Background: We have a huge GH estate in our back yard. Generally, I try the live-and-let-live approach, having illegally relocated many groundhogs only to have new families move into the vacated home. I try to plant things Mr. G. Hog likes near OUR house and away from his. He seems to like the clover that runs wild in that area. I am used to watching him munch away from my kitchen window, or even from a few yards away when I'm in the garden. I have also seen 2 baby groundhogs this spring, although when they saw me, they ran into the neighbor's yard, not into the estate in our yard, so I think there is another family next door. So, I was in the back yard a week or so ago, when one of my dogs (on a staked leash) started making noises and trying to run further into the back yard. I turned around and saw a fox and a groundhog. The groundhog was chasing the fox! Then I saw that the fox had a critter in its mouth. A baby groundhog? Then 3 small foxes came running toward the parent bearing lunch. A few minutes later, I saw ANOTHER fox with ANOTHER small critter in its mouth! The other baby groundhog? I haven't seen our Resident Groundhog since then, although I think that is happenstance. I don't dare believe that he is gone. He's probably just keeping a low profile, as the fox traffic in our yard has been quite heavy!

I feel your pain! The repellants have never worked for me neither. Just not long ago, I also digged up 20 feet of peas after rabbit damage in order to make room for Beans. Similar to sunnibel's experience, I personally saw baby rabbits squeezing through 1" opening that sits on the ground level. However, taz6122 mentioned "rabbit wire" or some others mentioned "rabbit fence" have worked for them. These have smaller openings at the bottom, and sparse openings at the top. Bright green deer nets on my raised beds (with 1-2ft raise) works for the uninvited bunnies here. If you already have the chickenwire in place, have you tried to weave through the lower part with some bright twines? The twines need to sit low enough for those baby rabbits. Not sure about groundhogs because we don't have those in this area. The last but most likely causes are what Dave pointed out, holes in the fence. Once you can keep the rabbits at bay, some of your young plants like Peas will grow back, not sure if they're be fast enough for you though.

Either owls or hawks would be most welcome and I know they are both in the woods next door (which does have big mature pines and other trees). In past years they've definitely patrolled the yard, so I'm not sure why they're not out in force this year. Maybe some encouragement would help--I can definitely put up an owl box and maybe I can get the neighbor's cat involved (outdoor and a hunter, while ours are indoors and totally impractical/useless as hunters). The trap has been a bust so far, although I still need to add some juice to the mix. The bait tray was picked clean again while the stuff behind it they've been ignoring--it does trip when tilted, but I suspect they're managing to get the food off without triggering it. This is the version recommended for rabbits--maybe there's some way to make it more sensitive? At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if the chippies and bunnies are colluding in theft. I have a net coming which should make for some entertainment for the boys and maybe they'll manage to chase these guys out of the yard and down to the lake and convince them not to come back if they are persistent.

Keep a few cats. My sister has a horrible problem with rabbits. I live 6 blocks away and, although I see them in my neighbors' yards, especially straight across the alley, I get none. My spinach and lettuce and beans are just fine, thank you. I have 4 cats and they all like to chase, but my Sweetie has the heart of a Zena. When I was leaving the flap door open while I was away from home, I one day found a decapitated bunny in the basement when I got home. The flap door is now closed when I am not home. One of my cats (Baby Bear) is a scrapper but not a hunter. He does his part though by taking his naps on the straw in the garden. He lays out there looking like road kill for hours. I also have an owl (plastic) with big, shiney amber eyes and a head that swivels. It may also be of some help. My sister did have some luck with short fencing around some tulips that she was determined to see bloom just once in her life. The bunnies ate them off every year. She put flexible metal garden fencing no more than 14 inches tall around the oval where they were planted. It was short enough she could step over it to weed. It seems that bunnies are not really hoppers - that is hares, which we do not have. The 14 inch fence, with no gaps that could be squeezed through, was enough to allow her beautiful tulips to bloom. They have bloomed for 2 years in a row now. So maybe not allowing any gaps is more important than height. (?) Carmellia