rabbits

getting rid of rabbits in my garden but not killing them ???

Yeah, my family thinks they're adorable. I think if I plant out my lettuce seedlings i won't have any more lettuce (it's still in a six-pack while I decide).

Rabbits are soooo anoying!

I don't really like to kill them, but I don't want them in my garden either. We have owls, hawks, snakes, coyotes, and various others out here. They make the rabbits' lives a bit more precarious and so the Texas country rabbits aren't quite as bold as their urban cousins. When I lived in town we had a red healer who took care of the rabbits. She only ever caught one. Word got out amongst the other rabbits and they began avoiding our yard. Even after she got too fat to really catch any rabbits our yard was rabbit-free! It was her job and she was happy!

If I had something I really didn't want to risk I built a basket of chicken wire and put that over the plant or the row. Doesn't look like something Martha would have in her garden but it did work. You can reuse it too.

I know, you can't have your dog out in the garden 24/7. But just a good dog presence seems to put the little devils on guard! Of course then they go to your neighbor's yard. Ah well, can't win them all.

Good luck!

I had a great rabbit-hunting cat once. The current cats only get the little ones.

We have a fench around our yard and are careful to keep every hole plugged. Keeps the dogs in and the rabbits out. Split rail fence covered in what I think is called hog wire. Our two gates are covered in chicken wire. Thank goodness rabbits can't fly (giggle)

We used to have a baby rabbit-hunting cat but then it turned out she was part of thee reason for DD's persistent asthma attacks, and the gifts of screaming half-dead bunnies at 2 am get a little old. However, now we have rodents inside (mice) and out (rabbits, chipmunks, raccoons, etc. No dogs. No chicken wire. Didn't plant the lettuce seedlings yet.

My mom had a cute Welch Terrier that was terrific at dispatching anything from the size of a mouse to a wood chuck. Many of the terriers are good at getting small animals. Just be careful to stay away from terriers that are too active. It really pays to research a breed before you get one. I've seen so many people with dogs that are not a good choice. My husband doesn't want dogs. I'm sad about that, but my son hunts the rabbits now and again. I seems that if you kill one you'll have two to take its place.

I've been using Hav-a-hart live traps to catch and relocate the rabbits from my back yard. I only trap in the vegetable garden. My hope is that I trap the bold rabbits, and move them on...sort of a Burmuda Triangle for bunnies...they go in, but don't go out. Maybe the word will spread and the timid bunnies will stay away.

I move them to a wooded area on the edge of a pasture about 3 miles away--across two creeks. If they make it back from there I guess they deserve the vegetables.

David

Rabbits ate 12 lbs of potatoes I planted last year and then all my beans!!! I gave up and didn't have a garden last year. This year my son put a fence up and I thought it was doing a good job until one day I was home a saw a rabbit frollicking in the garden. I let the dog in the gate and the rabbit ran into the fence trying to get away. But he did...under a loose spot in the fence. I read in a Master Gardener book to grate some Irish Spring soap and put a little around your fence line and plants. Claims rabbits don't like the smell and will leave you alone. This week will tell the tale...I bought a case of it at Sams Club and did the deed tonight. Stay tuned!!! My DIL also said people told her to plant something called WormWart (???) and to sprinkel black pepper around the perimeter. That would keep me away too!!! LOL

Wormwood? Artemesia absinthium?

Irish Spring would be easy.

I've heard Irish Spring works fairly well with deer as well.

I planted some lettuce seedlings today with chives interplanted and crushed mint - Irish Spring is in the Grocery List. Fingers crossed!

I used the Irish Spring last week and it seems to repel them but when it rains, the Irish Spring washes away. So more grating for me!!! I also saw a product on the internet called Rabbit Scram and ordered some. It had great reviews and people said this worked for them when nothing else did. I'm waiting for all this rain to stop before I use it. Hopefully later this week. I've had stuff planted since Mother's Day weekend and so far...so good. I wish I could leave the dog in there all the time, but since he is a big Lab, that won't work. They sure run from him though!!!

I put a lot of Liquid Fence on my garden last week and it stunk real bad, but the rabbits are still nibbling my romaine.

Ironically I just got done posting about this very subject in another forum. The ending of this story may not be too popular but it's somewhat entertaining so I'll share it with you all too.


There is just something so wrong with this way of thinking.

How often do we as gardeners shake our hoe at the rabbit nibbling our lettuce? Actually I remember seeing that scene illustrated in a book when I was a kid, LOL. But it's true! I've grumbled and moaned over the little %^$ chewing on my tender vegetation more times than I can count. However when it comes right down to it apparently I'd rather spare the rabbit and spoil the veggies.

As my noble canine and I were out perusing the garden tonight at sunset I was giving him thunder for jumping through my nursery bed. I could tell by his excitement that he'd found something interesting and the next thing I knew he was hell bent for election with a little yelping ball of fur in his mouth.

"ALDO DROP IT!!!!!!"

And he promptly did. I don't think he had chewed on it or hurt it in any way at all. I rather believe he looked upon it as he does the kitties next door whom he's always seen as potential playmates. (The poor guy just doesn't understand why the kitties have never seen things the same way.) I scooped up the baby, tethered the dog, then I just stood there. What was I going to do with it now? LOL! The mother wouldn't take it back after the dog and I had both touched it and obviously I couldn't bring it inside. Aldo would have been beside himself with...um...enthusiasm, and I just wasn't up to the chaos that I knew would follow.

In the end I talked the neighbors into taking it. I promised that I would find a cage (which I did) and an eyedropper (which I did) and I also promised that the bunny would be big enough to turn loose in a week or two. (Like I have the slightest clue. But I'd have promised the moon if they were willing to take it off my hands and leave me with a clear conscious.)

So the bunny lives to see another day. It lives to eat my cosmos, my marigolds, my zinnias and my peppers. It lives to hear me grumble and to see me shake my hoe in frustration.

Or maybe we'll be like the lion and the mouse. Maybe he'll remember that it was I who spared his life and forever take his lunches from the farmer back the lane. Now wouldn't THAT be a fairy tale?

You're right. We have a big mockorange bush they call home. I guess we don't have to provide food AND shelter to the expanding family, do we?

LJ, I loved your story.... and your picture. :) Aldo is adorable! What bunny wouldn't love THAT face!? lol

I have a 4 foot tall wire fence all around my garden - the bottom is woven tighter to keep out rabbits....supposedly, and the bottom of the fence is buried underground. So far, no bunnies in my garden. We'll see how long that lasts. For me, the coons and deer will be the big challenge.......but so far......no one has touched anything in my garden. And I don't have an Aldo to help me. :(

Grandmarain, let us know how that Rabbit Scram works for you!! I'd be interested in buying some if it does the trick. :)

Well, the rabbits decided that they like my sweet-potato sets, too. In two nights, they nibbled everything green from every single set. I don't have any (slips) left alive. The bunnies seem to be quite well...

David

I just haven't planted anything they like yet - they dug up a few chives, but didn't like them, so I replanted 'em.

So far...so good. There has been a lot of rain here and I think storms have kept them under cover some too. But last Sunday I saw a few playing in the yard...a little too close for comfort for me so I sprinkled Rabbit Scram. We are supposed to have at least 5 days of dry and heat now, so I will re-treat this evening. I plan to put more Rabbit Scram around the fence line and Irish Spring around the plants. I am way ahead of the game from last year...but those critters can do a lot of damage in just one day. So I am watching closely!!!

My DH keeps using the Irish Spring as soap!!!!!