How to Attract Rabbits

Our neighbor has many rabbits in their yard living under their shed and we want to attract them to our yard too. We are also concerned that we may be disturbing the current breeding of young rabbits around some bushes.

We are real nature lovers, have many trees and bushes, and want them here to add to a natural wooded setting of the yard by attracting small animals. So the first question is: does dark bark mulch with a strong muclhy odor repel rabbits? We hope the answer is "no" because we just laid several yards of it where the rabbits were hanging out under a bush.

One rabbit is laying under the same bush every day. Therefore, I'm wondering if a nest was in progress too. Could it be that in late August in the Northeastern USA, a rabbit is breeding it's young? They just starting hanging under the bush a week ago (maybe to stay out of the heat?).

Reply to
Billy
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Many of us spend a LOT of time and energy trying to discourage rabbits; they are not rare or scarce! However, to answer your question, based on my observation, one of the best ways to attract rabbits to your yard is to plant clover in with the lawn grass. Rabbits love it more than almost anything. They also love young lettuce, and they adore tender young bean plants.

I have had rabbits nesting in my bark mulch, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

They do breed like, well, rabbits, and so it is possible there is a nest of young ones around. Here in my part of the northeast, it has been an unbelievably wet and verdant summer, and the easy availability of food may have led them to produce additional broods. They sometimes nest in what seem to us like very unusual places--in the middle of the lawn, or up next to the swiss chard plants. The mother will often leave the babies unattended during the day, and come back at night to nurse them, so if you find a nest that looks "abandoned", don't be fooled.

You could also be seeing adolescent rabbits that have left their mother's care, but haven't fully carved out their own place in the world, under your bushes.

I must say, it's nice to read a request on this newsgroup that doesn't involve killing something!

Cheers, Sue

Reply to
SugarChile

Go out in the middle of the yard and act like a carrot?

Forgive me:)

Reply to
jammer

Ok, and I'll shove that carrot up your ass when I'm done.

Reply to
Billy

I got rabbits all over so I don't have any problem, although I'm not really sure what I'm doing special that attracts so many of them. There is a lot of clover around, which they appear to like, and they do get to munch on dandelions in the spring, so maybe its the more (lets call it) relaxed landscaping style I use:)

I got all sorts of critters running around -- rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, plus the groundhog under the shed, not to start on the birds. Funny thing is, I just spent a few days up at my sisters cabin in N.PA near the Loyalsock. I saw not one critter the whole time, and I spent most of that outdoors! Not that I was particularly looking for them, but here you have this forested and mostly natural region and there was nothing around to be seen, while my suburban backyard looks like the animal kingdom. Weird.

Swyck

Reply to
Swyck

try planting bush green beans, the rabbits have come and ate them and left nothing but the stems. You can have our rabbits, they are eating our vegetable garden.

Kathy

Reply to
Kathy

This month I counted about 15 of them on a less than 1/4 mile stretch sitting next to a highway munching on grass. I see them all the time, but never in formation like that.

I thought the originator wanted to attract them because he liked the rabbit stew. Never heard of baiting rabbits, though.

Reply to
aartamen

snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net ( snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

Maybe they are part of a new government sponsored lawn mowing program. :-)

My rabbit seems to like hanging around a plaintain ("white man's foot") patch. I think he's (or she's) eaten all the clover and I pulled all the dandelions. I also spotted him sitting on two legs relishing a snow pea pod last spring.

-- Salty

Reply to
Salty Thumb

Some wild creatures thrive and reproduce much better in the environment created by humans than they do in truly "wild" areas, by which means old forest. An old forest area provides a sparse diet for creatures such as deer, which are browsers. Oaks are better than pine, but even an oak forest with acorns can't compare to the watered, fertilized, and planted shrubs provided by humans if a deer has a diet choice. Why do you suppose we have the herds of deer plaguing our backyard gardens and plantings? I didn't mention that Bambi is cute and people provide additional food or that natural predators such as wolves and puma have been eliminated. I now have a costly electric fence that is working well at keeping them away. Rabbits find watered lawns and gardens very much to their taste, too. And squirrels adapt quickly to developing a taste for food provided by bird feeders or fruit trees.

After I was gone on an eight day trip (My wife's idea!) which began just as the peaches were starting to ripen, I returned to find one ripe peach left on three trees. It was on the tip of a long, thin branch that wouldn't support their weight. I complained before that I wouldn't mind if the squirrels ate the entire peach without taking a bite from each one. I got my wish. All I found were peach pits on top of stumps and the wood pile. To add insult to injury the rotten things are now starting on the tomatoes. So much for enjoying wildlife! :(

John

Reply to
B & J

There are ways to deal with those arboreal rats.

Reply to
aartamen

I'm well aware of your meaning. I saw the first rat in my yard this morning, and it was running along the edge of the woods! :)

John

Reply to
B & J

"Billy" writes in article dated Sat, 16 Aug 2003 15:05:14 -0400:

Yesterday I was watching a high level of chipmunk activity outside the house when I noticed a cat on the driveway. I chased him off.

One chipmunk decided I was his hero and took refuge in my garage.

So if you want more rabbits, chase off the predators.

--Thundermaker$yahoo.com (Spud Demon) The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.

Reply to
lewis

snipped-for-privacy@mazda.mitre.org wrote in news:bhrbhd$o8r$ snipped-for-privacy@newslocal.mitre.org:

tsk, I think the chipmunk was really checking to see if there was room in your garage for his drum set.

-- Salty

Reply to
Salty Thumb

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