Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

The sizes of hexagonal and rectangular meshes needed to exclude all age classes of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) were 31 mm and 50 x 25 mm, respectively. In an enclosure, fences 0.75 m high excluded >90% of adult rabbits, a similar percentage to that obtained using the commonly accepted height of 0.9 m. In a subsequent field experiment using fences with a mesh size of 31 mm and heights of 0.9 m and 0.75 m, the numbers of rabbits seen on protected fields were reduced by about 80% for each height and therefore the 0.75-m-high fence was more cost-effective.