rabbits! - UPDATE: Ha!

[miss_thenorth]

Hi Pat!! I hope you still have the cage and bait set. Little bunnies like to reproduce, and they do it like... :bunbunnies!! If you have old hay or alfalfa cubes, they would prefer to munch on that than on twigs. Don't put the trap away just yet.

And if you get tired of relocating them--I have some very good recipes for wild rabbits

 

[sheps4her]

I am also concerned about bunnies.....last year, what little flowers I had were consumed by bunnies. I had a cat that would escape outside, and that took care of the bunnies in the back, but he rarely hung out in the front yard so they went to town there. Now I don't even have him for protection in the back. He was hit by a car 2 weeks ago. I won't have another cat while I live on this busy road, so, anyother suggestions??

 

[digitS']

Rabbits must be some of the dimmest-witted creatures that show up to torment the gardener. They aren't a very big step up from bugs.

A now departed neighbor had the biggest, laziest dogs you'd ever hope to see. Actually, there were lazy dogs of all sizes in his yard, which was a little over an acre in size. There were as many as 5 dogs when he was there . . . and, bunnies. The canines just didn't have the energy to run 'em off the property - amazing! Of course, if the dogs have half tried, I suppose the rabbits would have ALL ended up in my garden.

As it was, I am a little embarrassed to say that I succeeded in hitting one or 2 of the rabbits with rocks. They are fairly shy critters and seem as tho' they are usually ready to take flight (these are wild cotton-tails here, I'm talkin' about for crying out loud) but the rocks banging into their ribs didn't cause them to do more than glance around.

A guy down the road has domestic rabbits running around his yard year-round. I'm not sure who should be shot, the rabbits or the property owner. It is illegal most everywhere to set out poisons and for good reason.

Pat has shown that they can be trapped over Winter, Sheps4her. You shouldn't sit back and wait for the bunnies to reproduce in the Spring. Effective repellents that I've heard of are almost so unpleasant as to keep people from enjoying their own protected plantings. Fencing should be successful but I've seen them practically run thru a conventional chain-link fence. They'd need to be tighter.

Steve

 

[patandchickens]

Rabbits must be some of the dimmest-witted creatures that show up to torment the gardener. They aren't a very big step up from bugs.

So, er, Steve.... those of us having trouble outwitting the bunnies, are you saying we're dumber than bugs?

Pat has shown that they can be trapped over Winter, Sheps4her.

...at least if you have 2 feet of snow on the ground :>

You shouldn't sit back and wait for the bunnies to reproduce in the Spring.

Although, of course, they WILL, which means that a rabbit-removal binge is rapidly going to be counteracted by other bunnies (and their families) moving in from down the road unless you keep up a continual campaign.

Effective repellents that I've heard of are almost so unpleasant as to keep people from enjoying their own protected plantings.

You know what, that stuff I painted onto my Rosaceae bushes actually seems to have worked pretty well. (I mean, 'and then I also caught and removed Brer Rabbit', but in the intervening couple of days NONE of the painted stems got nibbled. Edited to add: the brand name is Skoot; the active ingredient is thiram. It is some sort of fungicide that is so bitter-tasting the wabbits won't eat it. As fungicides go, it is supposed to be relatively nontoxic to humans as long as they wear gloves and behave sensibly and, you know, don't pour it into their coffee or stuff like that.

Fencing should be successful but I've seen them practically run thru a conventional chain-link fence. They'd need to be tighter.

When we moved to this property, which owing to its canine history has a LOT of chainlink, I found the skeleton of an erstwhile rabbit. It was half-in half-out of one of the meshes in the chainlink. Evidently it'd gotten halfway through, gotten stuck by the stifles, and died there. I *hope* it had a little lapine heart attack rather than dying slowly of cold or starvation but who knows.

I have been told by people who have good grounds to know that 1" chickenwire is pretty rabbit proof as long as it's installed without gaps. It is less aesthetically offensive for veg gardens and faraway flower borders than for things right up along the house, but it is certainly something to consider. You still want to check inside it every few days for damage, I'm told, as occasionally a determined or very young rabbit will get inside and go to town, and you want to be able to notice and expel him before too much gets eaten.

BTW, I saw rabbit tracks in the snow here again two days ago. <snarl>. I have re-set the trap. We'll see what happens. Honest, we have never had rabbits here before. The neighbor's semiferal cats must be dying off or something. Sigh.

Personally I think I'd recommend painting repellent on woody plants, surrounding your most beloved herbaceous stuff with 1" chickenwire, and also (if consistent with personal beliefs and local laws) some remedial trap-shoot-braise-with-vegetables exercised on any particularly recalcitrant individuals.

Good luck (you'll need it ),

Pat

 

[digitS']

So, er, Steve.... those of us having trouble outwitting the bunnies, are you saying we're dumber than bugs?

No Pat, I'm saying that after the rabbits become tame from the tolerance of the neighbors and the laziness of their dogs - you can walk right up and hit 'em with a rock with very little effect. Trying to frighten rabbits away probably won't work - more drastic measures are called for.

I had a conversation with the guy at the sporting goods store about using 22 birdshot on the rabbits. He said I'd need to get closer than 30 feet. I actually thought long and hard about this. There aren't too many wild animals that you can come within 20 - 25 feet of while they are eating your vegetables but you can do that a "wild" rabbit.

Steve

 

[Reinbeau]

I can't shoot a 22 in my yard, it's against the law. But I can shoot an air rifle, and I have it on good authority from several that a .177 pellet will take out a woodchuck at 30 yards - it fires at 1,200 feet per second. If it'll kill a woodchuck it'll surely kill a rabbit.

 

[LisaJean]

I've got rabbits as well, eating my pea seedlings. I just bought an air rifle the other day, but I haven't learned how to use it yet. The one I bought is comparable to a .22, but it has a silencing thingy on it, so it is quiet.

I may use it to get rid of some squirrrels as well.

 

[whatnow?]

In PA, I was surprised to learn that it is illegal to plink squirrels, bunnies, groundhogs, bird, etc. with an air rifle, in season or not.

 

[Jillylam]

I'm very very very mad at bunnies! My dogs keep getting a disgusting protozoa from eating the bunny poop. And I just had my first experience with one in the garden. I had no idea they would chew through plastic fence. It's the pvc chicken wire stuff. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him sitting right in the middle of my garden. It barely hopped away when I yelled at it. The nerve!

 

[countryatheart]

My first garden at our current home was consumed by rabbits. We had a fence similar to chainlink. We added 3 ft of poultry netting along the bottom and then buried flashing about a foot deep to keep them out. I have had pet rabbits and they can chew through many things--wood, and extension cords are their favorite!