Looking for tips as I prepare for spring!
If you have raised beds, just make sure they're a couple feet off the ground. If they aren't, you can add fencing of some sort, so the top of the fencing is two feet off the ground.
For an in-ground garden, you cannot simply put up a fence, they WILL dig under it. There are rolls of wire fencing (called rabbit guard I think) that have smaller openings in the bottom than the top, so the rabbits can't squeeze through at ground level and bury it a few inches below ground.
The easiest thing to do is also the most sustainable. Spread clover seed before a few days of rain are forecast in the spring, and keep your lawn as tall as the city lets you. The rabbits would rather eat clover or alfalfa than your veggies. They stopped eating our flowers after I gave them more clover to eat :an-eco-heart:
Invite over several friends. Stay up all night drinking and doing blow. Around sunrise distribute .22 rifles and ammunition to everyone who hasn't passed out. Now is the time to hunt rabbits!
Attempting to cook the rabbits before sleeping is not advised. Also there's some weird rabbit disease going around in NA. The USDA says it's not harmful to humans, but I'd suggest taking a close look at those rabbit livers this year. Even if you can't catch the rabbit plague, a rabbit in poor health is more susceptible to other diseases.
Mix 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper, 2 tablespoons of garlic powder, and a squirt of dish detergent with 20 ounces of warm water. Shake the mixture well to incorporate. Let it sit outside in the sun for a day, then put into a sprayer and apply to plant leaves.
You have to reapply every so often (like after rain) but it worked for me.
They have predator scent you can get at the gsrdening store. All the benefits of a cat without the environmental damage.
Since downvotes aren't enabled: Get an out door cat. Since getting my mouser I have way fewer rabbits and moles in my garden and no rats or mice in the house and very few in the barn.
don't have rabbits running around here, but have to deal wit squirrels and raccoons. The only thing that helped my peppers and tomatoes was to completely fence them off with chicken wire and netting on top. For squash and melons, I have to cover them with plastic bags, even have to protect the tender new shoots. So basically a physical barrier.
Gf and I are starting one this year. Just got done seeding in our house
Tips for squirrels? I don’t have rabbits in my area in town really
depending where you live you might be able to hit the rabbits with a bb gun or other nonlethal projectile to scare them away. be careful with your neighbors tho.
This only works on sensitive rabbits; the jokerfied ones won't be fazed.
Hawks, Dogs, Cats, and Snakes can/will actively hunt them.
If you've got some idea of what paths they are taking...
Pee and poop.
Got cats? Dump some used litter where they might be traveling. Got dogs? Get a pooper scooper and deposit the poo where it might do some good. Got a mason jar? Fill it with water, drink it all down and walk around for a bit, fill it up with your pee and pour it where the critter might be traveling. Note: You probably already know this, but keep feces away from where you'll be actively working in the garden its gross in general and disease/parasites can infect you.
Rabbits should have a pretty sensitive sense of smell, so maybe some type of perfume-y smelly (think something like Fa-breeze or super fragrant fabric softener) liquid could be sprayed around where they might be traveling without having to handle/spread animal/human waste. If you exercise or get really sweaty, keep a cheap cotton towel handy to wipe off sweat, when it gets really disgusting you can lay it out on the ground pinned down with rocks. Gives the ability to spread the human smell over a larger area that also changes the environment that the rabbit is used to.
Plastic owls might work. Just move them around every few days and they might work like a scare crow.
If you are up when they are active and are fine with loud noises, fireworks, loud whistles, firearm blanks (we use 12 gauge shotgun blanks and bottle rockets to try to train the red tailed hawks when they start eyeing the poultry).
If you're fine with killing them, there are .22 rounds called "snake shot" that's just a small shotgun round.
