Rabbits

I have asked the rabbit nicely to please not eat my young vegetable plants. I have told them they could eat the grass but they keep coming back and nibbling on my young tender bean plants. I even brushed out the dog and put the hair around the area and just now there it was again. Short of putting up a chicken wire fence does anyone know how to keep them out?

Thanks in advance, Kathy

Reply to
Kathy
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Nope. We put up a chicken wire fence. It doesn't have to be very high or very strong for rabbits.

Pat

Reply to
Pat Meadows

I've just spent a month fighting a horde of 4 large white rabbits in the middle of the city. Before I found something that worked I lost a bed of carrots and most of my limas, black and pinto beans, and they had begun eating avocado plants... stem and all down to the soil!

What finally worked was powdered cayenne pepper, dry (spraying pepper and water didn't phase them). The powder is light and sits on the leaves. For a few days I'd see one bite out of a different leaf (black-eyed peas were all that were left) and no more damage. When the green beans re-leafed they hit again so I put cayenne on them and they left them alone.

The carrot sprouts all took a hit again this week so they're still coming around but those are sprinkled now, too.

FWIW, it was Zatarain's brand sprinkled from a salt shaker.

Reply to
<jhudson15

I've just spent a month fighting a horde of 4 large white rabbits in the middle of the city. Before I found something that worked I lost a bed of carrots and most of my limas, black and pinto beans, and they had begun eating avocado plants... stem and all down to the soil!

What finally worked was powdered cayenne pepper, dry (spraying pepper and water didn't phase them). The powder is light and sits on the leaves. For a few days I'd see one bite out of a different leaf (black-eyed peas were all that were left) and no more damage. When the green beans re-leafed they hit again so I put cayenne on them and they left them alone.

The carrot sprouts all took a hit again this week so they're still coming around but those are sprinkled now, too.

FWIW, it was Zatarain's brand sprinkled from a salt shaker.

h-

Reply to
Hane

See my post above for groundhogs except deport them to Liberia where they will find a new home.

Farmer John

Reply to
Fudge

Back home in WI, a lot of folks would use the manure of rabbit predators like mink, foxes.... around the plants. I don't know how well it worked, or that it's a good idea to use the manure of carnivores around plants. but a lot of old timers swore by it.

Maybe the urine that people use as cover scent for hunting? they bottle all kinds of it, even some crazy stuff like bobcat and stuff.

Reply to
Bpyboy

Well, I'll get flamed for this, but the BB gun mentioned previously works great if you pop them each time you see them - two or three times at minimum power usually teaches them to stay away without really hurting them.

And if one just won't learn and gets nice and fat as a result, there's always rabbit stew :-).

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

No. Check Google groups for endless discussion of rabbit problems. If they are hungry and you have a salad bar, They Will Come. And they

*love* little bean plants.
Reply to
Frogleg

You could try trapping them and selling them as pets to 4H'rs. Other than that, the chicken wire sounds best.

Reply to
J. Lane

Tell me more about trapping them. Have you ever trapped them, are they calm enough to handle? I do think however the chicken wire sounds the easiest. Kathy

Reply to
Kathy

I suspect your standard havahart trap baited with something tasty would do just fine. Of course they will thrash around a lot, but you're only going to have them a few hours before dumping them somewhere else. If you throw a towel over they will get more calm. If you have jackrabbits you would be surprised how fast they tame.* If you have some other kind of cottontail they tend to die in captivity. Cottontail are territorial, so their survivability is mixed if you relocate them. Jacks handle it much better.

Of course, your best bet would be to cultivate a nice big great horned owl. :) Or rustle up your local falconer and tell him you've got rabbits you want to get rid of. If you live someplace where there's some space you will have a friend for life.

  • a few years back I went to a friend's house and he had a rabbit in a cage. It looked like a jackrabbit but there was something weird about it that I couldn't put my finger on. It was several minutes before I realized it was simply a *fat* jackrabbit.

-andrea- (yes, a falconer)

Reply to
gnu9903

Hi Kathy, I've never tried to trap a rabbit, but I do have two of my own and am fostering another four due to fires in my area. if you do manage to trap some, wear leather gloves and a thick long-sleeved shirt. They bite and can really kick something awesome. Grab them by the scruff of the neck( just behind the ears) and slip a hand under the butt, to lift them. If you wish to tame them, they're going to take a fair amount of work and expense. Cages, food and hay don't come cheap! You need to check Google for some websites on rabbits before you make a decision. They can make wonderful pets, but taming a wild one may be more work and heartache( if they die in captivity) than you are willing to undertake.

Reply to
J. Lane

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