The 4-year-old felines live with Rutherford Rd residents Ralph, Gill, Finn (13) and Ciaran (9) Henderson.
The cats’ rabid desire for rabbits has been so consistent, Mr Henderson has included their activities in his pest management report filed with the Otago Regional Council last week.
Scratchy and Whiskers have been promoted from pets to pest control contractors with the fictional, incorporated status of "S & W Bros Pest Eliminators Ltd".
Mr Henderson estimated the cats destroyed more than 400 rabbits a year at the rate of three rabbits a day over nine months.
It wasn’t clear what they killed in the winter, when they became "a tad lethargic", he said.
The "Rabbid [sic] Management Plan" report is Mr Henderson’s first report to the Otago Regional Council since the council last year required landowners in several rabbit-infested communities to come up with their own compliance plans to get rid of rabbits.
The nine-page report by "S & W Bros Pest Eliminators Ltd" includes photographs and maps of terrain patrolled seven days a week.
While the Hendersons searched for two years for a contractor willing to complete the rabbit fences on their 4000sqm lifestyle property, Scratchy and Whiskers took matters into their own jaws.
Before the fences were finally completed late last year, the rabbits would eat strip trees of bark and sharpen their teeth on trunks.
Now there is little evidence of rabbit burrows, poop or occupation.
Mr Henderson’s report concludes rabbits "have been managed to death".
But dead rabbits keep arriving at the front door because Scratchy and Whiskers are now patrolling the wider neighbourhood and public reserves.
Mr Henderson said it was a rare morning when there was not a rabbit carcass or pair of "bunny pants" for him to put straight into the rubbish bin.
Otago Regional Council environmental implementation manager Andrea Howard last week accepted the "Rabbid Management Report" in the spirit in which it was offered.
"Mr Henderson certainly shows creative flair and a sense of humour, which are good characteristics to have in these times.
"We look forward to checking the effectiveness of his detailed ‘plan’ against allowable rabbit densities as outlined in our regional pest management plan.
"Since the council commenced leadership of a collaborative community initiative last year, we have been very impressed by the range of tangible, evidence-based actions that have been undertaken by many properties in the Lake Hayes area to reduce rabbit populations and we trust Mr Henderson is applying a range of other techniques to support his plan and the good work of the wider community," Ms Howard said.
