$*&^!#@ Rabbits

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

The red foxes sound more like a grown woman dying of fright, but I don't see red foxes around here much.

I have seen more foxes than the law allows.
I have grey foxes here and have seen red foxes eat baby arctic foxes and drag off baby geese on the tundra.
Had one try to steal my lunch sack.

Worth

[ContainerTed]

The best answer to "too many WABBITS" is the Elmer Fudd solution. Make rabbit stew, roast rabbit, baked rabbit, fried rabbit, and that german "hasen" something or other. This protects the rest of the stock, the pets, and the kids from critters like BOBCATS and COYOTES.

It also helps with the grocery bills. It's really quite good.

[AlittleSalt]

Ted, I agree.

The coyotes are a pain to deal with. There was a coyote on our front deck (About 10' from the front door) just before Christmas. If I had not opened the door when I did - it would have gotten one of our two cats.

Bobcats are here, but they don't seem to be as brave as the coyotes. We've lived here since late 1992 and I've never seen a Bobcat close to our houses, but they are out in the woods very nearby.

Big cats are big, fast, and dangerous. When they are in the area, the nights are very quiet out here.

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by jmsieglaff

Just venting here. We planted raspberries last spring. They did great this year. Had some nice canes to overwinter. Just went through the backyard, all canes are gone, mowed down to about 3", the !*(#king rabbits mowed them down. I never in million years thought about protecting raspberry canes over the winter.

That would have $%^^&* me off too. It's one thing to lose an annual plant/s but lose perennial ones to animals is beyond irritating.

I do have a few ideas - one costs more than the others. I'll start with the cheaper idea. You could buy some 3' tall chicken wire and some of those cheap metal stakes/posts. Bury the chicken wire about a foot. The rabbits won't be able to get to the plants. It will last until the chicken wire rusts - about 10 years.

A medium cost would be to do the same with rabbit wire. Rabbit wire costs a lot more than chicken wire, but lasts longer and looks better.

OR - Dig a foot deep trench, pour some concrete, and lay a stone wall. The weakest material involved is the mortar. Mortar reaches its strongest point in 33 years. The wall will last a minimum of 100+ years.

I look at things a little differently. I do believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I'd rather build a fence than spend 24/7 with a gun in my hand.

[KarenO]

I had some luck using blood and bone meal. Smells like death and danger to rabbits, deer etc and they avoided my garden.
Bonus it's fertilizer. Plant something they like better or give them a bit of hay in winter (cabbage) always well away from the real garden
KarenO

[jmsieglaff]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I use rabbit guard fencing around my garden beds and was hoping not to need it here. Unfortunately that's what I'll have to do. I live in a village on a residential lot so using firearms isn't practical for me here. Although a 44 mag with a silencer attached would be great fun. Part of the problem is they go under our deck for protection. Eliminating that possibility may help the problem too, but ultimately a barrier is likely the only viable solution for me.

[bower]

As I commented in another thread, I had no luck trying to fence my whole garden area, they always found a way in and it was an endless chore to patch. But enclosing small areas where vegetables are growing, leaving them free to move through the area and nibble on grass and perennials, has worked really well for the past couple of years. I notice they are not keen to get up on a raised bed with a wooden frame, and even a little piece of remay flapping in the wind seems to keep them away from a small enclosure.

On the other hand in winter they go everywhere and in late winter they will rind the deciduous trees and even chew down small pines and other conifers. Fences don't work as the snow makes a whole other landscape. Foxes are welcome but no chance to bring in a few chickens!

I hope you find something that works for you.

[Rockandrollin]

A air rifle is what works best for me to keep them in check.

As Karen said earlier, primocane raspberries will produce on first year canes. ⅓ of my raspberries are primocane. After a couple killing frosts, you can mow them down and have a fall crop the coming season.

[jmsieglaff]

Unfortunately these are ones that produce on floricanes. Oh well, hopefully another year of root building and this fall a fence will be erected!

[dmforcier]

Feral Bunnies Are Taking Over Las Vegras, Nevadra


http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles...over-las-vegas

[GrowingCoastal]

And people think it will be cockroaches that survive.

Here, have a few more !
http://globalnews.ca/news/2514841/fe...u-s-sanctuary/

[bower]

Wow... I am pretty much shocked at the notion of doctoring and relocating a herd of 80 rabbits to a 'sanctuary' where they will just die off because they are spayed and neutered (at great expense!). A wild rabbit only lives a couple of years, a pet maybe 8 years but that is because they are treated as a pet, including feeding, sheltering and veterinary care... is someone really going to do that for EIGHTY rabbits??? Will the doomed herd be buried in a pet cemetery.

The hares around here would be snared for dinner on a regular basis if it wasn't the worry of neighborhood pets... this is why they get out of control in urban areas.

[imp]

Some people let chickens die of old age. <shrug>

I guess because I was raised on a farm, the idea of eating animals I have cared for is normal, as is hunting.

And a nice, fat bunny can make all kinds of yummy dishes!

[dmforcier]

Yes, bunnies are yummy, even to non-sharks.

What I wanna know is, where are the urban coyotes?? Ya wanna integrate, dog, you need to understand your responsibilities!

[Worth1]

Well they protested Whole Foods for selling rabbit meat and won.
Cows are gentle and will follow you around like a dog and even roll over and show their belly to be scratched.
My pet bull did.

Rabbits have gone from a commonly raised and eaten animal to people being considered some sort of beast for eating one.
As though you were eating a cat or a dog which by the way some people eat.

Worth