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Terry Hardaker and his lurcher dog Millie are bringing a unique set of skills and experience to the job of reducing rabbit numbers on local golf courses.
Terry loves his golf and is a member of the Whangaparāroa Club. While teeing off, he noticed the large number of rabbits, and associated damage, on the course.
He was the right man at the right time to do something about this.
As a young man in Yorkshire, Terry enjoyed hunting, not all of it legal – he could often be found poaching rabbits and hares with his dogs.
When he was around 14 years old, he was taken to court for poaching. As he left court, one of the gamekeepers at the property in question, having noted his skills, offered him a job controlling rabbits. Terry was happy to oblige.
He moved to New Zealand in 1987 and rescued Millie, the lurcher dog, from a pound in Henderson two years ago.
Lurchers, still not a common breed in NZ, are renowned for their speed and agility – the perfect combination when it comes to chasing and catching rabbits.
Millie is very much a family dog for Terry, aged 73, and his wife Lynn. But, now retired from a busy role as a restorer of historic buildings, Terry was also keen to get back into the rabbit catching work he enjoyed in his younger days.
Initially, he put Millie to work catching rabbits at Whangaparāroa Golf Course, around a year ago, and more recently began working with Gulf Harbour Country Club.
Gulf Harbour’s 12th hole, in particular, has been badly affected by rabbits, members say.
The dog is used to flush rabbits from the hedges and bushes out into the open, where the chase begins. Rabbits are brought back alive to the handler, who humanely kills them.
Terry believes he could be the only one in New Zealand doing this work with a lurcher.
Terry and Millie have been out catching rabbits both day and night – at night it’s called “lamping” in England, or spotlighting here. Terry says the dog catches more rabbits at night.
“At Gulf Harbour it’s more open, and Millie has time to have a good run at them,” Terry says.
He says using the lurcher is one of the more humane ways to get rid of rabbits and there is no waste – the carcasses are butchered by Terry and later eaten by the dog. A few also end up on the family’s dinner plates.
As far as he’s concerned, it’s a definite win-win.
“I’m back in my childhood days, doing something I love, Millie gets a lot of exercise, which her breed needs, and the rabbit population goes down,” he says. “To keep rabbits under control, you need to be on top of it continuously, and I’m happy to help,” he says.
Backstories March 17, 2021
