Neon John writes:

Yep, but the rabbits up here in the mountains are so parasite-infected
that I'd not want to touch one, much less skin one out.

Same here.

Shot a rabbit a couple of years ago, dropped it onto a clean white
sheet. In a few minutes, it was surrounded by ticks in all stages of
development fleeing the carcase. And of course, there were a whole
bunch that were in feeding mode that didn't drop off. Blech.

Collected a lot of the escapees, identified dermacentor, no ixodes,
under a scope but the ixodes are present here. So now I cremate
rabbits that are percussively dissuaded from eating the garden.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada