Effective Rabbit Deterrent Strategies

Learning about rabbits can give you the advantage needed to win the battle.

Wild rabbits are found in almost every area of North America. They prosper in a variety of habitats as long as they have food and an abundance of natural cover to hide and nest.

The cottontail, a very common breed of wild rabbit, typically weighs 2 to 3 pounds when full grown. In early spring, cottontails begin to reproduce. A female rabbit can have three or four litters a year, with four to six young in each litter. Over a period of five years, a single pair of cottontails and their kin would add up to about 350,000 rabbits!

Wild rabbits are herbivores. Their diet is 90% grass but they will eat almost any type of vegetable in the summer making unprotected home gardens especially vulnerable. Grasses, broad leaf weeds and garden crops including beans, peas, cabbage and lettuce are all favorite foods. In the winter wild rabbits will eat tree buds, twigs and bark.

The moral of this story...You may not know it but you and your neighbors are probably outnumbered by wild rabbits in your neighborhood. If left unprotected, your flowers and vegetables will most likely end up being a future meal for the rabbits.

Wild rabbits can do considerable damage to flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs any time of the year but they often get the blame for damage they didn't do. It is important to first confirm the damage was caused by a rabbit, before trying to fix the problem.

Rabbits will usually strip bark off of young trees only a short distance from the ground, approximately 2.5 feet. Specifically, rabbit damage can be recognized by a clean, angled cut on the end of leaves. If the damage is higher on the tree or shrub and they are not "clean cuts", the culprit is probably not a rabbit and more likely a deer. Please refer to Deer Repellent Strategies for more information about controlling deer in your yard.

Another way to identify whether a rabbit is the cause of the damage is to look for tracks. Wild rabbits have five toes on the front feet and four toes on the back. The length of a running cottontail measures about one foot in length. Any other configuration of footprints means another animal has probably caused the damage.

One way to effectively protect your plants from wild rabbits is preventing them from getting to the plants in the first place. This is also referred to as "exclusion".

Constructing a perimeter fence around your entire property to keep rabbits out is probably not feasible but for certain smaller areas of your yard, like a vegetable garden, it is an ideal first step in keeping them away.

Of course rabbits can jump, but unlike their cousin the deer who will easily jump over any fence shorter than 6 foot, rabbits will usually be turned away by fencing or netting as short as 28 inches. A simple, inexpensive fence around your vegetable garden or prized flower beds will usually be very effective in keeping rabbits out.

Make sure the fencing is constructed of sturdy metal mesh and not plastic. Rabbits will quickly chew through plastic fencing to get to anything tasty on the other side!

The secret...properly securing the bottom of the fence to prevent rabbits from going UNDER it. This is easily accomplished by burying the bottom few inches of the fence in a trench. You can also bury pressure-treated lumber under the base of the fencing and attach the fencing to the wood with staples. The rabbits will have to do a lot more digging to get under the buried piece of wood than just squeezing under the bottom of a fence laying on the ground. Consequently, they will usually move on to an easier meal.

The bottom line on fencing...Depending on the size of the area to be protected, a perimeter fence might or might not be practical. Since most suburban homeowners with large properties are not likely to put a fence around their entire property, many consider the next method, repellents.

Even if you do construct a fence, you should still consider the repellents as a secondary measure of protection.

Repellents are an effective alternative to a physical barrier and in many cases can be less expensive than the cost of fencing. Even if the area you want to protect is fenced, you will have better results when you use a repellent in addition to fencing.

Commercial pellets, sprays and homemade mixtures have varying degrees of success but by far, the most effective method for rabbits, besides fencing, is a commercial spray. It is cost-effective, provides wide coverage and will last up to 90 days under normal watering or weather conditions. Frequent heavy downpours may lessen the effect of a commercial spray and require reapplication sooner.

If rabbits are a problem, squirrels may also be doing damage and fencing is just not a very effective deterrent for them. Doubling up your protection with a repellent is a smart idea.

Many people live by their grandma's favorite homemade rabbit repellent recipe but the fact is, homemade remedies do not last and require reapplication quite often, sometimes as often as every two weeks. Obtaining the same ingredients that make commercial products so effective is also very difficult to do.

One of the most recommended commercial sprays available is DeFence by Havahart®, oddly enough, the same company that makes humane live animal traps. The product is all natural and will please even the most finicky organic gardener. DeFence repels wild rabbits by scent (putrescent eggs) and contains the highest level of active ingredient. It is OMRI listed® and USDA approved for use in organic gardening and it dries odorless to humans.

An even better choice for home gardeners that may also have squirrel problems is their premium, patented, dual deterrent, Havahart® Deer Off® Deer, Rabbit and Squirrel repellent. Deer Off® packs a 1, 2 punch repelling rabbits, deer and squirrels by scent (putrescent eggs & garlic) and taste (capsaicin), a very effective combination.

A 32 oz. bottle of concentrate makes 2 gallons of weather resistant ready-to-use formula, which is enough to treat 400 ornamental shrubs four feet tall or approximately 4,000 sq. ft. of plantings. When applied as directed, it will provide protection for up to 90 days. More frequent application may be necessary where animal pressure is heavy.

A relatively new product on the market has turned out to be a very effective (and easier) method to scare rabbits and other animals away before they do damage to your yard. The concept and installation are very simple. You hook it up to your hose and it does the work for you.

When a rabbit, deer, dog, cat, groundhog or any other animal approaches and comes within range of the sprinkler's motion-activated sensor, it starts pulsing a spray of water for about 3-5 seconds that frightens the animal away with its sudden activation.

The device in the photo, The Contech Scarecrow Sprinkler, covers quite a large area (up to 1000 sq. ft,) and it has gotten rave reviews on Amazon (over 500 people with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 !) . For more information or to purchase, click below.

There are a variety of homemade remedies to repel rabbits but almost all come with their own inherent problems. I provided a few below.

Hot pepper solution - Rabbits and other animals are repelled by spicy peppers. Blend three types of hot peppers (cayenne, jalapeno and habanero) in a food processor, adding enough water to create a liquid. Be sure to wear rubber gloves when preparing this recipe and do not touch your face.

Strain the liquid through a cheese cloth to remove the particulates or they will get stuck in the sprayer you use to apply the liquid gun. Put the liquid in a jar and add two tablespoons of vegetable oil, a squirt of white glue and a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid. Shake the jar to blend. The additional ingredients help the liquid cling to the plant and to the rabbit. If this does not dissuade the rabbits, make a more concentrated solution with more peppers and less water and add some raw garlic cloves when blending the peppers and water. Reapply every two weeks, to new growth and after heavy rain.

Blood Meal - Blood meal is dried blood from a cattle slaughterhouse. To protect your garden, sprinkle dried blood meal around the perimeter. You must re-apply it often. Prolonged use can cause a nutrient imbalance in the area where it is applied.

Linseed Oil - Mix 85 percent raw linseed oil with five percent detergent and 10 percent water. Apply to trees and shrubs in the affected areas with a sprayer or a house-painting brush. Re-apply after heavy rain.

As you can see, the staying power of all of these suggested home remedies is not very good and reapplication every week or two is necessary to maintain an adequate level of protection. There are the other risks involved including handling VERY hot peppers and possibly causing an imbalance in your soil from overapplication of blood meal.

When all of these factors are considered, home remedies may not be practical, cost-effective or provide the highest level of protection when compared to a commercial spray.

If you have tried fencing and repellents with little or no success, one of the few remaining humane options is to use a live animal trap and relocate the rabbits once they are captured. A well-positioned Havahart® live animal cage along with a tempting rabbit treat will make the trapping task simple.

Once captured, you can relocate the animals far enough from your home so they don't return.

Humane Havahart® rabbit traps come in a variety of styles and sizes. You can purchase them from Amazon below.

To bait the trap, you can use any number of a wild rabbits favorite treats including brussel sprouts, carrots, lettuce and/or apples. Havahart also recommends spraying the inside of the trap with apple cider for better results. If you watch the video below of Billy Bretherton from the TV series The Exterminators, you may also want to try peanut butter and jelly. According to Billy, they will attract nearly any animal into a Havahart trap.

Before trapping and relocating any live animals, you should check with your state and game officials regarding local regulations in your area.

1. If feasible, construct a perimeter fence around the area to be protected, Use sturdy metal mesh fencing at least 28 inches high for rabbits. Bury the bottom few inches into the ground to prevent rabbits from digging under the fence.

2. Instead of, or in addition to a rabbit fence, use a homemade or commercial repellent to increase protection. Commercial repellents generally work better and last longer.

3. As a last resort, consider using a Havahart humane live animal trap to capture and relocate the rabbits.

If you are a home gardener, chances are you have had problems with squirrels eating your flowers and vegetables.

If you have, visit the author's free guide
Effective Ways To Get Rid Of Squirrels to learn how you can protect your yard and garden from these furry, HUNGRY little critters...
safely and humanely.

Deer damage to trees, gardens, shrubs and plants is a common occurrence among many people in both rural and urban areas.

Although they can be fascinating to watch, deer are very destructive and it can be difficult to get rid of them..

Learn how to protect your yard and garden from deer by visiting the author's free guide
Deer Repellent Strategies. You can repel them with these secrets... safely and humanely.