Small bits and pieces of information about traps and allied interests.

 1.  That the various markings on your English made traps indicates different qualities. For E.G... X means a lightly made trap. XX means a medium strong trap XXX means a strongly made trap, an anchor or Devon means a very strong trap. On some makes a single  N  (a large asterisk) also means a strongly made trap. Source – Lewis Anglo catalogue

2.The Lanes Lacargo brand trap got its name from the three original directors of the Lane Company, LAne, CArr and GOninan this Trademark was registered in 1923.

3. Carr who was one of the original directors of Lanes invented the spring snubber/absorber; the trap was made and sold in 1928/9.

4. That the Animal Trap Company USA entered into an agreement about 1930 with R.B. Davies Pty Ltd of Marrickville in Sydney to manufacture the Victor No.10 rabbit trap under licence in Australia. This arrangement ended after the 2^nd World War. Rat and mouse traps were also manufactured. I have found out from an employee of that Company Victor 10’s were actually made into the early 1950’s.

5. Did you know that the King Patent wire spring trap can also be found with galvanized pans? These traps were manufactured by Lanes of Wednesfield.

6. That from July 1^st 1932 to March 31^st 1933 the number of pairs of rabbits sent abroad was 9,715,000 valued at 517,573 quid. That 18,000,000 rabbits.

7. That the humble English rabbits that were released in Victoria are not indigenous to Great Britain, the common grey rabbit in fact originated in southern Europe in or around the Iberian Point in southern France. The grey rabbits were either brought over the England during the Norman or Roman Invasions. The hare that is found in Australia is indigenous to England.

8. That proficient rabbit skinners can skin up to 250 rabbits in an hour and 2 skinners could skin 600 rabbits in an hour, these blokes were called “Aces”. I wonder if this is where Lanes of Newcastle pinch their name from for the Lanes Ace traps.

9. Convicts were transported to Australia for poaching rabbits    in England. It’s in the blood.

10. That in Tasmania in the 1870’s rabbits were becoming pests as they were living and burrowing in the hedgerows. Some farmers hired shooters to keep the number of rabbits under control. (Longford was the town)

11. That in 1839 sailors was set ashore on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia to snare rabbits for food.

12. That the Bilby used to be abundant on the Murray and Lachlan Flats, owing to the explosion of the rabbit population they took over the Bilby’s burrows and drove the Bilbys out and to near extinction.

13. That by the 1880’s over 2,000,000 acres of mallee country was rendered useless because the rabbits were eating the bark off mallee saplings.

14. In 1791 rabbits were released on Cape Gorgon for food when the sealers used to camp there.

15. In 1842 sailors alighted ashore on Taylors Island near Port Lincoln to shoot and trap rabbits that were released earlier.

16. In the 1800’s because of the enormous numbers of rabbits they were boiled and subsequently used for dog and chook food.

17. That rabbits did not like the smell of kerosene, so after dark the trappers used to tie a piece of rag onto a stick, dip the rag in kerosene and push the stick down the burrows and warrens to leave the kerosene smell on the walls of the burrows, this kept the rabbits out while the smell was still around. This of course meant that the rabbits would stay out longer and thus giving the trappers an enhanced chance of trapping them.

18. That rabbits came out in the first fleet, it is not known if they were released or not, more than likely they were eaten.

20. That W H Downey in the early 1930’s put out a booklet titled “How to make rabbiting pay”, it was a complete guide to the art of rabbit trapping, skinning and marketing. “Why be employed when you can make good money as a trapper?”... the booklet asks.  What a clever marketing ploy this trap maker used in an endeavor to sell their traps.

21. That in 1806 the reverend Samuel Marsden tried to establish a “Warren” on his property in Parramatta. It was alleged the rabbits were destroyed by a neighbours’s dog... this resulted in a court case... Did the dog get them all is the question I ask?

22. That in 1822 feral rabbits were thriving in Tasmania according to a Hobart newspaper of the day.