Rabbit repellants

I know that fences are the best option... but... i'm also wondering if there is any credence to using home remedies, to name a few: pepper spray, cayanne pepper powder, vinegar or ammonia soaked corn cobs, predator urine, human hair, toy snakes, anything that moves - especially if overhead. Has anyone really had clear success using these methods?

Living Dog. Chases the rabbits a few times, they stop showing up.

Ahh, nice one. Our upstairs neighbors have a dog, maybe that will help out after-all. Anyone have/know a list of veggies that rabbits or rats like to eat, so i can protect them?

laikom wrote:pepper spray, cayanne pepper powder, vinegar or ammonia soaked corn cobs, predator urine, human hair, toy snakes, anything that moves - especially if overhead. Has anyone really had clear success using these methods?

I have tried all of these, plus running out into the yard yelling "Hasenpfeffer!" which is emotionally satisfying and works just as well as any of them.

We must have Cajun bunnies around here -- they really liked the cayenne pepper. As far as I can tell, they'll eat just about any plant people eat, and a few other things if they're hungry enough.

If you have rabbits, you need fencing.

I've tried everything. During a recent drought when my garden was the only food around, they would jump the fence, eat food covered with pepper and other commercial and home repellants, and jump back over the fence as soon as the dog made an appearance only to return as soon as he went back in the house. I've got a 3'-4' wall around the garden. Not high enough. Should have been at least 5'.

I trap them and release them far away (at least 5 miles according to the local ag extension).

Bill/SFNM

I seem to remember something about a row of marigolds surrounding your veggie plot will keep them out.

Don't even try to grow peas and beans -- they'll be the first to go, eaten down to the roots.

JoelF wrote:I seem to remember something about a row of marigolds surrounding your veggie plot will keep them out.

Don't even try to grow peas and beans -- they'll be the first to go, eaten down to the roots.

I've had some success with the marigold method. I've typically planted one row in the past, but I've recently read that two rows are better because of the depth.

The hoppy little bastards ate every single violet I planted last weekend and half the petunias. There is no way I am letting them get to the veggies. This means war!

Kim

I may try the scare method since the taste methods don't seem to get good responses from you. I guess it can't hurt to put up some garden mobile or scare tape. That combined with the yelling "Hasenpfeffer!" should work! haha, i'm sure i'll have fun doing that regardless.

I also have a acquaintance who swears by male urine. He argues that the testosterone content in the urine repels rodents and pests. However, I have not field tested this technique yet, as I am scared that my neighbors might not enjoy the show.

The real trick is using some kind of method while the gardener next to you uses none...pre-avian flu, the population was small enough that my neighbor's garden satisfied them - then marigolds and blood meal were sufficient, but now the arms race has escalated to fencing. I'm guessing next year, the fence will have to be higher...

We don't have a garden - but we do have rabbits that like our flower beds. I'm guessing they take them back to their hole for decoration. What we've had luck with is mothballs - the smelly ones not the genitalia of the flying insect. I don't think I'd use them in a garden though.

DaveG wrote: mothballs - the smelly ones not the genitalia of the flying insect. I don't think I'd use them in a garden though.

Thanks for that mental picture....

Red tail and Cooper's hawks work nicely! Predator urine works must be reapplied after a period of time (rain etc). Bunnies where we used to live weren't afraid of the dog after a while. They figured out exactly how fast to run or how many times to turn before the dog got called off for running out of the yard. They'd then stop, stick out their tongue, wiggle their noses and do the "neener-neener-neener" dance at the dog.

We had a chain link fence (old dog kennel) around our garden and surrounded the lower 2 feet with chicken wire. Worked well until they figured out they could squeeze around the gate. Then they ate everything in site. You should have seen them trying to figure out where to go when they got caught. Kind of sad and funny at the same time.

DaveG, Thanks for the clarification. I was going to ask how you castrated the little buggers.

I believe I heard of something, not sure if it is an old wives tale, but if you plant the edge of your garden with marigolds the smell supposedly causes rabbits to avoid the area. ----like I said not sure if it is a wives tale or not

Warning, Soapbox Alert:

I'd stay away from mothballs. They are usually composed of the chemical para-dichlorobenzene. It isn't as nasty as some but still, it's a carcinogen and mutagen and once it seeps into your soil, may stay there for a while as it is not particularly water soluble. It is not a rodent/rabbit deterrent and is not marketed as such. It is manufactured as a clothes moth repellent. Many people are susceptible to its fumes (it is highly volatile) which in high concentrations can lead to liver and kidney damage.

Always, always, always read the label on any chemical you use in your garden or your home. Never us a chemical in a manner other than recommended on the label. If in doubt get the Manufacturer's Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). You can find them easily on the internet.

You're planning to eat the stuff in your garden, why add unnecessary poisons to your food, your garden, and your living environment?

And Marigolds deter insects, not furry animals. They are natural insect repellents because they manufacture pyrethrins.

Mechanical barriers against rabbits are the safest for you and your family and, in the end, the most effective.

I use mothballs to protect my lawn against moles, and gophers, and it works alot better than the smoke bombs, and the messy traps did. I scatter the mothballs along the property line, and along the woods that are at the back of my property.

I would not use them directly in my garden(if I had one), but perhaps along a property line where the animals are coming from.

Try Home Depot, or Lowes, they had a wall full of items to deter pests. From smoke bombs to dried animal blood.

Well, at least they deter something......

Maybe you can try cats, they prolly will keep away the bunnies

I just bought some of this. Also got a few windsocks. Hopefully that does the trick. Maybe for the heck of it i'll also pee around the garden whenever the urge arises.

Diannie wrote:And Marigolds deter insects, not furry animals. They are natural insect repellents because they manufacture pyrethrins.

Mechanical barriers against rabbits are the safest for you and your family and, in the end, the most effective.

Diannie, I would defer to your opinion over that of others I found that suggest marigolds do help (e.g., http://www.gardening-landscaping-advice.com/gardening-rabbit-deterrents.html and http://www.essortment.com/home/keeprabbitsout_szer.htm), though I've played it safe and planted marigolds along with mechanical barriers and seem not to have had much of a problem even though I regularly see big rabbits bounding through my yard.

One other thing that helps a bit. Raised beds keep the goodies a little out of the rabbits' view, and secondly, our lawn is full of clover, which our neighbors aren't so happy about, but the rabbits love it even more than the vegetables.

David Hammond wrote:
Diannie, I would defer to your opinion over that of others I found that suggest marigolds do help (e.g., http://www.gardening-landscaping-advice.com/gardening-rabbit-deterrents.html

From the first site that David linked to above:

Some gardeners swear by bacon grease as a rabbit deterrent, and say that pouring it around the perimeter of your garden will keep them from entering the no-rabbit zone.

We should all note that although this might deter rabbits, it will attract other bacon-loving LTHers to your garden.

You've been warned!

Kim

I use a quadruple barrier, since I also have to keep critters out of my grapes:

1. two-wire (at 3" and 8") electric fence to keep the coons and possums and odd first-round rabbit out;

2. 36" chicken wire, which keeps the rabbits out (but does NOT keep the coons and possums out, hence the electric fence; there's a good discussion here:

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/pests/a ... bbit_2.htm

3. 1/2" mesh polypropolene enclosure around the grapes contra modern flying dinosaurs;

4. (I'm sure this will make some angry) My .177 cal Crossman with a 3x scope. Hassenpffer indeed.

The late and sorely lamented Howard the Cat used to be no end of help. Much more effective than a dog!

As already noted, mechanical barriers are the only reliable defense. Critters learn, like overnight, how to defeat each and every sort of chem-bio-auditory-olfactory-etc passive device. I've been growing grapes (professionally, for awhile) and gardening for 35 years. I've tried absolutely everything, and have finally settled down with the layered defense system described above. Works for me, but YMMV.

Geo

Geo wrote:4. (I'm sure this will make some angry) My .177 cal Crossman with a 3x scope. Hassenpffer indeed.

That's a pellet gun, right? Pretty accurate?

I'd never use a gun of any sort in my neighborhood (too many kids, close buildings, etc.), but if I lived in the country, I'd be tempted to hunt in my garden (I wouldn't want to just scare or scratch the rabbits; I'd want to eat them).

DH-

Yes, it's a pellet gun. If you shoot beebees, they're not accurate at all. But if you shoot pellets, they are extremely accurate. I sighted-in my 'scope at 50', and can regularly put a pellet in a 2" bullseye at that distance.

My yard is completely fenced in with dog-eared cedar, which the pellet will not penetrate. Moreover, I always shoot from my deck, which means that I'm shooting down. And finally, I typically use only 4 pumps, which keeps the velocity/range/power down considerably. It's very quiet, too.

And many of the rabbits are pretty young, so they actually are quite tasty. Small-ish, tho'.

One problem with nets in our area is the biennial ice storm, which wreaks havoc on the structure, the nets, the whole thing. Note the ripped nets from the ice storm of '07:




Ugh. Lotsa work.

Geo

Geo wrote:36" chicken wire, which keeps the rabbits out (but does NOT keep the coons and possums out, hence the electric fence; there's a good discussion here:

Geo,

Don't know about the rabbits in your vineyard, but the ones around here laugh at my 3-4 foot fence (actually a stucco wall). I have seen them sitting on the top of the wall, digesting their recent meal of tender shoots from my garden. And these are just the plain cotton tails; the large jack rabbits just fly over the wall.

Your pellet gun puts me in mind of Elmer Fudd: a hunting we will go, a hunting we will go, hi-ho the daweo, a hunting we will go. (What's a daweo?).

Bill/SFNM

Well, Bill,

Like anyone else who's been to SFNM, I know them's no typical bunnies you've got out there; them's the dreaded Western Jackalope!



Those things are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. And I think it would take a .30-40 Krag to bring one of those suckers to table.

My commiserations--

Geo

A Korean car company.

http://www.daewoous.com

Bill/SFNM wrote:(What's a daweo?).

Or the refrain from The Farmer in the Dell:

The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farmer_in_the_Dell

sounds really stupid but i lay down 12 inch lengths of cut green garden hose throughout the garden..the theory is they look like snakes and scare the rabbits off..i was skeptical at first when iw as told about this but it does work..ive also used blood meal in the past tool

Head's Red BBQ wrote:sounds really stupid but i lay down 12 inch lengths of cut green garden hose throughout the garden..the theory is they look like snakes and scare the rabbits off..i was skeptical at first when iw as told about this but it does work..ive also used blood meal in the past tool

That's hilarious. My tendency would probably be to go to a novelty shop and get a few rubber snakes to "dress up" the garden. I have noticed that several squares in my square foot garden seem not to be doing as well as others, and I'm guessing a rabbit is responsible.

Saturday night, one of my three watermelon mounds was partially destroyed and some animial had shat on it. In this case, I think a raccoon (or perhaps a possum) may be to blame. I wonder if animals other than rabbits would be turned away by a fake snake...