Springers on the front lines down in Australia

[Louisa]

I'm finishing up a Sociology related degree as I may have passed on.. so I am always running into articles when I am doing research for different projects. (if you're wondering why I post various articles all the time)...  anyways...

Did you know that an Aussie island is getting overpopulated with a species of rabbit which are destroying the vegetation, and they are training Springer Spaniels to go in on the front lines to tone them down? 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081001-dog-video-ap.html

It's interesting to see what dogs are doing all over! 

[saucyaussies]

Springers huh...I can think of a lot of better breeds to do the job...nothing against springers, but why not a sighthound which was bred for this exact purpose?

[Carol]

  cuz the sighthounds are more difficult to keep track of and most don't have enough body fat to float/swim if they fall in the water (it is an island, right?)

[TherapyGolden]

We've had a problem with rabbits in downtown Chicago, they were breeding like, well, rabbits and doing very expensive damage to the landscaping in the parks.

Here's an article if anyone is interested:
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/05/news/adna-rabbits5

Quote from the article:

The advent of leash laws and the lack of other predators allowed the rabbits to thrive. Coyotes that might normally cull the bunny population were chased, captured and removed by the city’s animal control officers. By 2001, the bunny population had boomed, and the rabbits had eaten their way through $100,000 worth of landscaping in Grant Park. Other cities around the country, including Miami, Detroit and Hartford, Conn., struggled with similar invasions.

[Louisa]

I am not too familar with rabbit hunting breeds...other than I know thats what mini doxies were bred down from standards for (rabbit hunting, small game, rodents)... but for some reason I can understand why there might be a different breed chosen than doxies (just because they are slower and smaller than other breeds, tiny legs...  not for lack of drive). 

Maybe springers are just popular down there as hunters in general... no idea... they may have been favored by some of the "higher ups" in this operation and so they won the job bid.  I suppose whatever works in the situation.

[Louisa]

also ... sighthounds arent too adept to the elements are they? like hot sun, rain, wind?  I imagine it gets pretty hot down there. A lot of the sighthounds I believe have thin coats and sensitive skin.  (im thinking along the lines of the greyhound lines)

[JoeF]

cuz the sighthounds are more difficult to keep track of and most don't have enough body fat to float/swim if they fall in the water (it is an island, right?)

Yes Carol iIt is an Island that has almost as many square miles as the US  About 3,000,000 of them