. frequent ploughing and intensive human disturbance) promotes warren construction on stable grounds only and partly explains the clumped spatial pattern found. However, warren occurrence in intensively managed agricultural areas seems to be more constrained by the proximity of neighbouring warrens that would facilitate rabbit recolonisation from patches nearby. Despite becoming increasingly scarce as a result of agricultural intensification, these unploughed remnants may act as safe islands for digging warrens. Implications The management of unploughed patches and the connectivity among them in semiarid agroecosystems of southern Spain is therefore of utmost importance to the management of rabbits as an agricultural pest.

How can warren destruction by ripping control European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) on large properties in the Australian arid zone?

Context For over 100 years, control efforts have been unable to stop rabbits causing damage to cattle production and native plants and animals on large properties in arid parts of Australia. Warren destruction by ripping has shown promise, but doubts about long-term success and the perceived expense of treating vast areas have led to this technique not being commonly used. Aims This study measured the long-term reduction in rabbit activity and calculated the potential cost saving associated with treating just the areas where rabbits are believed to survive drought. We also considered whether ripping should be used in a full-scale rabbit control program on a property where rabbits have been exceptionally resilient to the influence of biological and other control measures. Methods Rabbits were counted along spotlight transects before warrens were ripped and during the two years after ripping, in treated and untreated plots. Rabbit activity was recorded to determine the immediate and long-term impact of ripping, up to seven years after treatment. The costs of ripping warrens within different distances from drought refuge areas were calculated. Key results Destroying rabbit warrens by ripping caused an immediate reduction in rabbit activity and there were still 98% fewer rabbits counted by spotlight in ripped plots five months after ripping. Seven years after ripping no active warrens were found in ripped plots, whereas 57% of warrens in unripped plots showed signs of rabbit activity. The cost of ripping only the areas where rabbits were likely to seek refuge from drought was calculated to be less than 4% of the cost of ripping all warrens on the property. Conclusions Destroying rabbit warrens by ripping is a very effective way of reducing rabbit numbers on large properties in arid Australia. Ripping should commence in areas used by rabbits to survive drought. It is possible that no further ripping will be required. Implications Strategic destruction of warrens in drought refuge areas could provide an alternative to biological control for managing rabbits on large properties in the Australian arid zone.

Asia's Declining Death Penalty

For most cultures and most of human history, the death penalty was taken for granted and directed at a wide range of offenders. In ancient Israel, death was prescribed for everything from murder and magic to blasphemy, bestiality, and cursing one's parents. In eighteenth-century Britain, more than 200 crimes were punishable by death, including theft, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren. China of the late Qing dynasty had some 850 capital crimes, many reflecting the privileged position of male over female and senior over junior.

Long-term impact of coordinated warren ripping programmes on rabbit populations

Context. It is important to examine the long-term effectiveness of rabbit management programmes based on warren destruction using modern warren ripping machinery, at a time when the continuing impacts of both myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD) may have reduced the capacity of rabbit populations to recover. Aims. To determine the long-term effectiveness of coordinated warren ripping programmes in reducing rabbit densities and maintaining these low densities. Methods. Commencing in 1998, 14 sites with coordinated warren ripping programmes and three sites without rabbit control were monitored within Victoria. Spotlight counts of rabbit numbers recorded before the spread of RHD and warren ripping were compared with numbers recorded from 2005 to 2008. The efficacy of coordinated warren ripping programmes was assessed in relation to the machinery used, the manner in which the warrens were ripped, the characteristics of the ripped areas and the impact of follow-up control. Key results. Warren ripping programmes were very successful in reducing rabbit numbers for up to 10 years, whereas rabbit populations that were not managed returned to pre-RHD densities. The most effective warren ripping programmes, which reduced populations to 97% of the pre-RHD densities and maintained them at this level, used heavy, powerful ripping machinery to rip all warrens within 12 months. There was no evidence that the relationship between rabbit population decline and warren ripping was affected by the characteristics of the ripped areas or the follow-up control effort. Conclusions. Following the spread of RHD in areas where warren ripping is practicable, well-managed ripping programmes provide an immediate solution for achieving and sustaining low rabbit populations. Implications. The efficacy of RHD in regulating rabbit populations has diminished. The improvement of existing or the development of new biological control agents could take decades. In contrast, coordinated warren ripping programmes provide more predictable long-term reductions in rabbit populations.

Did dingo control cause the elimination of kowaris through mesopredator release effects? A response to Wallach and O’Neill (2009)

Did dingo control cause the elimination of kowaris through mesopredator release effects? A response to Wallach and O’Neill (2009)

THE ART OF SCIENCE

THE NEW MUSEUM and conference center at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) in Philadelphia is not your typical science museum. Call it an art gallery for science. To emphasize the new museum’s gallery role, CHF scheduled the opening for First Friday—a monthly open house for galleries in Philadelphia’s Old City art district. Approximately 500 visitors attended the opening, according to Miriam Fisher Schaefer, CHF’s vice president for finance and administration. “The response from visitors was immensely satisfying,” she says. And people have continued to visit since the opening. “We have been pleasantly surprised by the number of visitors, all of whom have nothing but complimentary things to say,” she reports. The museum is part of a $20 million renovation of a Civil War-era bank building. Previous visitors who remember the rabbit warren of offices that the galleries have replaced will appreciate the floor-to-ceiling windows that bathe the room with natural light. The large open ...

Ecological roles of rabbit, bettong and bilby warrens in arid Australia

Burrows created by other organisms provide important refugia for many vertebrates and invertebrates. With severe range declines of most of Australia's burrowing mammals, the introduced European rabbit may have replaced the role of native burrowers. The vertebrate and invertebrate fauna using the warrens of the native burrowing bettong and greater bilby were compared with fauna using warrens of the introduced European rabbit and control sites without active warrens in arid South Australia. Echidnas, broad-banded sandswimmers, hemipterans and coleopterans, particularly Brises caraboides, revealed a preference for warrens over sites without warrens. Iridomryrmex sp. E ( rufoniger gp.) was recorded at significantly higher abundance at bettong rather than rabbit warrens and Melophorus ants apparently benefited from the bare ground around warrens of both native burrowers and rabbits. Identification of small mammal preferences for different warren types was confounded by low predation rates inside the Arid Recovery Reserve, where cats and foxes had been exterminated to allow reintroduction of native burrowers. Due to the widespread use of the below ground and surface features of warrens by commensal native vertebrates and invertebrates, consideration should be given to reintroducing native burrowers following the removal of rabbits in arid Australia.

European rabbits as ecosystem engineers: warrens increase lizard density and diversity

Mammals that build extensive open burrow systems are often classified as ecosystem engineers, since they have the potential to modulate the availability of resources for themselves and other organisms. Lizards may benefit from the heterogeneity created by these structures, especially if coupled with an increased offer of sites for refuge and thermoregulation. However, information about these engineering effects by burrowing animals is scarce. We investigated the influence of European rabbit burrows on several parameters of a Mediterranean lizard community (abundance, density, diversity and body condition) in three different habitats (open pastures, holm oak and scrub patches). We found that lizards were positively associated with burrows, and that burrows determined lizard presence at otherwise unfavourable habitats. Moreover, community parameters such as density and species richness were higher in sites with burrows. Burrows influenced lizard species in different ways, and were also relevant for other Mediterranean vertebrates, as revealed by questionnaires to experts. We also explored the possible resources provided by burrows for lizards. Warrens offer relatively abundant prey and appropriate retreat sites for refuge and thermoregulation. Warrens may have further implications within the ecosystem, acting as stepping stones, allowing lizards to reach otherwise inaccessible habitat patches. This study shows that European rabbit warrens have a positive influence on lizard density and diversity, and confirms the role of rabbits as ecosystem engineers. This reinforces the need for appropriate conservation measures for rabbits, especially given their threatened status in the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, our study highlights that taking into account the influence of engineering activities increases our awareness of species interactions, and may translate into more adequate conservation measures for the preservation of biodiversity.

An Irish History of Civilization (review)

Reviewed by: An Irish History of Civilization Brad Patterson Don Akenson . An Irish History of Civilization. Volume 1 McGill-Queen's University Press 2005. 828. $39.95 This is a book that is big and lively in every sense. In the space of 800 pages the author guides the reader on a rollicking historical journey, one that stretches over two millennia, visits at least four continents, and introduces a cast of over a thousand individuals. And at the end there is promise of a second volume of similar length to carry the story forward. Long regarded as one of the foremost writers on the Irish diaspora, more recently praised for his work on Judaism and early Christianity, Canadian historian Donald Akenson, at latest count, has authored sixteen major scholarly studies, as well as five works of fiction. Several of the former are already considered to be historiographical landmarks. Akenson has amply demonstrated his mastery of a range of genres, and his publications are characteristically innovative and challenging. The present volume adds further lustre to the list. While arguably there is little substantive that is new, Akenson revisits old preoccupations and looks at them in new ways. The result is an opus by a historian at the height of his powers. The book will nevertheless confound librarians, bibliographers, even casual readers. How should it be classified? How much is fact and how much fiction? Equally, the absence of footnotes and the lack even of a bibliography will, no doubt, irk some scholars. Akenson artfully anticipates such criticisms in his preface. What he is presenting is 'a collection of fictive short stories.' 'Some of the stories are accurate,' he [End Page 195] notes, 'all of them are true.' Moreover, 'not all seeming errors in the text are accidental.' The author's message is clear: take the work on its own terms. For those prepared to do so, there is much to absorb. Commencing with St Paul, coverage extends to the eve of the nineteenth-century famine. Gaelic Ireland, St Patrick, and the Normans are swiftly dealt with, things hotting up with the Elizabethan conquest. Thereafter there is a dual focus as the Irish move to the Americas and the Caribbean. Subsequent chapters outline the spread of the Irish to all parts of the globe. Divided into two 'books,' themselves split into chapters on particular places and times, the kernel of the work is a succession of short pen pictures and anecdotes, often amusing, sometimes horrific, but all with a point to make. Yet what may initially appear to be a disparate pastiche of people, events, and situations quickly emerges as nothing of the sort. The parts are cunningly bound together over space and time through family connections, subsequent actions, and parallel happenings. Irish history, more than most, has been bedevilled by blind believers, the guardians of hagiographic received wisdoms. The author of Being Had: Historians, Evidence and the Irish in North America has never been one to eschew controversy, and nearly every tale in the present volume challenges established 'facts.' The vignettes amplify and reinforce a number of arguments previously advanced elsewhere. For instance, that until the famine those leaving Ireland were as likely to be Protestant as Catholic, if not more likely. That there were few early distinguishable differences between the groups is reiterated. Contrary to what either side would subsequently care to acknowledge, prior to the Devotional Revolution of the mid-nineteenth century, 'people were back and forth across the religious divide like ferrets in a rabbit warren.' They switched for reasons of marriage, survival, or pure ambition. Similarly, nationalist traditions were by no means as fixed as has been suggested. Ideology could be as much a flag of convenience as religion. Further, the proposition that the emigrant Irish were largely exiled victims is again resoundingly rejected. While some Irish may have been driven to leave by hard times or limited prospects, prior to the 1840s few went unwillingly. Ironically, too, once overseas, many of the alleged victims were skilled victimizers in the service of self and empire, whether in the Caribbean slave islands or the Aboriginal districts of the Australian colonies. It is hard to do justice to a...

Constructivism Between Transcendentalism and Convention

There are many fault lines in the Plain of Truth. The chief one that these four books recognize is that of constructivism, which divides them in two Blackburn and Boghossian (anti), and Fuller and Golinski (pro). Before we review their positions, let us survey the ground. There is an obvious sense in which construction is unavoidable. For instance, in housing there is no evidential support for either Eternalism (always there), or Magic Qust appeared), and lots for human Construction (got built). Similarly, for hurricanes, ant colonies, and rabbit warrens. In a cosmos without magic, but with a Big Bang, everything must have been constructed in this dynamical sense. In particular, for human life beginning with single cells, everything from cognitive development to culture, must be a construction. This is, indeed, construction that everyone can share, and must share if they want a scientifically plausible position. Much of Golinski's book and some of Fuller's can be considered a review of what an elaborate and subtle affair construction can be, especially

Formation of nutrient‐poor soil patches in a semi‐arid woodland by the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculusL.)

Abstract European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculusL.) occur over large areas of eastern Australia, where they disturb significant quantities of soil while constructing warrens. Although the effects of rabbits on vegetation are generally well understood, little is known about their effects on soil physical or chemical properties. We studied the effect of rabbit warrens on soil chemistry in a semi‐arid woodland supporting a high density of rabbit warrens. Within one large warren, we examined nutrient concentrations within three microsites (mound, inter‐mound and an intermediate disturbed area) representing a gradient of increasing rabbit disturbance, and supported this with a study of soil nutrients with depth within 1‐m‐deep trenches through five warrens. Landscape‐level changes in surface chemistry were also examined at an additional 23 warrens. At both patch and landscape scales, pH, electrical conductivity, soluble and exchangeable Ca2+and K+, and total Al and Ca generally increased with increasing rabbit disturbance, while total C and S (LECO), total P and S (ICP), and soluble Na+declined, and total N remained unchanged. Although chemical changes with depth were generally ill defined, surface soils tended to be more similar in their composition than deeper soils. Overall, our results reinforced the view that rabbits have a negative effect on surface soils in semi‐arid woodlands, and suggested that restoration of the original woodland vegetation may be hampered by changes in soil biogeochemistry associated with the warrens.

Soil disturbance by animals at varying spatial scales in a semi-arid Australian woodland

We studied soil disturbance by rabbits, echidnas, goannas, ants and termites at three different spatial scales across four vegetation communities (dense woodland, open woodland, shrubland, grassland) in semi-arid rangeland in western NSW. For analyses, bare and litter-covered surfaces (micro-scale) were nested within canopy and open patches (intermediate scale), which were nested within vegetation communities (landscape scale). Landscape-scale disturbances (rabbit warrens) were six and three times more abundant in open woodlands and shrublands, respectively, than in dense woodlands. Although individual warrens had a similar mass of excavated soil across all vegetation communities, in total, more soil was excavated in the grasslands than in the dense woodlands or shrublands. There were four times as many intermediate-sized disturbances (foraging pits and resting sites) under canopies than out in the open, and this was consistent across all vegetation communities. Echidna foraging pits and kangaroo resting sites dominated the canopy patches. Intermediate-sized disturbances scaled up to the landscape scale were marginally more abundant in the dense and open woodlands than in grasslands and shrublands. However, total mass of soil moved by all species did not differ among vegetation communities. The density of small-scale disturbances (ant nests, termite foraging galleries) did not differ at the landscape-, intermediate- or micro-scales. Our study documents the extent of animal activity in the semi-arid woodlands, and reinforces the notion that, as soil disturbance is scale-dependent, differences among species, habitats and communities will depend on the scale at which disturbances are examined.

Short‐Term Vegetation and Soil Responses to Mechanical Destruction of Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculusL.) Warrens in an Australian Box Woodland

AbstractWe studied the impact of disturbance by rabbits on plants and soils along a gradient out from the center of ripped rabbit warrens in an Australian semiarid woodland. Five years after the warrens were ripped, the impact of rabbits was still apparent. The cover of bare soil declined, and the cryptogam cover increased with increasing distance from the warren mound. However, litter cover, plant cover, and plant diversity remained unchanged with increasing distance from the mounds. Differences in plant composition were apparent with increasing distance from the mounds, with three species,Schismus barbatus,Salsola kalivar.kali, andChenopodium melanocarpumdominating the mounds, whereas the perennial grassAustrostipa scabradominated the nonwarren control surfaces. Two species,Crassula sieberanaandS. barbatus, dominated the active soil seed bank on ripped warrens. The mounds had the lowest number of species in the soil seed bank, whereas the warren edge microsite had the greatest. Ripped and unripped warrens differed substantially in their complement of species, and ripped warrens contained an order of magnitude fewer active warren entrances compared with unripped warrens. Ripped warrens also had significantly more plant cover than unripped warrens. Taken together, our results reinforce the view that rabbits have a destructive effect on surface soils and vegetation in semiarid woodlands and suggest that restoration of the original woodland vegetation after warren ripping is likely to be a slow and ongoing process.

Runaway Pacemakers in Ventricular Fibrillation

Arunaway pacemaker is a malfunctioning pacemaker that paces the heart at rapid rates. A report from Australia 30 years ago1 described a patient with runaway pacemaker that paced the ventricles at 280 bpm. The patient survived only because one of the coauthors alertly cut the pacemaker wires to disconnect the high-frequency focal source from the myocardium. In this issue of Circulation , Thomas et al2 report that they occasionally detected sustained high-frequency sources during ventricular fibrillation (VF) in sheep with myocardial infarction (MI). Specifically, in 3 of 12 hearts, they detected periodic high-frequency activations at 1.3% of the intramural electrodes sampled. The authors propose that these findings support the hypothesis3 that a relatively stable periodic source (“mother rotor”), with fibrillatory conduction block occurring in the remainder of the ventricle, may be the mechanism of VF in this model. This mother rotor mechanism of fibrillation contrasts with the multiple wavelet mechanism, in which all rotors are unstable and wavebreak is the engine driving fibrillation. Both mechanisms of fibrillation have been documented in various settings,4 but controversy exists over which is the most common in and clinically relevant to diseased human hearts. This issue has therapeutic implications because it has been suggested that ablation of the mother rotor may be a strategy to abolish VF. At the same time, ablation of the mother rotor may just allow the next-fastest daughter rotor to take its place because fibrillatory wavebreaks act as niduses for new rotors. In any case, however, to even test this intriguing therapeutic strategy, it is first necessary to identify the location of the mother rotor, which has been elusive to date, especially in large animals.5 The findings of the present study, in a large-animal diseased heart model, are therefore significant. They also raise important questions. …

Rabbit warren distribution in relation to pasture communities in Mediterranean habitats: consequences for management of rabbit populations

Iberian wild rabbit numbers have decreased in the last decades. The management implemented to recover rabbit populations includes several techniques, one of the most common being the construction of artificial rabbit warrens. To optimally distribute the artificial warrens in the field it is essential to understand natural warren microhabitat. Few studies have investigated the relationship between rabbits and grassland communities. In this work we study the spatial distribution and characteristics of rabbit warrens as well as their relation to grasslands in Mediterranean woodlands of central Spain. During the summer of 2001, three 12.5-ha study plots, including the most representative grassland communities of the area, were selected. All rabbit warrens were surveyed and the active and total entrances, shrub cover, grassland community and warren cover type were characterised. A grassland community selection index was calculated and the warren spatial distribution analysed. Ploughed lands and shallow soils were unsuitable for warren establishment. The mean number of burrow entrances per warren was 5.8 (4.4 active), and warren clustering occurred only in ploughed plots. However, pasture communities composed of annual and perennial species growing on unploughed deep sandy soils were preferentially selected. Most warrens (81.4%) were dug under some kind of protection such as shrub roots and rocks. According to our results, when designing rabbit restocking programs that include the provision of artificial warrens, unploughed deep soils with plenty of shrubs and rocks should be preferentially selected to locate the artificial warrens, which should be spaced so there are ~10 warrens per hectare and ~5–6 burrow entrances per warren.

HABITAT PREFERENCES OF FERAL AMERICAN MINK IN THE UPPER THAMES

Abstract Habitat use by members of a wild population of American mink (Mustela vison) was evaluated by continuous monitoring of individuals that were live trapped and radiotracked year round in the Upper Thames region, United Kingdom. Spatially lagged autoregressive models were used to investigate the relationship between population abundance and measured habitat variables. Resident mink were found in places characterized by rich tree cover, plenty of scrub, rank grasses, and especially abundant rabbits, and they avoided open habitat characterized by farming activities. These trends were not detected, however, in either transient adults or juveniles. The presence of the opposite sex did not appear to influence the presence of resident mink of the other sex. The single most important feature influencing the presence of resident mink was the size of rabbit warrens. Warrens were, overall, the most important den sites for mink, especially for breeding females. Because the distribution of rabbit warrens seemed...

The negative impact of heavy rains on the abundance of a Mediterranean population of European rabbits

European rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, are the basic prey of several endangered predators and an important hunting bag in the area of its origin in southwestern Europe. Conversely, they are considered an undesirable species in other areas where they were introduced. Therefore, there is great interest in understanding the factors that influence population dynamics and abundance of this species. I studied the effects of relatively common heavy rains on inter-annual variations in rabbit density in four habitats of Donana National Park and surrounding areas (southwestern Spain) during several years when rainfall was either lower or higher than average. I estimated spring and autumn rabbit densities by line transect sampling between autumn 1993 and autumn 1998, and counted rabbit warrens and entrances in two of the habitats (one with and the other without scrubland vegetation) in 1995, 1996 and 1997. Rabbit density significantly decreased in all habitats during the rainy years, densities being on average 5.3 and 4.6 times lower for spring and autumn censuses, respectively. Both number of warrens and entrances significantly decreased after two consecutive years of heavy rain in both habitat types, although in the scrubland habitats some recovery was observed during the second consecutive year of heavy rains. The area where warrens were apparently free of the effects of rains was only between 2.7 and 3.8% in the open habitat and 21.5% in the scrubland. At least for the open habitat, no clear relationship was observed between the height above sea level and whether warrens were affected by rain or not. The results indicate that heavy rains may be an important factor decreasing rabbit density, at least in flat areas, by negatively acting on warrens during the breeding period.

Characteristics, location and selection of diurnal resting dens by Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) in a low density area

AbstractWe describe diurnal resting dens (setts) used by Eurasian badgers Meles meles L. in Coto del Rey, Doñana National Park, south‐western Spain, and analyse the factors that determine sett location and selection in relation to territory outlines, soil type and vegetation structure. Setts were located by tracking radio‐tagged badgers daily. Badger setts were mainly underground burrow systems with, on average, 2.6 badger entrances. Frequently, badgers constructed setts by enlarging existing rabbit warrens. Setts were located almost everywhere, but badgers preferred easily dug, well‐drained soils with good vegetation cover within foraging habitats. A logistic regression model showed that badgers select sites with high surrounding shrub density, large shrubs covering the burrow and close to the centre of the territory (in Mediterranean scrubland habitat). The small size of badger setts in Coto del Rey is common to other low density areas, and probably relates to the extent of use (i.e. age of the burrows and number of badgers using them) of the burrow system. The number of setts per badger territory is related positively to territory size. The similarity of sett densities between this low density population and high density populations, points to a minimum number of setts being required to maximize territory use, and to offer easily‐available protection. The preservation and improvement of Mediterranean scrubland vegetation, as well as of large and old shrubs, are important for the future conservation of the badger in Mediterranean landscapes. In these areas, and given the impossibility of distinguishing main setts, the estimation of absolute densities in population surveys using main sett numbers should be avoided in favour of relative indices of abundance.

The impact of warrens of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) on soil and ecological processes in a semi-arid Australian woodland

We examined the impact of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) on vegetation and soils of three microsites associated with rabbit warren complexes: the elevated mounds, the non-mound control areas, and an intermediate disturbed area. Mound surfaces supported significantly fewer plant species (n=6·4) compared with control surfaces (n=14·2). Mounds were typically raised structures with a local microrelief of 20 cm, and characterized by significantly more bare ground, and less litter and cryptogam cover, compared with the control surfaces. The flat micro-surfaces on the warrens were dominated by bare soils and lag gravel, whilst those on the control surfaces were dominated by cryptogams. Levels of dry and water-stable aggregation indicated that warren surfaces were significantly less stable than adjacent control surfaces. The results indicate that rabbit warrens are inherently unstable and erodible, and support a plant community of substantially reduced diversity and richness. Mechanical destruction of the warren, combined with destruction of the resident rabbit population is probably necessary to restabilize the area associated with the warrens.

The "ill kill'd" Deer: Poaching and Social Order in The Merry Wives of Windsor

Nicholas Rowe once asserted that the young Shakespeare was caught stealing a from Sir Thomas Lucy's park at Charlecote. The anecdote's truth-value is clearly false, yet the narrative's plausibility resonates from the local social customs in Shakespeare's Warwickshire region. As the social historian Roger Manning convincingly argues, hunting and its illegitimate kin thoroughly pervaded all social strata of early modern English culture. Close proximity the Forest of Arden and numerous aristocratic parks and rabbit warrens would have steeped Shakespeare's early life in the practices of hunting and whether he engaged in them or only heard stories about them.1 While some Shakespeare criticism attends directly or indirectly the importance of hunting in the comedies, remarkably, there has been no sustained analysis of poaching's importance in these plays.2 In part, the reason for the oversight might be lexicographical. The word poaching never occurs in any of Shakespeare's works, and the first instance in which means to take game or fish illegally is in 1611 a decade after Shakespeare composed his comedies.3 Yet while the word was not coined for another few years, Roger Manning proves that illegal killing was a socially and politically explosive issue well before 1611. Thus, the ill kill'd deer Justice Shallow refers in Act One of The Merry Wives of Windsor situates the play within a socially resonant discourse where illegal killing brings light cultural assumptions imbedded within the legal hunt. As a result, operates as a trope through which the play's audience can analyze and critique class hierarchies, gender roles, and intergenerational conflicts that are often predicated directly or indirectly upon land-use practices. An analysis of the pervasive references in The Merry Wives of Windsor intersects with the complex history of forest laws in England. As is common knowledge, English forests were not merely