we're getting them come over onto our front lawn from the farm over the road cos the farmer doesn't cull them i've hung a wind chime up in a tree above where theyre digging as they hate the sound of keys jangling and always run when they hear it (we have tried this and it works). i dont know what else to do. i can't trap them as we have cats. k-l any suggestions?
some digging up of grass, making holes and poops atm. but its a short distance to my inner (fenced but some holes the cats have made) garden with flowers!
I share your pain. I have a piece of land in the countryside and rabbits try to destroy everything I plant there. I like the wind chime idea, I'd never thought of that. The only thing I can offer is that the rabbits don't touch Foxglove or Daffodils (in my experience) and don't like the smell of Elderberry leaves. The latter, is based on something I read but haven't tried yet. The author of the article suggested soaking loads of the leaves in water, and spraying it in the areas you want to protect. I intend to try that at some point but haven't done so yet.
thanks for the tip. i got another windchime at asda, so theres 2 out there. a clanky noisy one from my mum in law and a nicer sounding one. fingers crossed kids suggested a catch alive trap. would have to do that when hubby's home in the morning, so he can dispose of the rabbit.
Let us all know how you get on with that, I for one would love to hear of any good success stories for deterring wild rabbits. They are a good idea. I don't believe they hurt their captives. You just carry the trap, bunny and all, to a suitable place and let them go. With live traps though you need to keep in mind that by law they have to be checked every 24 hours max, as it is illegal to cause any unnecessary suffering. That would also mean that reasonable steps would need to be taken to protect the occupants from harassment from dogs, cats, kids etc that may come along while you're not watching. Also, wild rabbits are not cute fluffy bunnies. If you catch one in a live trap, don't poke your fingers in, and don't try to handle the rabbit. My neighbour found out the hard way that wild rabbits can put up quite a fight when they feel trapped and threatened, he found an injured one and decided to bring it home to nurse it back to health. He tucked it down his jacket and got on his pushbike to ride home, when suddenly it found its strength. The scuffle was enough to cause him to fall off his bike and he had deep scratches all over his chest and abdomen.
if we get a live trap (doubtful, cos i bet theyre expensive) they would be set in the evening, our cats (the only ones in the neighbourhood) would be kept in overnight and the traps would be checked first thing in the morning. any rabbits found would be put in the pot! no point releasing them elsewhere, they'd only come back or cause a problem for others (we're overrun this year!)
I totally agree, I was just being tactful in case for any more sensitive readers:hehe: I heard something the other day that the rabbit population this year is notably higher than usual. Its a nightmare.
nightmare isnt in it!! theyre out during the day FFS!!! we saw a Mixy rabbit on the way back from asda and i joked to hubby that we shud take it home and put it in the farmers field to infect the rabbits there lol
I was going to suggest about approaching the farmer, and seeing if you can control the rabbits on his land with an air rifle or get into ferreting, and then you don't find any shot while your eating the meat! Nice bit of fun!
he has a ferret. or he did anyway, dunno if he has now. but he never used it for getting rabbits. i used the word "farmer" as a polite term for him. he's a Banker with a smallholding (5 acres) and the last time I had anything to do with him, he was abusing me and my kids in our own home for feeding his horse, who had been left outside in freezing fog with no water or food. so approaching him is unfortunately not an option. mind you, our millionaire neighbour just down the road with a place joining the Banker's is just as bad. he's always complaining about the rabbits tunnelling under his lawn, but does nothing to get rid of them! now they've bred like rabbits (sorry!) this year and it's starting to overspill onto our (rented) land. if they both did something, we wouldnt have a problem! sorry, rant over :(
A couple of laws come into play. Firstly, you can't go and take rabbits from someone else's land without their permission, so that might be why the millionaire neighbour does nothing. Secondly, there is a piece of legislation you might want to look up, its in the Wildlife and Countryside act. It requires the landowner to either contain the rabbits that live on his land, or cull them if they are causing damage to a neighbour's property.
Sorry, its the Pests act 1954 that tells us about rabbit control requirements, not the Wildlife and Countryside act. http://www.pestuk.com/rabbits-control.htm
lol, no typo's, he works for a bank very interesting, clueless1, thanks. i was wondering if any such documentation exists. i could try writing him a letter and if he does nothing, complain to the parish council. he will hate being shown up hehe re; the millionaaire neighbour, the rabbits live on his land too, so it is his problem, also.
