rabbits

[PurpleHeather]

They do love cauliflowers.

We have netted all round and now and have everything undercover so they are eating rhubarb leaves.

Any tips to get rid of them?

I watched one the other day take a running leap over a 3ft fence.

[PurpleHeather]

[longlad]

.22   hummm  pie ;D

[PurpleHeather]

Yeh,

That is on a par with the cyanide in the burrow suggestion of one of our less intellectual fellow plot holders.

We can deal with the rabbit if we can see it, or even find out it's address.
The trouble is they tend not to do a bugs bunny act and show themselves.

[amphibian]

I had a serious deer and rabbit problem on my old plot, eventually I eliminated the problem by moving to a new site. Extreme, I know, but I couldn't grow anything, the deer removed barriers, the rabbits the followed them in to complete the destruction.

[Mr Smith]

Personally I don't give a hoot about vermin so I would ferret them, shoot them or set a snares ;)

[Larkshall]

Personally I don't give a hoot about vermin so I would ferret them, shoot them or set a snares ;)

I agree, rabbits and grey squirrels are vermin. Rabbits I remove by using my German Weirauch 5.5mm (.22) air rifle (it's got more punch than most). For grey squirrels I use a cage trap, then shoot them (it's an offence to let them go, contrary to what some people think). After I have shot them, I put them over the hedge at the top of the garden, they are gone next morning (the fox is happy).

[star]

Personally I don't give a hoot about vermin so I would ferret them, shoot them or set a snares ;)

I agree, rabbits and grey squirrels are vermin. Rabbits I remove by using my German Weirauch 5.5mm (.22) air rifle (it's got more punch than most). For grey squirrels I use a cage trap, then shoot them (it's an offence to let them go, contrary to what some people think). After I have shot them, I put them over the hedge at the top of the garden, they are gone next morning (the fox is happy).

Have you not tried eating them? They are supposed to be nice.

The law on releasing the grey squirrel is strange. It is illegal to let a caged/trapped one go, but why do we see constantly Simon Cowell of the animal wildlife programme treating them and releasing them. I have never understood that.

I did email him some time ago asking that question, but got no reply.

[PurpleHeather]

It seems that I did not make this clear.

We do not see the rabbits!

THAT is the problem.

There is not a chance of moving plots. I will not drive and there is no others in walking distance. Those within driving distance have enough people to refill their sites for years on their  waiting lists already.

[Robert_Brenchley]

The rabbits probably disappear rapidly when it starts getting light. They can be hard to see unless you're gong to be there at dawn or earlier, and they're also very good at disappearing at the slightest sound.

[aromatic]

 :( Yes those pesky rabbits are fast movers..... and will bolt at the lightest sound... cannot really blame them when they are a tasty meal for foxes etc....
Found this link for you... may help???  At least its a way to scare them off when you are not around.....

www.pesthelp.co.uk/weshop/Foxes___Rabbits.asp 

(the Havahart Spray Away looked good to me??)

Have heard fencing can help but just for a bit of fun just look at this link and see how high bunnies can jump!!
http://www.youtube.com/v/cNPOdffkkLo&hl=en

Have heard that bunny proof wire can be embedded about 18inches into the ground and kept at about 4/5 ft high and that should stop them jumping and burrowing under!!

Hope you can find a solution to this problem!!

               

[star]

Yup, just make sure you dont fence them IN!!

My word Aromatic, they can jump pretty high.....thanks for the clip ;)

[sawfish]

You may have to spend a while putting small gauge chicken wire all round your plot. Dig it 12 inches under the ground to stop them burrowing under. Check carefully where all the holes are that they get in through. Young rabbits can get in very small holes. It'll be worth it in the end and its not a massive job.

See if anyone near has a ferrett and ask them to let it loose in your plot or down any burrows you find.

[PurpleHeather]

We have had the chicken wire for a long while and have just discovered that the flaw with the fencing was a 2 inch gap, at a joint where a neighbour has recently built a new cold frame, must have disturbed the joint during construction.

We have now sealed the gap and are hoping that we have not trapped the dear little fluffy thing inside the plot! Have moved everything and no sign found. Will see if there is any damage tomorrow.

I did not know that there were such things as rabbit traps, but have now found several including instructions on how to construct some.

Thanks to all who contributed some sensible answers.

[Uncle Joshua]

We had to fence our allotment with small gauge wire, the kind you use for a bird avary seems best to me as they seem able to get past any chicken wire.

Three years ago my plot got cleared out overnight by rabbits but after putting fences all round they don't seem able to get in.  :)

[sawfish]

just make sure you dont catch any cats in the rabbit traps. Snares are bad news, so hopefully its something a bit better you'll get.

I once caught a robin in a mouse trap, its still freaks me out.

[betula]

Yes I know that feeling.After watching baby blue tits fledge from the box I had on my wall I later found one drowned in a bucket I had left on the patio.
I had allowed it to fill with water and not moved it.

This was years ago but still remember it.

[Barnowl]

If you are using wire against rabbits it pays to bury it outwards (i.e. away from the enclosure) as well as down. When they start to dig down they hit the wire further away from the enclosure which helps to discourage them.

[Larkshall]

Electric rabbit fencing may be cheaper than wire netting. I bought mine last year, the gnerator unit runs on "D" cells (6) and will energise 1/2Km of fencing, the fence netting was 50metres in length, total cost approx £120. I never got any rabbits in the enclosed area.