We have a resident rabbit--no damage to the vegetable or flower gardens, very calm and not all that shy. Here is RR, our Eastern cottontail, sitting in one of the flower beds: Our resident rabbit ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden ) He's a cute little dickens, and keeps me company in the morning while I tend to the chickens and pick in the garden. I hope he is a "he" and doesn't find a girlfriend!
Good Luck with not ending up with at least half a dozen by the end of summer. I have rabbits that stay in my front flower bed and once the flowers get tall they are hidden.....I think last year they had a liking for small cosmos but left quite a bit of the other things alone. I was tempted to feed them so they wouldn't chew on my flowers. They are beautiful creatures but they can do so much damage in the winter like the deer...They stripped the bark off of so many bushes but the bushes did come back.
Bad news I've never had a rabbit problem, yet. When I first saw the property where Tabula Rasa is, I saw evidence of rabbits. I became very alarmed, as I heard terrible stories about rabbits and gardens. Since I do not kill animals, directly (I still eat meat), I wasn't sure how to go about planting and co-exist with the wildlife. I do have one question. Will a rabbit eat the bark of newly planted young trees?
Jane... it's so funny that you posted this. I just took this photo when I got home from work. ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) My brother's mowed the pasture today. So I guess it was chased out into my yard. It was only nibbling on grass... and hope it doesn't get a fancy for flowers! Normally, I wouldn't worry too much about them because SassyMarie would chase them away. But, she just doesn't have her strength back to chase much of anything right now.
Blissful, rabbits will eat the bark off trees, but only when their preferred food, grass and forbs, is not available during severe droughts or after a forest fire. I think your young trees will be safe, but if you want to protect them, you can wrap the trunks up to 2-3' with trunk wrap or hardware cloth. Just don't wrap them tightly! Cheryl, he/she will return to the pasture. Flowers are low on the "bunny preferred list" of dining!
Re: Bad news BP wrote; I do have one question. Will a rabbit eat the bark of newly planted young trees? Probably ONLY if that's all it can find to eat!. In areas that do not get deep snow cover for long periods of time, the only time rabbits become a problem is when their numbers/population gets too high.. So if you have some uncultivated/unlandscaped area close to you, rabbits won't become much of a problem.. But DEER is a whole nuther story! Some of our favorite ornamental plants look like chocolate cake and ice cream to deer... By the way, if Brer Rabbit does become a nuisance that overrides his 'cute', I have several excellent recipes.. Came back to edit, MG & I posted too close together so I didn't see her post until I submitted mine; no big deal, though we sort of said the same thing..Hank Hank
No rabbits in my area, only extremely poisonous snakes - Like the jumping leaf nosed viper, kraits, and some desert cobras, (along with a few sea snakes too)... Sigh, if only they could all be replaced with harmless rabbits like this one.
Jerry, we harvested all the winter-sown carrots, so RR didn't have a chance to get any! Hank, it was once said that great minds run on the same track . . . . SH, we have snakes, too, which are known to eat bunnies once in a while.
Two lovely rabbits,..but having them in the garden is debateable,..if they don't do any or much damage then its nice to have them and in particular if they are friendly,.. now that surely is a bonus.
My RR seems to take to my swiss chard. It's up on the deck and I always know when he/she's around because my dogs go nuts! Don't mind sharing some, as long as he doesn't bring his friends and family!
I was picking squash this morning and saw RR. He/she (the vote is still out on that one) was eating grass. Thank heavens, finally help with all the mowing!
