Rabbit, small mammals of the Leporidae family, is loved globally for its soft and cute look. Being an animal lover it is perfectly fine to have these emotions, but when this cute carrot-munching creature destroys your well-kept garden overnight, wipes your crops and creates mess around your love changes into anger. This sophisticated tunnel digger loves to eat young, tender shoots and devours anything that is soft. So, how to keep rabbits out of the garden?
Rabbits graze heavily and rapidly to support the reproduction cycle. Since female rabbit becomes mature for reproduction at 3 to 8 month of age and able to conceive at any time of the year with a gestation period of just 28 to 36 days it naturally overpopulates any area in short period of time. If you are not attending the issue on priority, then these herbivores with strong teeth are fully capable of destroying your farm overnight. Here are some of the traditional and modern tips to your how to keep rabbit out of garden query.
Rabbit Control Tips
The challenge is not new for humans, so there are several times tested traditional methods to keep rabbits out of the garden. First thing first, be mentally prepared to overcome the emotional load of handling these cute looking creatures. Here are some successful methods to stop rabbit hazard in your garden
– Fencing and netting
One of the most trusted methods of keeping rabbits out of garden in fencing and netting. The type of fencing and netting depends on your garden and crop. You can use chicken wire to protect young and small plants as this will not allow rabbits to reach tender leaves. For relatively large plants you can use creativity by making a cylindrical cover to create a barrier. Keep the mesh, spacing, and height of the fence in mind as rabbits could easily jump two feet. Since rabbits could dig tunnels very easily, it is good to bury the fence six inches so that they couldn’t pass it. Keep checking your fencing on a regular basis.
– Remove Habitat
Remove all possible suitable habitats like bush, tall grass, shrubs or stone pile where rabbits could protect themselves from predators. Try and block any opening to sheds or porches where they love to live.
– Scare System
Rabbits are naturally a very fearful animal as they are very soft targets of predators. So, the best possible way to keep them away from your garden is to train your dog to keep watch and use all possible tricks to scare them. Interestingly, it works like a chain reaction as the message of threat pass fast and wide. Since rabbits normally attack your farm in the night, your dog could be of great help in chasing them away. Some traditional tricks like flashlight and human dummies could be of some help.
– Use Repellents
Biologists have found effectiveness of odor based repellents to keep rabbits away from the garden. Another repellent that is effective is by playing with the taste of the plant. Since the effect of repellent is very short-lived the challenge is to reapply repellent at regular intervals.
There are several other modern methods which include ultrasonic tools, laser beams, but rabbits learn to take risks for food. So, use traditional tricks so that an optimum balance could be maintained.
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