Rabbits in the garden

[Chicken lady]

Bae's solution is very quiet and doesn't require a stakeout. Dh called it "elegant"

[ctg492]

Fencing, nothing else spots the bun buns. I cut my ornamental grasses down in fall or winter(they do look pretty in the winter though) because if I wait to long into the spring bunny nests under all of them.

I love to look at the rabbits in yard at any given moment there are a few, then last fall the dogs got one in the fenced in dog area. I had to go pick it up, it was filled with ticks. I have not looked at them the same since, ick.

[catherine]

Last year our tulips in our front garden were just eaten down to the ground by rabbits--so annoying. Not sure what we'll do about it this year. Perhaps if I could rig up a bae-syle trap, it could look like a garden sculpture, who knows?

But we also lost a ton of green beans to deer last year, so we are seriously talking fencing. Oddly, the rabbits didn't attack our greens. I did plant marigold in the salad garden.. maybe that did the trick, but I kind of doubt it because I have read very mixed reports on the efficacy of marigolds as pest deterrents.

[Williamsmith]

I had a nice quarter acre homestead garden. Sweet corn, green beans, potatoes, asparagus, strawberries, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, Lima beans, tomatoes, green peppers, radishes, leaf lettuce, hot peppers, cantaloupe, cucumbers. I spent some serious time with my hands in the dirt.

Somehow word got around the animal kingdom that there was a smorgasbord being served at my place and gradually everybody started helping themselves without asking. It was a full time job shooting maurading rabbits, raccoons, woodchucks, even the crows got into the act going along picking out my corn seeds as soon as I planted them. The turkeys decided my freshly tilled garden was a great spot to hang out and tear up. And the deer were ruthless. I even had a bear wipe out an entire corn crop. He just sat down and raked the stalks in with his arms until he clean them all off and then moved to a different spot. Rinse repeat.

One day I just decided why not let the Amish grow it for me. So I drive up the road a mile and pay for it. It's just cheaper and much easier on the wildlife. I play the guitar on the porch a lot more now.

[Simplemind]

We have many types of critters and use various methods but the one that works best on everything (at least for us) is a device called The Scarecrow. It is a motion detector that sprays a hard shot of water for about 30-50 feet. It has worked on the rabbits and deer in the garden and the raccoons in the fruit trees and our fish pond. We have several of them and swear by them. Can't tell you the amount of times I have forgotten about it, walked through and got shot.

[Rogar]

That's an excellent idea. I looked up the "scarecrow" and noticed that they also make a motion activate ultrasonic sound emitting units that seemed to have decent reviews. I just suspect it might not be as effective as a water spray, but avoids having to have it hooked up to a hose (and getting sprayed). And less troublesome than disposing of animals from a live trap. Something to consider for sure.

[lessisbest]

I put human hair (I cut my own hair and use it, but any shop will be happy to give you a bag of hair) all around for the scent, apply blood meal to the ground, sprinkle cheap bottles of cayenne pepper (Big Lots or the Dollar Tree) around, and suspend anything that will flip, fly, or make noise around my garden to scare animals away, and usually it works with everything but cats, which I trap and take to the animal shelter. Why people leave their pets run wild and destroy other's gardens is beyond me.

[catherine]

I put human hair (I cut my own hair and use it, but any shop will be happy to give you a bag of hair) all around for the scent, apply blood meal to the ground, sprinkle cheap bottles of cayenne pepper (Big Lots or the Dollar Tree) around, and suspend anything that will flip, fly, or make noise around my garden to scare animals away, and usually it works with everything but cats, which I trap and take to the animal shelter. Why people leave their pets run wild and destroy other's gardens is beyond me.

Great suggestions. I forgot to add that two years ago I added a Japanese bamboo deer chaser to my herb garden--really for the purpose of enjoyment of the water feature, but it occurred to me if I leave it on all night, it might actually live up to its name. Problem is, I didn't really locate it well for the purpose of keeping animals from the garden--it's about 50 feet away, but maybe it will still work.

deerchase.jpg

[CathyA]

Fence, Fence, Fence.