rabbits
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Anyone got any suggestions for coping with rabbits? So far I've covered with fleece,hoping they won't notice. Also put neat bleach on the sides of my raised bed to put them off. Wondered about a washing line of cloths with Renardine hanging on it.Also asked sons whether they could use air rifle on them!
Hi Jane,
I do not know how practical this is to you but really the only effective ways to control Rabbits is to erect a Rabbit Proof Fence to exclude them.
This can be quite an expensive pastime obviously depending on how large your plot is. You can do almost the same amount of damage on the plot with an air rifle as the Rabbits will do.
I do not know how practical this is to you but really the only effective ways to control Rabbits is to erect a Rabbit Proof Fence to exclude them.
This can be quite an expensive pastime obviously depending on how large your plot is. You can do almost the same amount of damage on the plot with an air rifle as the Rabbits will do.
Last edited by Johnboy on Fri Apr 21, 2006 7:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
JB.
I use multi-purpose homemade wire cages , good for mice,bird, slugs but for the total fencing you will find full details here
http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/ ... ction/3263
http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/ ... ction/3263
Hello Jane
We had a huge problem with hares. Now solved. We bought some of that green stretch netting - the one that comes in a box and is available in various sizes. Available in most garden centres. All we did was stretch it out to cover the crops (kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage, PSB) while leaving room for them to grow. We don't even peg it down. In our experience, hares prefer easy pickings. They don't seem to like the prospect of being caught up in the netting and we have had no damage since. Now having given you all that, I am not sure if rabbits are similar to hares, or more determined? Still, the netting isn't too bad on price if you wanted to try a length on affected crops.
We had a huge problem with hares. Now solved. We bought some of that green stretch netting - the one that comes in a box and is available in various sizes. Available in most garden centres. All we did was stretch it out to cover the crops (kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage, PSB) while leaving room for them to grow. We don't even peg it down. In our experience, hares prefer easy pickings. They don't seem to like the prospect of being caught up in the netting and we have had no damage since. Now having given you all that, I am not sure if rabbits are similar to hares, or more determined? Still, the netting isn't too bad on price if you wanted to try a length on affected crops.
The cow is of the bovine ilk
One end is moo, the other, milk.
One end is moo, the other, milk.
Jane, you should find all you really need in those sections of the book, if there are any gaps I can fill them from my printed copy. One thing it doesn't make clear is that the standard rabbit wire fence is cheaper than any other size, maybe it's because so much is sold.Another point is that the bigger the enclosure of the same shape, the cheaper the cost per unit area enclosed. i.e. double the length of fence covers 2x2=4 times the area and the squarer the better.
Allan
Allan
Many thanks. Fence it'll have to be eventually. They're coming through one particular hedge. I had a line of tins there; husband took them down because they looked untidy but he's realized they were serving a purpose! I think a fence there would deter them and then we'll net against pigeons anyway. Allan - that site would have been invaluable a few months ago when we had our paddock fenced. It's very comprehensive and practical.
Hello Jane
As the others have said a wire fence, dug into the ground is the only long term answer. I have use netting and although this will deter larger rabbits the young will get tangled up in it. It acts a bit like a snare for these young ones so you'll have to check it regularly then dispatch anything that gets caught in it and cut it free from the netting - something you might not be very happy doing.
Round my veg patch, I use supporting posts at regular intervals of 6' to 8' and simply fix close mesh wire (3' high) to them with plastic pull ties letting the wire rest on the ground. Grass quickly grows into the bottom of the wire and holds it to the ground and I keep it in check by treating with weedol a few times a year. This is the lazy man's way of doing it but it seems to work, especially when the problem is only the odd rabbit wandering in from nearby. Digging out and burying wire is the best method but extremely hard work.
John
As the others have said a wire fence, dug into the ground is the only long term answer. I have use netting and although this will deter larger rabbits the young will get tangled up in it. It acts a bit like a snare for these young ones so you'll have to check it regularly then dispatch anything that gets caught in it and cut it free from the netting - something you might not be very happy doing.
Round my veg patch, I use supporting posts at regular intervals of 6' to 8' and simply fix close mesh wire (3' high) to them with plastic pull ties letting the wire rest on the ground. Grass quickly grows into the bottom of the wire and holds it to the ground and I keep it in check by treating with weedol a few times a year. This is the lazy man's way of doing it but it seems to work, especially when the problem is only the odd rabbit wandering in from nearby. Digging out and burying wire is the best method but extremely hard work.
John
One tip I learnt the hard way is that there is no advantage at all in burying the turn-out in a trench. All it does is make it much more difficult to carry out repairs and removals. As long as the turn-out is covered with the very minimum of soil to hide it that is sufficient once the grass and herbage has grown over it.
Allan,
Sometimes you you get fixated on something and you are like a Stafordshire Bull Terrier and never let go. IT IS BEST TO BURY THE WIRE AND LAYING IT ACROSS THE TOP OF THE SOIL IS NOT SUFFICIENT. You actually said in the last set of postings 'turn the wire out at the bottom there is no need to dig just put the soil on top' Well you clever bugger where to you get the soil to cover from? By digging! It is by far the best way as it is easier to erect and then what you all seem to forget is that Rabbits can get under the wire by burrowing. You openly admit that you have a Rabbit problem yet still maintain that you know all there is to know on fencing. My thoughts are that you lack the experience and will never listen to anybody other than yourself.
As by now you you will have gathered at times you make me spit feathers.
Johnboy.
Sometimes you you get fixated on something and you are like a Stafordshire Bull Terrier and never let go. IT IS BEST TO BURY THE WIRE AND LAYING IT ACROSS THE TOP OF THE SOIL IS NOT SUFFICIENT. You actually said in the last set of postings 'turn the wire out at the bottom there is no need to dig just put the soil on top' Well you clever bugger where to you get the soil to cover from? By digging! It is by far the best way as it is easier to erect and then what you all seem to forget is that Rabbits can get under the wire by burrowing. You openly admit that you have a Rabbit problem yet still maintain that you know all there is to know on fencing. My thoughts are that you lack the experience and will never listen to anybody other than yourself.
As by now you you will have gathered at times you make me spit feathers.
Johnboy.
Steady on Boys.
We are only talking about a few miserable rabbits here.
I think Allan's got a good method. For most of us rabbits are just opportunist nibblers and they will move on as soon as they encounter some sort of barrier. Using Allan's idea I would mow the grass down really close and simply push bent netting into it - the grass and weeds will soon grow into it and fix it in place.
Then just keep an eye out for any determined digging by our furry friends.
For farmers and foresters with large areas to protect I can see that there is need to bury the wire but for the rest of us can't see that its necessary.
John
We are only talking about a few miserable rabbits here.
I think Allan's got a good method. For most of us rabbits are just opportunist nibblers and they will move on as soon as they encounter some sort of barrier. Using Allan's idea I would mow the grass down really close and simply push bent netting into it - the grass and weeds will soon grow into it and fix it in place.
Then just keep an eye out for any determined digging by our furry friends.
For farmers and foresters with large areas to protect I can see that there is need to bury the wire but for the rest of us can't see that its necessary.
John
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peter
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I seem to remember that it was the length of wire on the surface that mattered.
i.e. A rabbit does not reason that it must start digging three feet short of a barrier to get under it.
i.e. A rabbit does not reason that it must start digging three feet short of a barrier to get under it.
Do not put off thanking people when they have helped you, as they may not be there to thank later.
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I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/
if you leave the wire on the surface or close to it there is allways a risk of it getting pushed up and hit by a mower or strimmer.
anyway its far better to bury it so the little b's have to dig a hole to find they cant get through
anyway its far better to bury it so the little b's have to dig a hole to find they cant get through
The habit of a rabbit is to try the fence first, if it can't get through it will try to dig a tunnel immediately by the fence. As soon as it encounters the wire its claws will be pulled and that's where it gives up digging totally. It is not to know that further back it could have dug a tunnel.My wife hs had many rabbits over the past 60 years and has observed and knows their habits well, she totally agrees with this method. There is no point in burying the wire more than is sufficient to hide it and to ensure that the mower won't catch on it. At the worst just lifting the turf, laying the wire and returning the turf is all that is necessary. Approximately 15 years ago when we erected our original rabbit wire fence we buried the wire in the conventional way, some 8 years later with rearrangements that fence became redundant, however the wire had meanwhile rusted away to such an extent that one couldn't pull on it to aid extraction and eventually the time taken to find andremove it so as to make mechanical cultivation possible was too much, it is an unfinished job to this day. Subsequent rabbit fencing has all been by the new method and there has never been any penetration of the newer fence by any rabbit. It can't be better than that.
Allan
Allan