How to Keep Rabbits out of Garden

[Butterfly]

Rabbits keep eating the leaves off my tomato's, green beans & green peppers. Is there something I can do to keep them away?

[opabinia51]

Try ground pepper and also one of those 1 to 1 1/2 foot fences that you can buy at nurseries and (dare I say it?) Home depot.

I tend to try to get people to support their local nurseries and befriend the owners and staff. You never know what freebies you might get and you are supporting your local community.

Also, ask the experts at your local nursery, not the summer staff but, the local experts. If they should happen to recommend some pesticide, I woud advise not to use it though.

[lovetogarden]

1)Get a dog. My dog keeps them away.

2) Put items of clothing(ie...old shoes or shirts)or cut hair from the barber
around your plants.

3) There are organic products you can buy that create a pherome scent that rabbits do not like.

4)Homemade Animal Repellent

2 raw egges
1 qut water
1 tsp cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce
squirt dish soap

Mix in spray bottle.

[opabinia51]

Cayenne pepper is actually really bad for mammals mucus membranes, I have read of no long term effects but, it is not a humane treatment. We have found an alternative of ground black pepper which is a little less invasive on the mucus membranes.

[NOTagreenthumb]

Hi, in reply to your rabbit problem, I'll tell you what helped keep rabbits out of my garden (and this may seem gross). I have cats, and I sprinkle their used litter around the border of my garden. Since I started doing this I havent even seen a rabbit in my yard. I'm only a beginner though, so if anyone else knows this to be a bad idea, let me know!

[Franco]

My next door neighbor has three cats that roam around my secluded block. I used to hate these cats becuase, hey, I personally hate cats and I didn't want them on my property but it is nice to have because they are always eating rabbits and chipmunks and such. Don't get me wrong I'm a huge animal person especially the little cute ones but hey, that's life ya know.

[opabinia51]

Just so that people know, cats are actually a huge problem in North America and other parts of the world for this very reason. They wreak havoc on local mammal populations and on local bird populations. In some places, they have even been banned.

Anyway, something to keep in mind. I personally love cats and will always have one but, sometimes and in some places it is pertinent to have your cat as an indoor cat.

[webmaster]

How to keep rabbits out of your garden is an important topic. If the garden is being overrun, how much of the problem is the result of a lack of predators? If the reason is because of a lack of predators would it be possible that cats with a limited range be a good way to help the situation? For instance, a semi-rural location that lacks hawks and coyotes?

[rigardengal]

Garlic powder worked around my flower garden! Also, used kitty litter. The granular kind, without the clumps!!! I just sprinkled it around the perimeter. Good luck with those naughty naughty bunnies!

[petalfuzz]

You can also sprinkle hair around your plants. Dog, cat, human, whatever.

Be careful with the spicy cayenne sprays and such. My pet rabbit likes spicy food

[pete28]

For me it is as easy as having my cats. All of my cats are outdoor cats so they keep the vermin away. The biggest problem I have is the GD gopher turtles! I used to have to remove them on a daily basis but now I have the fence up so they cant get in.

the ohter thing I do for the bunnies and other woodland creatures is I plant a bunch of seed that I don't look after in the woods away from my garden that way they get all the veggies that they need. However if they get greedy and come near the garden not planted for them I turn my dog loose whose bred for hunting rabbits and he chases them away. that way no harm comes to the rabbits.

However I will not hesitate to shoot one of the little guys if they don't heed all my countermeasures and throw him in the pot.
_________________
Begin again before you end and start the process over again.

[Gardener Don]

Hello all,
Seems we all have the same problem. I live in the country and have to deal with the pests like rabbits and ground hogs. I finally put up an electric fence, it won't kill them, but will get their attention. It seems to work pretty well, but, like Pete, I won't hesitate to get the ole 22 after one if it gets in. Don

[rootsy]

Rabbit is a tasty meal... especially with a side of mashed potatoes

Rabbits are tough critters to control short of putting them on the table. Difficult to live trap. Difficult to deter from eating foliage. Fence is probably the best bet. Fence will not keep out critters such as Raccoons and deer.

I've been playing cat and mouse with a fat woodchuck for a week now... he's been educated a couple of times and is getting smart...

Feral cats are a scourge. They carry disease and are destructive to small wild life... including my chickens from time to time. Shot on sight and I haven't even begun to dent the local population.

[applestar]

Living in a suburban cookie-cutter development with fast-dwindling open area and wildlife habitat, I LIKE having bunnies visit my yard - I'm proud to say I offer a mixed shmorgesbord in my lawn since I don't let my DH use chemicals. That said, I don't want them eating my garden ... so I took the precaution of fencing the veggie garden, and my Fence Row and Sunflower House of corn/sunflowers are staying under the row tunnels until they grow out of them.

BUT !!! Yesterday, I was watching a couple of bunnies (from upstairs window) play in the "Sunny Meadow-to-be" hopping over the low border fence (only intended to delineate the area), sampling tasty morsels here and there... flopping down in the damp path to rest, etc. THEN, one of them, a male, I'm pretty sure, went over to the arbor corner and casually snipped the solitary Moon Flower seedling I had planted there, then SPIT IT OUT! ARRGGH! I didn't fence that corner because I was pretty sure Moon Flower was unpalatable to them, but I should've known better! I sadly reported the loss to the kids.

A few hours later, they came in from playing outside and proudly announced that they CHASED 3 BUNNIES OUT OF THE YARD!

There you go -- I don't have a dog, and only have indoor cats, but I do have LITTLE KIDS.

[JennyC]

Fences are definitely the best things for rabbits, though I have also been depositing used litter along the fence. I haven't made the circumference yet, though, and some of my fence is inaccessable due to trees and dense undergrowth.

However, a friend of mine who's been gardening organically in the woods on the mountain near here for close to thirty years swears by tomcat pee** to keep away both deer and rabbits. Apparently, he's often had a tom segregated from other cats, and that pee works even on deer. He lost almost everyting to deer one year, pefumed the perimeter with tom-dosed litter the next, and had a great harvest.

Now, I have both a tomcat and deer in my garden, but as I said, I haven't made it aroung the perimeter, either. Other food sources seem to work well for distracting critters, even my deer who sleep inside the garden fence. I have hay growing nearby, so it may be that nothing else can compete for their attention.


** Of course, it's much better to spay your tomcat -- mine's young yet, but will get "the treatment" soon. But he's also strictly inside (he gets to play in the yard when he's on a harness and leash) with only a fixed female and two dogs, so he won't be making any little ferals in the meantime.
_________________
Jenny C