Rabbits are eating our pansies and other blooms faster than I can plant them. Does anybody have advice about how to change their dietary preferences? Can't put wire mesh around the plants, there are just too many. I'm new to this group, if this question seems naive... sorry. thanks
Rose
Fermented salmon from
I use "liquid fence" from Franks.
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All it did for me is get the squirrels to stop digging bulbs, and start munching flower stalks instead.
-theoneflasehaddock
Irish Spring soap works for an extremely short period. We've tried it and place it in the urban legend category. :) Extensive mesh fencing, electric fences, and a .410 do work.
John
I had the same problem for several years. Tried all the scents like coyote urine, soaps, Rabbit Scat. etc with little success. I bought a roll of fence material (48" wide, 2"x4" openings), cut it in about 6' lengths, and turned down each side & ends about 6". I placed this horizontally over the young plants, as many sections as needed for the bed, and it worked perfectly! I had the best pansy bed ever with almost no loss to rabbits or deer.
Enuf
Now if pansies were eating your rabbits, I'd really worry. ...HEEEEEERe's Audry! zemedelec
A neighbor has a beautiful garden and puts moth balls to keep the rabbits away.
I've had very good luck with diluted egg whites (2 in about a cup of water) sprayed with a cheapo spray bottle. Supposedly it's because rabbits are herbivores, and the egg smell spoils the experience for them. Speaking of spoiling, make sure you wash the spray bottle very thoroughly or it'll get putrid very quickly. Liquid Fence (commercial spray) is made of putrid eggs and garlic primarily, but the smell was too bad for me to contend with. The egg whites need to be reapplied after heavy rains, or weekly, but it's pretty damn cheap and easy (and less cruel than pepper wax.)
Providing rabbits with a patch of clover is a good alternative, too. They seem to prefer it over most other greens.
Also had good luck with human hair clippings keeping squirrels away. Plus, I believe hair doubles as (very) slow release nitrogen.
Good luck-
Michael
Thanks for all the "Helpful'' replies. Got a tip from a guy at our local Garden center. He said: get some dog hair, stuff it in pantyhose and hang in several places throughout the garden. Haven't tried it yet, will let you know what happens. We don't have a dog, if anyone can try this idea before we get some dog hair please let us all know how it works.
thanks Rose
I'm skeptical....my real dog ran about the yard, chased the rabbits, and left not only hair but other odiferous presents in many places near the garden, and it didn't seem to bother the rabbits at all.
I read somewhere once that tasty mammals like squirrels and rabbits have a quick and highly honed fear response, but a short memory for fearsome situations. They are tasty to predators, so they startle and run quickly, but the memory fades just as quickly (otherwise they'd be too paralyzed to do much of anything) and they come back and try again. Just like the rest of us, they get hungry.
Not sure if it was mentioned in any previous responses, but I find that my local rabbits prefer the clover in the lawn to almost any other food source. If they do raid your garden, they prefer small tender plants, so if you can get your peas and beans to a good size, with pepper spray or fencing, they'll be less likely to eat them.
Good luck, Sue
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