Burrower ID?

[Priscilla Ballou]

I was out in the wilderness of my backyard just now, clearing brush away from a little apple tree I put in this spring. When I got closer to the tree I saw the ground around it looked funny, and when I got up to it I saw that there was a sizeable burrow dug into the earth right next to it.

I grew up with woodchucks who lived in burrows like this eating our vegetable garden, and this is the first year I've had anything nibble my growing plants, but (so far) it's been just the zucchini leaves. The lettuce is totally untouched.

I don't know that we have woodchucks in the city -- I'm within the city limits of Boston but in an area where we have decent sized yards (mine is 7000 sq ft) and can garden -- but we do have raccoons and possums. Do either of those burrow? There's also a small colony of feral cats whom my neighbors and I help care for. They live comfortably with the other wildlife, except of course for the birds. Of course I know that cats don't burrow! ;-)

A clue may have been given to me by one of the young girls who live on my street and like to come in to talk to me while I'm out gardening. Apparently a large white pet rabbit with blue eyes (name given but I forgot it) escaped from a house down the end of my street a while ago. She said it's a big rabbit, but this burrow is about the size of a woodchuck burrow, and them succkers is bigger than any bunny *I* have ever seen!

What do folks think? What time of day would be best for my catching a glimpse of it if it's a bunny? The wilderness of my backyard is *very* overgrown, so I may not be able to catch a glimpse. I know! I'll have to look for scat.

What would I bait a Hav-a-Hart trap with to catch it? It's still early summer, but if it's a former pet rabbit it'll need to be retrieved before it gets cold in the fall. I'm sure it's not ready to over-winter.

Do possums burrow?

Any and all ideas would be welcome. The mystery of the summer! And it damn well stay away from my tomatoes or there may be rabbit stew on my stove. [Kidding.]

Thanks!

Priscilla

[Sue in Western Maine]

Hi Priscilla

Good question whether that burrow is a woodchuck or a rabbit den. There are rabbits as pets that easily go 14 -18 lbs, and those back legs on a rabbit can dig pretty darn well!

In heavy cover, your chances of seeing the 'rodent' really aren't great as long as there is food in the brush. You may find greater predation in your yard and garden as "whoever" becomes more bold and hungry, and especially if there are young in the picture.

Pet Rabbits , even if gone feral, can be easily baited with quartered apples, fresh carrots ( the carrot greens are favorite grazing treats). Rabbits willl also follow the scent of their solid waste to return to their home hutch, so if the owners were composting their rabbit waste, some of that in or around the Hav a Hart would be a bonus. A hutch-kept rabbit will not be spooked by a metal Hav a Hart trap, will think it is 'Home".

OTOH if it is a 'chuck, the carrots and apples will be perfectly good bait too.

Good luck!

Sue Western Maine

[Priscilla Ballou]

I'm starting to abandon the possibility of it being a woodchuck. I think Bugs or Peter or Esther (Easter? Get it?) has taken up residence in my back jungle. I just hope I haven't scared it off by deforesting some of the area around its burrow.

Do rabbit burrows have multiple entrances like woodchucks'?

Thanks, Sue! Actually I'm considering putting out rabbitty food in a place I can see on a regular basis, hoping to lure it out into the open. I'm always buying more greens etc. than I can eat, so I can spare a little for the critter. Carrot tops are a good idea.

I don't think this was a hutch-kept rabbit but rather a house pet. It may be operating on instincts alone right now. There are wild rabbits somewhere around these parts, so I hope this one has been neutered, particularly if it's female. I am *not* adding rabbits to my current menagerie, despite the fact that I'm a total sucker for baby animals.

*sigh* That's how I moved from three cats to four.

Priscilla

[Kenny]

I recommend Peanut butter for a bait. It gets most all critters attention.

Kenny

[myrmecodia]

Domesticated rabbits are a Eurasian species, Oryctolagus cuniculus. In the eastern US, the wild rabbits are cottontails, Sylvilagus floridanus. I doubt they can hybridize. European rabbits are usually social, unlike the solitary cottontails, so I'm not sure how long a single escaped rabbit would survive.

European rabbits dig burrows, but Cottontails do not. So, if you have found a rabbit burrow, it is almost certainly made by the escaped pet. My money would be on groundhogs, though. Is it possible you have found an abandoned burrow?

[Angrie.Woman]

When we were kids, my cousin's rabbit escaped. We saw it for several years in the field behind their house.

A

[Priscilla Ballou]

It wasn't there a couple of months ago when I planted the little apple tree.

Priscilla

[Priscilla Ballou]

Thanks. I'll try the carrot tops and apples first, since I don't think I have any peanut butter, and I'd hate to buy a whole jar and discover the bunny (assuming that's what it is) doesn't like it.

Priscilla

[Priscilla H. Ballou]

*sigh* When I was watering this morning I saw that whatever it is had almost totally defoliated three zucchini plants, and one head of lettuce was eaten down to a nub. Time to get a trap. :-(

Priscilla