Rabbits in the garden - getting rid?

[bitchstewie]

The house backs onto a field so they're always about but a few seem to have found their way into the back garden and they seem fussy eaters

I've found most of their runs but I think a few are in the undergrowth where short of ripping everything out I'm unlikely to find them all and I don't plan ripping the garden up.

Any suggestions on something simple and humane that might help deter them please?

Tried making garlic and chilli solution and it doesn't seem to work.

Do those sonic repellers actually work?

[Shaw Tarse]

bhstewie said:

The house backs onto a field so they're always about but a few seem to have found their way into the back garden and they seem fussy eaters

I've found most of their runs but I think a few are in the undergrowth where short of ripping everything out I'm unlikely to find them all and I don't plan ripping the garden up.

Any suggestions on something simple and humane that might help deter them please?

Tried making garlic and chilli solution and it doesn't seem to work.

Do those sonic repellers actually work?

Sounds like a decent start, think rabbit can be a bit lean, maybe a drop of red wine?

[geeks]

Just dont follow this guys advice

[Nightmare]

Since humans started farming there are tall tales and true stories of man vs rabbit.

They generally have a very Sisyphean feel to them!

Good luck :grin:

Sonic repellers might work a bit. Not planting stuff they want to eat or convincing a fox to move in nearby are probably your only real options I’m sorry to say

[Magnum 475]

Large cats.

Siberians / Norwegians / Maine Coons.

My Siberians routinely catch, kill, & eat rabbits. They also occasionally leave rabbit parts in strategic locations in the house for the kids to find

[bitchstewie]

Lemon juice is the next thing to try as the little sods seem to like chill flakes and garlic powder.

They also seem to be very fussy eaters the little buggers are on their hind legs reaching for the highest leaves

Still considering a sonic repellent.

[macron]

Yep, citrus, Lidl or Aldi lime or lemon juice, cheap for what it is, ideally drip on stone or wood close to where they come through, it may burn some plant leaves or roots hence putting it on something else. Try it!

[boyse7en]

Magnum 475 said:

Large cats.

Siberians / Norwegians / Maine Coons.

My Siberians routinely catch, kill, & eat rabbits. They also occasionally leave rabbit parts in strategic locations in the house for the kids to find

Normal, average sized cats will also suffice. I speak from experience.
Mine eat the lot apart from the ears, part of the back legs and a small bit of the intestines, which they seem to leave as a sort of bizarre tableau on the carpet

[dhutch]

2ft height netting fences around anything you like.

Or a young farmer looking for target practice?

[bitchstewie]

macron said:

Yep, citrus, Lidl or Aldi lime or lemon juice, cheap for what it is, ideally drip on stone or wood close to where they come through, it may burn some plant leaves or roots hence putting it on something else. Try it!

Thanks I'll give that a go.

I actually quite like the things I just don't want to encourage them for the obvious reason and when you live next to a field you can't really complain when the odd thing "escapes".

[Gary C]

Really

This is the only option



Just a shame I'm not allowed to shoot the bloody Crows in our garden, bloody Chris tt Packham

[JoshSm]

Netting - that extends below ground - will keep them out. Then you just need to purge any inside the perimeter.

Sonic/visual deterrents have limited value - rabbits aren't *that* stupid long term.

Citronella oil might work as a nasal irritant if other things don't work. It'd have to be something pretty potent to put them off and the problem with anything applied to plants as a taste deterrent is a) they all still chew your plants first and b) you still end up having to constantly reapply the stuff.

Shooting them is great but they keep making new ones, especially if you gave a nice big habitat next door. Same with any other attempts at a fatal or trapping solution.


Ultimately spending effort on a physical barrier is the only robust solution.

[BenS94]

[bitchstewie]

Do you think I need to see a picture of a dead rabbit?

Don't be daft.

[Rh14n]

Man buys house backing onto fields is surprised to find rabbits in his garden shocker

[bitchstewie]

Rh14n said:

Man buys house backing onto fields is surprised to find rabbits in his garden shocker

Nope.

Man buys house backing onto fields and quite literally says accepts that the odd creature getting in the garden comes with it but would like to know what might act as a deterrent to keep it to a minimum.

[JoshSm]

The only real deterrent is a physical barrier or a predator. And the latter only works to a point.

[AlexC1981]

Just leave them? I'd love to be able to sit out in my garden with a beer on a warm summers evening or with a cup of tea early morning watching the rabbits playing and listening to the birds. My idea of heaven.

[bitchstewie]

AlexC1981 said:

Just leave them? I'd love to be able to sit out in my garden with a beer on a warm summers evening or with a cup of tea early morning watching the rabbits playing and listening to the birds. My idea of heaven.

And that's where part of me literally is.

It's just ensuring 2-3 doesn't turn into 20-30 and I'm not about to try and turn the place into Fort Knox.

It's like buying a house next to Heathrow and moaning about the airplanes otherwise.

[vaud]

boyse7en said:

Normal, average sized cats will also suffice. I speak from experience.
Mine eat the lot apart from the ears, part of the back legs and a small bit of the intestines, which they seem to leave as a sort of bizarre tableau on the carpet

IIRC it’s the bile duct that they leave behind.