More rabbits! Rabbits plural. Many many many rabbits

[Rosalind]

We have two full warrens' worth of rabbits. They think my beans, peas, and squash blossoms are delish. Next year, I'm planting all pole beans, as those seem OK.

Things we have tried to no avail:
Dog. They know the dog isn't going to eat them and will only temporarily interrupt their meal, then lose interest. Dog has dutifully toileted all around the garden, no luck.
Plastic and wire fencing labeled as being the type for keeping out critters. They sort of burrowed under the edge of it so that now it merely slows them down for a sec when they see the dog coming.
Trapping is not an option. I don't have enough traps. The bloody game warden wouldn't have enough traps. The Havahart company doesn't manufacture enough traps. We got lotsa rabbits. I'd never be able to trap/snare them all.
Poison also not an option, I don't want to hurt our other wildlife such as turkeys and songbirds.
Shooting not an option, as we are way too close to other houses and the highway. We're only allowed to bowhunt in our backyard for that reason. I am not philosophically opposed to hassenpfeffer, it's just that shooting close to houses in a suburban neighborhood full of busybodies is a bad idea.

It started in the spring with just a couple of rabbits here and there. Isn't that how it always starts? Then the dog started finding baby bunnies in the orchard. I was still getting handfuls of greenbeans at that point, I didn't worry much. Then it all went straight to heck. The babies are full grown and fast. There's like, a zillion of them.

Do rabbits taste hot peppers? I could try spraying with Tabasco sauce.

 

[patandchickens]

Oh joy; congratulation on your share of nature's bounty.

Two observations that might help if you are so inclined:

- once you trap a rabbit it can *then* become hasenpfeffer, if you can discreetly plug it with a high-powered airgun (there is at least one thread over on BYC in the Predators section on how best to dispatch trapped predators this way) or something like that.

and/or,

- get some more chickenwire and lay it flat on the ground against the edge of the 'fence' they're ducking under, and use twist-ties or scraps of wire or twine or whatever you gots handy to affix it to the bottom of that fence. This should slow them down plenty well enough for Dog to get them, if so desired. Or if you would prefer to have more of a go at just excluding them, attach it thusly on the *outside* of the garden fence (I'd use 3' rather than 2' chickenwire) and weight it down with rox into any dips in the lawn. It will at least give you a week or three of grace til they figure out how far back they have to start in order to tunnel underneath it. Main disadvantage: if it is lying on your grass you will not be able to mow that bit. Well, unless you pull the wire up, mow under and then weight it back down, but chickenwire at least is not going to handle having that done very often before it starts to go all floopy and weird.

Good luck,

Pat, who chased a remarkably large and athletic rabbit out of the front yard yesterday evening, although the only other sign I've seen of its presence (yet) is that about a month ago an oak (!) seedling that I planted was neatly lopped off about 20" above the ground.

 

[yotetrapper]

Skip the traps, and get the airgun. Airguns are allowed most everywhere (plus, no one probably even realize you have it). There range isn't very far, but a good pellet gun with a "hunting pellet" will take care of your rabbits.

OR.....forget the traps, and think SNARES. Never mind. Your from Mass. They're not allowed there. But for anyone with rabbit troubles in a state snares are legal in can clean up on rabbits. Snares only cost $12/doz or so.

 

[chickaD]

One of the unintentional effects of having cats is that bunnies are on their hit list. They are so vigilant that we have no rabbit problem whatsoever, even before we fenced in our veggie garden (mainly to keep out our over-zealous chickens). I don't want to gross out any rabbit lovers out there, but after the little dears demolish new plantings, their charm can wear off a bit.

 

[Alexis]

I love rabbits.
But I only love the kind that are pets in a cage who get certain areas to play outside :/
Sorry you're having so many problems with rabbits, but I have to tell ya, your post made me giggle - especially the part about NOBODY having enough traps.

We also have a couple of cats that keep the small furry population to a bare minimum - maybe you can raise a couple attack cats in a quick hurry. Hmmm....

 

[simple life]

Holy Cow Rosalind, I haven't got any advice for you but wish you luck with that.Sorry about the killer rabbits.
(Monty Python.)

 

[country freedom]

If you/others in your home aren't allergic to cats...............

Cat/Predator

Rabbit/Prey


You will only need 1 predator (cat) for the entire prey (rabbit) population.

 

[patandchickens]

If you/others in your home aren't allergic to cats...............

Cat/Predator

Rabbit/Prey


You will only need 1 predator (cat) for the entire prey (rabbit) population.

Works fine unless you live on our road, where

Speeding gravel trucks/very, very short cat lifespans

(and if the gravel trucks didn't get 'em, the coyotes would)



Pat, having not lost anything recently to rabbits but under no illusions that this will last

 

[DDRanch]

I know that you can purchase coyote or fox feces on line and also in some feed stores. I have heard it works pretty well from some of the folks on the BYC site.

Good luck.

Anne

 

[Rosalind]

We tried the cat thing. Well, I say "we," by which I mean the entire neighborhood put food out for our local feral cat population. Used to be a couple of black cats, a tiger-striped gray and a tuxie that frequented everyone's bird feeders. They're gone, either the coyotes or the foxes or the fishers got 'em.

Yes, you would imagine that with an overabundance of fishers (thank you SO much, Massachusetts Game Commission ) and coyotes and so forth, that I would not have a rabbit problem. Psssshhhht. These are super-fast rabbits. Maybe Tim The Enchanter's killer rabbits, simple life could be right about that. Somehow, they evade all of their natural predators, possibly by hiding in my garden where the natural predators smell dog pee and therefore stay out of his territory.

Next year, everything is going up on trellises. No more bush beans, it's all pole beans from here on out.