Get some beagles. ha ha!! They keep the little bunnies out of my yard. I still need help with the deer. Always seems to be something. Judy

I make my own spray
For 1 gallon of spray - in a blender mix and then strain:
1 egg
2 gloves of garlic
a couple squirts of a hot sauce [Tabasco]
2 tsp. beef bouillon
2 tbsp. Wilt Pruf
1 tsp of liquid dish detergent
It is great for keeping deer and rabbits away in my garden.
Lana

Rabbits don't like ammonia, so I spray Windex with ammonia around the roses. So far so good. I just have to re-do it after the rains. However I should tell you that I don't have a lot of rabbits in the garden. The other advice I got was to feed them as that would fill them up and with no appetite they wouldn't be so aggressive in the garden. So far I haven't been generous enough to do it.

Since we had a fenced-in yard, we found the best way to stop rabbits was to keep our mini Schnauzer outside. He would get any rodent that came in and in a heart beat too. We had no trouble with squirrels, rabbits, possums or anything else for that matter. He guarded those roses like they were his own. However, I never could teach him to spray them.

I have the rodent problem bigtime and have tried some of the other "solutions"-some of them worked short term, like 2-3 days, and then back came the squirrels, rabbits, etc. We do have coyotes, and they much prefer cats and small dogs over rodents. A coyote smart cat-hard to find-is probably one of the best solutions. If you have no problems with coyotes, then a cat adopted from the shelter may do the trick. I do have a semi-feral cat now, and she also is coyote-aware, so this is working for me, and I'm back in the too many roses to count category. Many shelters can give you some info on some of their adoptees background, and whether they might be good hunters-it doesn't take long for the rodents to get the message. Anne

Last year I was oonstantly blaming the groundhog for all of
the bigger damages in my yard...well....not all true. I
literally stood and watched a large rabbit destroying my
quince. Sometimes the pepper spray works. They've nipped
my smaller roses also. DARN RABBITS!!!
Margaret

I tried Deer Off, but it didn't work nearly as well as a good fence. One rabbit even tore apart a newly sprayed rose. It couldn't eat any of it with the Deer Off on it but it kept tearing away at the rose until there was very little left. I think it was either really mad at me or really stubborn. I've switched to Liquid Fence and that works better. You need to reapply it fairly often though.

The thing that worked for about two years was to have my dogs kill a rabbit in the yard. Unfortunately, they haven't managed to catch any since then and a new one (or two) moved in to the area last spring.

Thanks for the help I have put some galvanized mesh around some of them and it is working. Now if they will leave the new rose bed alone that I am putting in I will be happy. The funny thing is they seem to attack the new plants with the new growth and leave the large full grown plants alone.
The only thing I can think of is the fully grown bushes are too big for them and they can not reach the leaves. The roses going into the new rose bed are full grown roses that I brought from our old house when we moved. They have been sitting in black pots and the rabbits completly ignore them. IT has to be because of the pots and the leaves are up to high.
Carrie
(Forum member since 1998)

I have used Hot Pepper Wax with much success to thwart thumper and his companions.

Jeff

Jeff, What is Hot Pepper Wax?Sorry to be so stupid, but my rabbit issue is major and I am desparate to try any thing. If it works for you it just might work for me. Thanks Jeff....Lesley

I'm keeping track of this thread also. I've always found a few bunny bites in the gardens, but this year they are going to town. Hopefully someone will come up with a good practical solution. So what is this Hot Pepper Wax?

Carrie, I hate to tell you, but bunnies will also tip prune your larger roses. In fact, they can stand on their hind legs and reach up quite far to nibble away at your roses. I think all mine are tip pruned right now, but not enough to cause any problems--since I would have to prune the tips myself in a few weeks here.

I'm really getting ticked off at my neighborhood wabbit!

Elmer Fudd (aka Kate)

Good Solution, Pellet gun, Sorry!!!! I cannot tell you the full story right now, but we had a huge bad b*gger. The damage was soul destroying from this guy. I shot, and flattened it. My uncle has called me Calamity Jane, since then, But I know, I will get heck from some of you for this. But really I do not care, and I am the BIGGEST animal lover that there is, but destroy my roses, and you are gone!!!
Pauline, Vancouver Island.
PS, but I could not do that to our beloved deer. We moved the roses for them, behind a deer fence! That worked really well, until "Big bad Rabbit" came along.

Lesley, have a look:

http://www.hotpepperwax.com/

Jeff

I've used Critter Ridder and Liquid Fence with limited success. The dog worked better and cheaper, too. You could add a snake or two. I think I read a story about the Desert Botanical Garden using a few to keep their rabbit population down. I'm equally sure the story mentioned that they herded up the snakes before the garden allowed visitors every day, too. Think this is classed as Organic Pest Control...lol.

Speaking as the owner of a house-rabbit, be kind to the bunnies. One thing you might try is "Bitter Apple"--it's a spray sold in pet stores and is sprayed on woodwork, furniture or any other bit of wood in your house that your bunny might nibble on (mine, thankfully, has no beaver in her gene pool and leaves wood alone). They're also not fond of sour things, so you night try leaving some lemon or lime peel around.

And Annebee? As the former owner of a cat who hunted rabbits? The cat died when a wild rabbit disemboweled the cat. Those big back feet aren't just for good looks and if a cat rolls a full-grown rabbit on it's back, it's not going to be pretty.

I think I will try the pepper spray too. Dublin Bay I have full grown roses and they are still in there black buckets (they were put in these containers because we moved a few months back and that is how I transported them) the rabbits do not touch them it could be the container that is stopping them from reaching up to the top of the roses. But today some of them went into the new bed so we will see if they nibble on them when they are out of the containers.
I am going to get some of the pepper spray I believe I have seen it at Home depot.
As far as the dog as some of you have suggested (which is a good idea) I have a jack russell ( and they love rabbits) but my rose bed is out in front of my house and the street I live on is a busy road and I could not let my dog run free out in front beside the city might pick him up. He stays inside or spends time out in the backyard, he does protect the potted plants on the patio.
The reason I did not put the rose bed out in the back is because I do not want my dog around the rose bed he will find some way to ruin it. At our old house we had a separate area that was fenced off and that was where my rose bed was so the dog could not get to it. My hubby does not want to put a chain link fence in the back yard here at the new house so the front was my only place for the rose bed and other reasons to I will not type a long story on why.
A cat will also not work becasue of the busy road.
so I will purchase some pepper spray and see if it works.
I hope it does because the rabbits are a pain in the a$$.
As far as the new roses planted next to the foundation of the house as I said above I put some galvanized mesh around the 2 next to the house and it has been a week now and new growth is growing out and the rabbit has not touched them because of the mesh. I am so glad the 2 roses next to the foundation of the house are finally getting a chance to get going.
Carrie
(Forum member since 1998)