I am so sorry for you trustmissy! I have one really big rabbit that hangs around my back yard. He is too too funny. He only poops in one place and it's an old tree stump. He just piles in on. It is hilarious. I told him he could stay as long as he eats ONLY grass and so far he has behaved. I hate to hear that yours are most definitely NOT behaving! I'm praying mine will continue to be happy just eating grass. April

I know how you feel! I have now gone to great lengths to protect my rarer bushes from the rabbits after they also decimated an entire area 2 years ago. I wish my DW & kids could be convinced to try rabbit stew!

I SO know how you feel. I have a terrible rabbit problem. They eat my roses and they especially love my lilies! I,too,have tried everything on the market with no relief. I now must use chicken wire around anything I value. Let me say, this does not make for the beautiful garden I strive for. Please let us know if you find anything else that works. You have my sympathy.....Lesley

The only thing that works for me is a very secure fence and two dogs, and I still get some damage. Rabbits are very hard to discourage and they love roses. I use Liquid Fence in the front yard which isn't fenced, but it needs to be reapplied often.

I have a gazillion of star of Bethlehem and rabbits love its tender leaves. I usually cover these bulbs with a "bird net" after noticing that they were eaten to the ground. Last year rabbit(s) ate my baby Quietness to the ground but happy surprise, it came back from its roots and since that it was protected with a chicken wire ring. Another favorite of rabbits is Delphinium (I often read that Delphiniums are poisonous but it seems, not to rabbits) so my Dowdeswell Delphiniums also have ugly chicken wire rings around them after they reemerged from their roots. I've never noticed that rabbits were interested in lilies.

In any case, this year when I let the rabbits feed on star of Bethlehem again and again, they didn't hurt the roses. Needless to say, I had no Star of Bethlehem blooming. However, I doubt that my rabbit issue can be compared to many of you; we probably have only a few.

heres a site to get some Rabbit Scram to stop them from eating up every thing.I am not bothered with rabbits eating up everything,I am bothered with deer eating up my roses and daylilies,and this deer scram works.

http://www.deerscram.com/

Jean

I can very much relate, and have learned to hate wild rabbits with a passion. Liquid Fence helps a lot, but I have to reapply it often. My (live) rabbit trap has only caught a single one of those rose munchers, but the sling shot my son made has worked wonders. :)

---
Wendy

I feel your pain!
Last year I had a constant struggle, and felt that putting in new plants and/or roses was just putting in rabbit food.
All my roses were/are enclosed with rabbit fencing or chicken wire---not a pretty sight, but it's better than chewed roses, and the foliage eventually covers the cages. A nursery advised weekly spraying with Liquid Fence, which helped a lot. Then a pair of bobcats moved into our Park and the rabbit population went down dramatically!
This year I doubled the dose (per gallon) of Liquid Fence (it didn't damgae the plants at all) at the initial spraying, and have continued the weekly spraying with the prescribed dose. Voila! No chewed roses------Yet! Hang in there, and good luck. Beth's mom

What was I thinking, or not as usual.

What a perfect gift, sling shots to the girls next door who lost a floppy eared waabbit. I have been reluctant to set snares because of the girls. I had best talk with their dad first, but what a perfect solution. Too bad they are not boys. Boys like to kill stuff at that age.

Perhaps not.

I do not like guns after Korea. Ill eagle in the city anywho.

I thought about those plastic double sided pads of spikes, but I do not always use knee pads. Ouch!

I wish I could afford a paintpall gun. It would mark some targets for our local owl. He does quite well on it's own but ---.

We live close to a park which is a waabbit generator no matter how many I encourage to move on.

The spray gets pretty expensive in short order.

No good solutions. The sling shot idea is worth kicking around. Thanks!

F.L.

i chicken wired about 20 roses last oct. the bunnies still pruned them, but only to the top of the wire.

I have had the unfortunate miss-fortune of looking on here for help regarding my two pet rabbits eating my plants, even though they pain me sometimes and yes! I joke to about making a rabbit stew...regardless, I love them dearly like I love all nature. SLING SHOTS? I am discusted at reading how many people think it's a good idea to harm any part of nature in-humainly! I feel sick of the thought of some poor creature being injured. Hunters use guns! or maybe a dog or you could buy a cat and let nature take it's course? A more humain way is fox urine, Liquid Fence. TOO EXPENIVE? A mixture of garlic, onion, chilli powder and pepper. This works a treat. If nothing else fails. MOVE FROM THE COUNTRY SIDE YOU SICK #**#*##!

Hi from Oz,

Here in Oz rabbits are a pest. Landholders have a requirement to keep numbers down.
For instance one doe in a year can produce over 800 offspring.
Have you any idea how much plant material 800 rabbits can eat?
1 DSE or dry sheep eqivalent is the food needed per hectare per sheep ,well 8-10 rabbits equals 1 sheep.

Not to mention the destruction caused by the warrens.

I personally would not endorse the use of a slingshot- what happens if you only maim the animal? and it dies a slow lingering death.

No here in Oz the options would be Snare, Gun, Ferret, hunting dog, netting, CO (exhaust fumes hosed down a warren with all openings sealed), or traps.

In USA i expect that shooting is not possible neither ferreting, dogs ,netting nor C0.

So that leaves snaring , which is an excellent way of capturing & disposing of troublesome pests. A well placed snare that is checked 2-3 times a day ,maybe in a hole in a fence could just be the go.
Failing that a live catch trap would be more humane if not as tasty.
Remember relocate if thats what you do with bugsy at least 5 miles away to prevent him hopping back.

Incidentally to keep rabbit numbers low you need to remove 85% of offspring.

A slow cooked stew with wild rabbit is excellent- very little fat and plenty of protein.

Also rabbit droppings make excellent manure or compost (at a cost to your plants)

Hav-A-Hart traps; worked well for me....not so well for the area across town where I set them free again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Musings blog

I use a very quiet pellet gun and bury the critters near a rosebush. They make great fertilizer. If one uses a pellet gun, be careful as some have the power of a 22 rifle. Aim towards the ground to avoid wayward pellets.

My pet rabbit is a beloved menace, so I both feel your pain and am appalled that the cute little guys have pellets and rocks coming at them...these are the plants I have noticed he doesn't care for (much): Hibiscus, Allysum (after he nibbled a few he lost interest), Oriental Poppies, Citrus trees, Lavender, Salvia, Nasturtium (only likes the dead leaves), Tomatoes (weird right?), Squash. He does love the rose bush but only eats the leaves and flowers, so once the bush got tall enough he left it alone, only eating the lower leaves and shoots.
Hope this helps!