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Rabbits |
Question:
My yard is full of rabbits. How do I get them to move out or leave my flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs alone?
Minnesota Master Gardeners say:
Cottontail rabbits have adapted to the presence of humans so successfully that they are common in city and country alike. Their persistent presence and taste for garden plants pose a major challenge to gardeners and home owners anywhere in the state.
Habitat modification
You can make your garden less attractive to rabbits by reducing or eliminating woodpiles, brush piles, overgrown shrubbery, or naturalized areas and by cleaning up seeds that fall to the ground under bird feeders.
Repellents
Some people claim to get results using odor repellents such as moth balls, blood meal or predator urine. Place them on the ground around the perimeter of the plants. They must be renewed periodically. Many Internet sources sell products containing or simulating predator urine as nuisance animal repellents. Various kinds of animal urine are sometimes available at sporting goods stores in the hunting department. Hunters often use them as lures or scent covers.
Taste repellents (such as Bonide and pepper spray) can be applied to foliage. They too must be renewed from time to time.
Barriers
A two-foot high, one-inch mesh chicken wire fence or similar design dug into the soil 4-6 inches will be sufficient to keep most rabbits out of the garden. Small rabbits easily run through standard chain link mesh.
Specialists at the Michigan State University recommend surrounding the garden with 36-inch
widths of chicken wire attached to stakes. Bend the bottom 6 inches outward along the ground to prevent digging under the fence. By bending the top 6 inches outward, you can also prevent other animals from climbing the fence. Check this link for more information
http ://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modwl/11209808.html
You can also cut and bend hardware cloth to form tents, circles or cones to keep rabbits away from seedlings, newly planted perennials, and other small plants as well as the tender bark of trees and shrubs.
Rabbit resistant plants
Some garden plants are said to be "rabbit resistant," which means that given a choice, rabbits prefer to eat something else. However, plants that seem to be resistant in one place may be preferred in another, so this is not a fool proof rabbit control strategy. Check these links for more information about this:
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/champaign/homeowners/hc971227.html
http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/ppdl/DGP/DGP113.pdf
Trapping and shooting
Sometimes trapping and removal are the best long-term solution. Use a live trap baited with apple slices, shelled corn or carrots. Live traps are available for rent at some hardware stores and nature centers. Put some bait at the back of the cage, some in the middle and a few morsels outside the trap in a trail to the entrance. Check the trap two or three times a day. Dispose of the trapped rabbits in a humane way. If you decide to relocate them, you must have the permission of the property owner (individual or government) before releasing them. The distance of a mile or two should be enough to ensure that they will not find their way back to your place. You may have to trap several rabbits before you observe a noticeable decrease in damage to your plants.
Shooting (if this is permitted in your area) can also be an effective way to control rabbits. They are relatively easy to kill with a pellet gun.
You will find more good information about rabbit control at these web sites:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/info-u/environment/BD593.html
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/YGLNews/YGLN-July0102.html#bunny
http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/miscpubs/mx0134.htm
http://www.havahart.com/nuisance/cageproduct.htm