October 22, 2007

RABBIT IN RESIDENCE


I was taking my Mini Schnauzer JoJo for her morning walk and as we went out the front gate what should appear but a cute little bunny rabbit . Anything that jumps or runs gets Jojo's attention and she took off after it.

I searched the area where the bunny ran out and there was a nest dug under my Azalea . No doubt the Azalea, being evergreen, was to be the salad bar for the rabbit over the winter.

I love bunnies but not in my yard so begins my strategy to discourage them. After grooming Jojo I placed her fur in the rabbit den.

Jojo and I are on the bunny trail. Better check under your shrubs, especially evergreens, to see if you've got any unwelcome residents ready to make dinner out of your garden.

9 comments:

  1. Yikes! Hope that JoJo's fur does the trick. I hate to confess this, but I'm not sure that I would know what a bunny's winter home looked like. (Say, in comparison to the neighborhood cat digging under my plants, which also happens.)

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  2. I hope so too, Kim. Bunnies just dig a little dirt out and snuggle up in. It would be difficult to find if the bunny wasn't in it !

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  3. I look for any rounded out little dents in the mulch under shrubs, and assume that's a bunny's hideaway. I then cover it up and hope they move on. But don't listen to me, I've still got a rabbit problem.

    Carol at May Dreams Gardens

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  4. good luck with the bunny. I have two cats that keep most of the rabbits away. They are good little hunters!

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  5. I remember your rabbit trap, Carol. Your vegetable garden must be a great temptation for those little vegetarians !

    muum,

    Cats are great but can't have one running outside in the city.

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  6. Hopefully JoJo will be just the deterrent you need to keep the bunny out of your yard. I would have thought bunnies wouldn't be much of a problem in the big city.

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  7. Unfortunately, Robin, bunnies are a HUGE problem in the city and suburbs because their habitats are being destroyed and they have no place to go. I planted a garden for a client one Fall and the following Spring it was eaten to the ground by rabbits. They even ate the Mugo Pine !

    Our major park in downtown Chicago, Grant Park, had over $50,000 of plants destroyed and they had to resort to giving the rabbits birth control pills!

    Now that Jojo has smelled and seen the rabbit , the first thing she does is search for it.

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  8. My sympathies on having a resident rabbit! Those varmints are a pain in the aster. I've found that a combination of chicken wire & red pepper wax or repellant spray is effective in limiting (but not completely eliminating) the damage. I had a Beagle/Terrier mix & a Borzoi patrolling my garden, & they never caught an adult rabbit. I don't think a dog is an effective deterrent unless it's outside all day & all night.

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  9. Good grief, mmd. You could be right about dogs being an effective deterrent unless they're outside 24/7 but thus far I haven't seen that rascal rabbit again so maybe I should package that Schnauzer fur and sell it !

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