Uninvited Guests

[ladysprite]

So last year, for the first time, our garden failed, for many reasons. Our beds were old; the compost/soil/fertilizer we used seemed to consist entirely of weed seeds; we were too busy dealing with Tristan's illness and the acquisition of Moxie; a whole laundry list of complications.

And the biggest complication of all seemed to be that the neighborhood rabbits found our yard and decided to use it as their favorite lunch venue. I saw them a few times, hopping around and nibbling at the veggies, unafraid of just about anything. But eventually the plants petered out, and they vanished, and I more or less forgot about them.

Until last week, that is, when I drove home from work to find a particular brown fuzzy visitor sitting impatiently in front of one of our beds, staring at it like the people I always find lined up outside Golden Corral on a Sunday afternoon. I honked my horn, he didn't budge. I walked up to them, he glanced up at me with a hopeful and curious expression, as if to say, "Excuse me, waitress, does the buffet line start here?"

So. Problem not solved. I don't suppose anyone here has any humane suggestions for getting wild rabbits out of one's garden?

Comments

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

I am told that they do not like the smell of onion and garlic. My late uncle-in-law swore by it, and planted green onions around the borders of all his beds.

We did the same thing when we planted ours. Seems to work, but you do end up swimming in onions.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Do you think chives might also work? Those are fairly easy to use in quantity.

(I'm a cook, not a gardener -- this is an honest question.)

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

I would guess so. Anything in the allium family is supposed to help, as far as I know. But I'm not an expert -- and I suspect part of the reason we don't have rabbits in our yard is also that we have no grass At All. (Southern California. Grass is a huge water-waster.)

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

My mom used to plant the garden borders with mothballs. Also Marigolds.

[droewyn.livejournal.com]

I was going to say Marigolds. If you ring your garden with them, the bunnies won't cross the Marigolds because they don't like the smell.

Then again, neither do I.

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

That didn't work for the French when they tried to build the Marigold Line.

[jducoeur]

Well, of course -- that's because Germans are cats, not rabbits...

[stephani673.livejournal.com]

Love :)

(During undergrad, I once took a map quiz and had points marked off for not extending the Maginot Line far enough. I giggled for the rest of the day -- and ended up becoming a historian.)

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

ZooDoo, or other carnivore-based manure. It's supposed to scare them off by making them think this is a predator's regularly-patrolled hunting ground.

I think there are also sprays you can buy for the purpose, that smell to them like wolf or wildcat marking.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose rabbit pie is an option?

[hugh-mannity.livejournal.com]

I've had the same issue with squirrels. They don't like capsecin (?sp). I picked up a bottle of Critter-B-Gon (it's actually called Defence, but that's a dumb name) from my local Ace hardware store and that stopped them in their tracks.

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

Capsaicin will also keep cats from pooping in your raised beds. I've been using cayenne pepper, which works well here because it doesn't rain too often. If you sprinkle cayenne all over the bed you want to protect, the critters leave it well alone.

The downside, of course, is that you need to reapply after it rains. Easy here, probably not so easy there.

[clstal.livejournal.com]

Could you put up a fence? (Chix wire + green metal posts used for orange snow fence - hook the fence on the posts, unhook it when you want to enter the garden? My old roommate used the metal posts and orange plastic? (or maybe it was some green netting variety, odd) snow fence, but you may not appreciate that color scheme - it worked *great* for keeping dogs and varmints out of the garden!).

[quietann.livejournal.com]

I agree. A fence high enough to keep out a rabbit isn't that tall and shouldn't be too expensive. (We also have deer and groundhogs, so our fences have to be a bit more sturdy...)

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Rabbit fencing also needs to go at least three feet underground to be effective.

[98.livejournal.com]

I have been told that they actually prefer clover to our veggies and that is consistent with my experience when I used to garden. There were bunnies in my clovery yard but they left my lettuces and the rest alone.

Another theory is that they were traumatized by the Thai pepper I grew. I saw a nibble taken from the end of one pepper. Once. Perhaps they generalized to everything in the plot and spread the word.

A short fence is probably your best bet though.

[dreda.livejournal.com]

So, a very effective barrier is to have a male carnivore mark the edges of the beds. To be precise, to feed your delightful spouse a lot of steak and then have him, well, mark the boundaries.

This will need to be refreshed periodically.

It does still work if you use a full pitcher to do the actual distribution, and is less likely to attract curious neighbors. ;)

[jducoeur]

"Why are you pouring lemonade on your garden?"

"... don't ask. Really, *please* don't ask."

[surakofb5.livejournal.com]

A fence will work wonders. As soon as I put up a fence, the critters stopped eating my garden. Mine is a rectangle grid rather than the classic hexagonal chicken wire, but the size of the openings is the important part. I got mine from the garden store along with a few green metal posts. I put it up after planting and take it down with my fall cleanup.

[black-rider.livejournal.com]

You got metaquoted, and your seem like an interesting person. Feel free to friend me back. Or not. Yanno. ;)

[flawed-karma.livejournal.com]

Talk to your local dog groomer and ask them for hair clippings from their dogs. They'll be happy to unload some on you. Pre-washed is better, btw.

Then spread it around your garden, inside and out, and along your fence line.

The birds will pick it up for nest lining, and the bunnies will be frightened by the scent of dogs. Just replace every 2 weeks and you're golden. Or search the web for canine urine simulator sprays where the scent will chase them away without doing any damage to lawn, garden or environment.

Here via metaquotes, btw.

Here via metaquotes

[moonchylde.livejournal.com]

I too have added you, thank you for the delightful description. :)