$*&^!#@ Rabbits

[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.

[Worth1]

Well you know how to thin them out this winter.
Good eats too.

Worth

[KarenO]

little devils.
Your berries will come back but unless they are primocanes this will set you back a year. What variety do you have
KarenO

[jmsieglaff]

They are summer bearing from my friends patch he put in a couple years ago. We were looking forward to raspberries next summer, but now we'll be waiting another year. The kids who always defend the rabbits weren't so pleased when I told them. I guess I'll be putting up fencing next fall around the patch.

[Worth1]

We had to put up protection around our fruit tree trunks because of them.
Darn deer ate my new apple trees to the ground.

[MissS]

Try using some coyote urine that you can find at Gander Mountain. I put some out and the coyotes appeared that night and I found 3 piles of bunny fluff the next morning. The rabbit population is dwindling rapidly.

[Old School]

I can definitely relate although they only selectively prune my Heritage raspberries. Those bear a small crop in Spring (supposedly since I have yet to get one although plants are only in their 2nd year) and a fall crop. I thought I missed them all this year due to wildlife eating them or the drought but was surprised to find them ready to pick in October (a few months later than expected). I am compiling a mental list of plants that are prone to rabbit attack. The latest victim was my new Wine and Roses Weigela shrub. They took it back to ground level after frosts kicked in. They never touched it prior to it losing its leaves (maybe something there?) Hydrangeas are poisonous to Rabbits but apparently the Deer do not suffer the same affliction Live and learn

[Worth1]

The last thing I need to do is lure predators into my yard and place with coyote pee.
When my neighbor had those goats it was unreal around here.

Worth

[kayrobbins]

Jim, I feel your pain. The rabbits did something similar to my asparagus. The darn things only ate the tender tips off of each plant. I finally had to put a fence around the patch because once they found it they were out at dawn feasting on each new one that popped up.

[Patihum]

We have a brand new remedy for the rabbits that would attack our apple trees every winter albeit not something you can purchase. Bobcats! Had a mom and her cubs decide to set up residence in our area. Not a bunny to be seen.

[PaulF]

Patihum: I was just going to say to lure bobcats; we have a couple wandering around the area and the rabbits disappeared. For the garden we had to put a chicken wire fence around the entire garden to keep out the rabbits...and an eight foot deer fence. A nice .22 rifle helps on rabbits the bobcats don't get.

[bower]

We had very few around here this summer - for the first time ever!
But after the latest snowfall, there are tracks galore.... back again.
My experience with snowshoe hare is that they'll eat ANYTHing once! Even stuff that is not good for them, the things you think are not interesting to them.... uh uh. Like my little ginkgo trees, untouched for four years and then one night.... every last one bit to the ground.
As for things they do like, say no more, will eat again, and again.......
If it wasn't for cats in the neighborhood, I would sure have snares out.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by PaulF

Patihum: I was just going to say to lure bobcats; we have a couple wandering around the area and the rabbits disappeared.

I would LOOOOOVE to see a bobcat in my yard!

As it is, all we get are the occasional foxes coming through on their travels, not settling in. My town is old and established and right on the edge of a very large city, so I'm just grateful to get the occasional fox passing, even if the noises they make do sound like the cries of a teenage girl being beaten to death. They don't stay long enough to do anything about the rabbits and groundhogs, though.

[Worth1]

I sure am glad I dont know what a teenage girl being beaten to death sounds like.

Worth

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I sure am glad I dont know what a teenage girl being beaten to death sounds like.

Worth

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