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spedigrees

Rampaging rabbits!!

spedigrees z4VT
12 years ago

They destroyed my vegetable garden last night! They ate all my corn sprouts and most of my large sunflower plants. I really think rabbit stew is sounding good in place of vegetables! I replanted the corn rows. Has anyone had any luck with tobasco sauce on the plants? I may try it.

Comments (20)

  • runktrun
    12 years ago

    I swear by Bobbex R which may make you gag while applying but is worth every penny. You should be able to find it at one of your local nuseries.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bobbex

  • pixie_lou
    12 years ago

    I've had excellent luck with pinwheels in the garden. Looks a bit goofy. But keeps the bunnies out.

  • spedigrees z4VT
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I like the way your pinwheels look, Pixie. Where did you get them? I can't find the same kind online and I've looked. They really work??

    Thanks for the link, runktrun. I may buy a spray bottle of the bobbex r and give that a try too.

  • pixie_lou
    12 years ago

    This is a hard time of year to find pinwheels. I usually end up buying them in February and March. I lucked out at The Dollar Store and Family Dollar this year - found the big ones for $1 or $1.50. The smaller ones I can usually find at Walmart for $1 a piece. Shiny metallic works better than regular matter plastic.

    I've seen them at JoAnne Craft stores - but they want $4 per pinwheel - I can't afford that. I have raised beds and I put 3 or 4 pinwheels in each raised bed. So it's a lot of pinwheels. I must have 40-50 of them out there.

    I also have old CD's hanging off of shepherds hooks in the corners of my strawberry beds. Those are said to keep the birds out - not sure if it also assists with the bunnies. This is the first year I've hung the CD's.

    FWIW - neither the CD's nor the pinwheels keep the squirrels or the groundhog out.

  • spedigrees z4VT
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Well I ordered a spray bottle of the Bobbex R, and also 72 metallic pinwheels for about $20 including shipping from the link below. I should have enough pinwheels to outnumber the plants. Maybe it will look frightening to the bunnies!

    I think I'll also try tobasco on the new corn plants when they sprout and some on the remaining sunflower plants. I just hope the incessant rain doesn't wash away all my counter measures.

    If these strategies don't do the job I guess I'll be forced to encircle the veggie patch with page wire. Thank you for the ideas, Pixie and Runktrun.

    Here is a link that might be useful: pinwheels

  • prairiemoon2 z6b MA
    12 years ago

    I have just started seeing one rabbit in the yard. I am keeping my eye on him. He seems to have bent the bottom of the wire fence along our back lot line to get in. I'm going to try to block it up tomorrow and see if that helps at all.

    We do have clover in the lawn and if he just eats the clover, I would enjoy seeing him in the garden. But no, yesterday I saw him hop right into my Long Border and start munching on something so I chased him out of the yard, but he was back a few hours later. I have raised veggie beds with heads of lettuce and bok choy which he seems to be ignoring, which surprises me.

  • spedigrees z4VT
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Well talk about speedy delivery - the Bobbex R arrived this morning! It does say not to apply to wet foliage, haha, if the rain will ever stop...

    Now I await the arrival of the pinwheels. With 72 metallic pinwheels on the way (or perhaps half that amount; it says 72 pieces so the stems and wheel tops might count as individual pieces - not sure) my veggie patch will soon look like a mini wind farm with carnival overtones!

    Hope your lone rabbit doesn't develop a taste for your cabbages and other vegetables, Prairiemoon.

  • ginny12
    12 years ago

    The Liquid Fence I use for deer also works for other critters. Something came and ate a lot of leaves off my new malvas the other night--never thought to spray them. I sprayed the remains with Liquid Fence and they have been left alone since.

  • capecodder
    12 years ago

    My malva disapearred the other day too. I'm blaming it on rabbits (which have been eating lots of things, but my neighbor saw deer in my yard the other day too. I've got at least 4 rabbits...even saw one with its paws on the edge of a pot the other day, eating the plant! Bought deer/rabbit repellent today. Now, as mentioned before, if only it stops raining!

  • Moz Tn
    12 years ago

    spedigrees - pl let me know how your rabbits like the bobbex-R. We had couple and now they seem to have produced 3-4 young ones .. and many of the flowering plants are eaten .. gladiola, scabiosa, tall phlox (david), queen of the prairie, lungwort .. Even if they don't like it .. they seem to nibble and eat a few leaves every day to kill off the plants soon ..

  • spedigrees z4VT
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Hi Tnkrer, I'm afraid I have little to report in regard to the Rabbit Repellent. I sprayed it on the plants and all around the bed during the last patch of sunny weather. First, to my nose, it smelled like spicey cabbage, much too close to what might tempt a gourmet rabbit. (It is supposedly made from all natural ingredients and harmless to children and animals.)

    Second, I have come to the conclusion that what I may have is not a rabbit problem at all, but a mole infestation. (Well I know I do have a mole infestation, along with a plague of voles and rabbits, but I no longer think these are the culprits.) Upon reflection, the very odd thing is that my sunflowers were uprooted but none of the leaves nor the roots were eaten. Some of the corn may have been eaten but some of those plants were also uprooted and left to die.

    So could it be that moles objected to the roots invading their tunnels and simply pushed the plants up and out, roots and all?? Is that possible? If so my sweet corn and sunflowers will be growing in containers in this same patch next summer! And this could also explain why my hill of pumpkins remains intact - the roots haven't reached the mole tunnels yet!

    So now that I think I've discovered that rabbits are not the problem, I have a bottle of rabbit repellent and 75 pinwheels! But what the heck, I planted the pinwheels in the vegetable patch today. My remaining sunflowers are visible near the center of the garden, along with a few scraggly carrots and my hill of pumpkins, the lone survivors here in tinsel town for who knows how much longer.

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  • capecodder
    12 years ago

    Spedigrees,
    Thank you for a good laugh on this dreary day! Love your pics! Still battling rabbits,
    Capecodder

  • spedigrees z4VT
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Well I'm glad my efforts accomplished something in the way of entertainment value at least! Hahaha My small psychedelic windfarm gives the horses something new to look at too.

    More power to you all in the great rabbit war!

  • corunum z6 CT
    12 years ago

    Oh, Sped, what's not to love about that pinwheel garden? Just fantastic. It's wonderfully creative molded with great wit from the gardener's hand. That top picture with the horses in the background is great! Gorgeous piece of property, but undoubtedly loaded with all things garden hungry. Personally, I'd make a margarita, pull up a chair and enjoy the wind farm. Love it.
    Jane

  • spedigrees z4VT
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks Jane, you're sweet! I was just going to plant a few pinwheels like PixieLou did, but since there are almost no vegetable plants at the moment and the little metallic pinwheels came in lots of 72, I decided to plant them all!

    I am definitely to the point of chilling out with a drink in hand and watching the pinwheels go round. Ha ha! Thanks for the kind comments about the property.

  • prairiemoon2 z6b MA
    12 years ago

    Oh, oo. Saw a 'baby' bunny in the yard yesterday. So far, they are still only eating the clover in the lawn, but I wonder how many babies there are out there and where this is all going to lead. There's always been a rabbit around, but I always see only one and last year I didn't see any. A baby bunny is a first. This year for some reason our neighbor has stopped mowing his lawn in the back of his property, that borders our yard. Although I don't mind the look, it is behind our border of shrubs, but when I first noticed it, I thought it was going to allow wildlife easier access to our yard, without being seen.

    In a way, I'm happy about it. I do like seeing the wildlife and it makes me feel good that they have a safe haven in the neighborhood. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it all works out.

  • corunum z6 CT
    12 years ago

    Four years ago we had bunnies and a lawn full of clover for them. The next year, no bunnies, but red foxes would come through at any hour of the day. The next year, no bunnies, no foxes, but the coyotes showed up in broad daylight and howled under full moons. This year, we have a baby bunny and I am glad.

    Jane

  • prairiemoon2 z6b MA
    12 years ago

    Wow. Jane that must be amazing. I doubt we will ever get the larger wildlife. Our neighborhood is small 1/4 acre lots and no woodlands nearby. Maybe you live in an area where they have habitat nearby? There have been coyote sightings in our town though.

    If I were not trying to grow vegetables, I would be completely happy with the baby bunny, and I still will be if I can keep them from eating much. I laughed the other day thinking of Mr. McGregor and Peter Rabbit.

  • pixie_lou
    12 years ago

    Believe it or not, this is the time of year to start looking for your pinwheels. Walmart and Stop and Shop have started putting their seeds out. So that is the reminder to me to head over to Family Dollar or Ocean State to look for pinwheels.

  • spedigrees z4VT
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the heads up, Pixie Lou! My pinwheels from last summer should last another year. I was surprised at their durability. I have several buckets full of them in the barn, and I think I shall plant only half of them this summer and reserve the other half for the following year. They're sure to fall victim to sunlight and wind eventually.

    I'm beginning to wonder if the culprit who pulled up my newly sprouted plants last summer might not have been birds rather than rodents. We have a trio of crows who patrol our pasture early every morning, foraging for insects I guess. Whatever it was, the pinwheels seemed to be great deterrents.