rabbit, rabbit....

[hypercat]

Over the last 3 years our allotments seem to have suffered from a rabbit plague of biblical proportions. It has built up steadily to the point that now for some plots (one of which is mine) you cannot move for fat, overfed wallace and grommit escapees giving you the were-rabbit finger. Last year they massacred anything that wasn't covered (and a few beds that were). As well as brassicas, leeks, onions, peas, beans and just about anything else green and growing were targetted. I can just about get over the pigeons razing my cabbages and the mice murdering my squash and pea seeds, but the great winter onion bed massacre almost tipped me over to bunny boiling point. We're not allowed to shoot (damned liberal scaredly cat council) but any tips, recipes or the loan of a small herd of ferrets gratefully received.

[Johnboy]

Hi Hypercat,
Net net or gun gun both see off Rabbit Rabbit!
JB.JB.

[Chantal]

Is that traps made of nets or nets over veg JB? Gun gun not allowed apparently.

[retropants]

Sorry to hear of your plague hypercat. We are similarly afflicted. We back onto Bushy Park dontcha know! and a few years ago, some of the little bu88ers broke through the fence, and ever since then, they demolish everything. Onions, garlic, even sweetcorn. The worst thing is that they don't actually eat half the stuff, just bite through it, for a laugh almost. We cover everything until it is big enough, but most stuff has to stay covered. Last year the council organised an ex-police marksman to come down and dispatch a few. He seems to have made a small dent in the population, but I spotted a little pile of rabbit raisins on Sunday, so there are still soem around.
I would shoot them if I could, and this is coming from a vegetarian!

[Stephen]

Wjat a pain.
My sister's garden is similarly plagued. The BiL does shoot some, but they only manage because the vege garden has it's own internal fence separating it from the main garden. The poor bulbs and flowers suffer.

It sounds like you need a working party spades and lots of chicken wire.

[retropants]

We are planning a recycled pallet fence, re-inforced with chicken wire to keep them out. Unfortunately I think that some of them live under our shed!!!!

[John]

Hello Hypercat
I have always suffered from the attentions of rabbits around my veg plot, as the bottom of the garden is open to a field. Over the years I've found that the only thing that is in anyway effective is small mesh chicken wire at least 3' high. I got a lot of metal fence posts and banged them in at 6 -8' spacing and strung the wire between them, fixing it with plastic pull ties. I know I should bury the bottom of the wire but that's really hard work. The weeds soon grew into the bottom of the wire and fixed it well enough. I still have to check it every day though.
Shooting, trapping etc only reduce the numbers - its never gets rid of all of them for long. I also use a few nasty metal traps that slip into the burrows - very effective and this gives us a few animals for rabbit pie!!

John

PS. Rhubarb doesn't get eaten but the crowns will get chewed in the winter. So this doesn't need any protection once growth is well started.
Beware some of the little b****rs getting into your protected areas and hiding up in stuff like potatoes. They can be difficult to flush out.

[richard p]

if the rules ban guns, do they mention crossbows?

[Monika]

Shooting rabbits doesn't really work (I speak from experience), because even if you get one, the others all disappear for half an hour before daring to come out again! I think they can breed faster than you can shoot them, by shotgun or crossbow!!
We are completely surrounded by fields, the playground of dozens of rabbits, and have found that the only defence against them are wire netting fences, at least 3 feet high, dug into the ground and topped with more wire netting hanging over the top because the little b*****s can climb when they are desparate for food. Two sides of our allotment are bordered by limestone dry stone walls but we still have to have the wire netting there, because the rabbits dig under the wall.
When you choose the wire netting, make it 1 1/2 inch mesh because baby rabbits can squeeze through 2 inch mesh, then fill their faces on your brassicas and can't squeeze out again.
With all that, we have managed to keep them out for the last few years.

[Tigger]

We've always had expert cat control of rabbits, but now we're down to a couple of old ladies, the rabbits are coming back. I'm trying to train the dog to get them.

We can use a gun, but beyond that it's hungry cats and eager dogs.

[Johnboy]

Hi Chantal,
The netting is wire netting in the form of an anti-rabbit fence. To simply cover produce with a plastic netting is absolutely no barrier to a Rabbit.
I have had a Rabbit Fence for nearing 30 years and it is now coming to the end of its life. I have decided to simply fence the beds that I now use and leave the rest. It was 5 acres enclosed and would cost an awful amount of money to replace and seeing that tempus has now fugitted I could no longer do the job myself.
The cats here do eat the young Rabbits but they have occasionally brought one onto the plot which has managed to escape but doesn't last long inside the wired zone. For this reason I have the occasional shoot outside the wired zone to reduce the general population. Very partial to a baked and stuffed Rabbit.
Monika,
You really should use 1" wire is a baby rabbit can get through 11/2" wire. The bottom 6" of the wire should be buried about 4" at an angle. Rabbits always go to the bottom of the wire and then start digging to get under which has been in great evidence here over the years. You can see scruts all round the bottom of the fence.
JB.

[heyjude]

Last year we expanded our garden into a bit of paddock and I really hadn't realised that the logs and chicken wire along the base of the stock fencing, which I put to stop the dogs going exploring when they were puppies, was also acting as pretty efficient rabbit fencing.

The rabbits were delighted to expand their territory! The dogs are doing their best, though disappointed that I don't want dead bunnies brought into the house, but more will always come in from the fields around.

So now we are putting rabbit wire on to the fence around about an acre and a half. One long side is stone wall but it's still 170 metres of digging! The veg and soft fruit and flower beds will all be protected (I hope) but the fruit trees are outside this area and all have either wire tubes or plastic spirals round them.

I've got a few filberts and cobnuts to plant and I'd like to use them as a hedge in the field outside the rabbit fencing. Clearly they will need wire around them when they first go in but does anybody have any ideas how old they need to be before the bark gets too tough for rabbits to nibble?

And is there a standard way of sorting out rabbit fencing around gates or do you just have to fill gaps and hope for the best? The gap for the hinges is bigger than a smallish rabbit. We've got one full size field gate and the ground under that is pretty well "paved" with the stones I used to fill up ruts, but the smaller gateway is new and must need something underneath it as well??

All suggestions welcome. Thank you.

[hypercat]

Thans for all the tips - clearly my pain is shared. We do have 2 sociable allotment cats but as they're fed by at least 15 plotters they're fat as butter, choosy about their food and have no intention of wasting valuable scrounging time on rabbits. One good bit of news, there's reckoned to be a fox and cubs on site. (Perhaps not good news for the cats though). Sounds like investment in rabbit mesh additions to the bottom of my fence isthe only way forward. (Can't dig it in though as bordered by tarmac path on one side and drop on other). But thanks y'all and good growing.