Oh, lordy, what have I started?? I swear, this thread is lurching off-course like Frankenstien's monster! ;) Larryw, thanks for letting me know your positive experience! I so did not mean for this to turn into a "how to keep rabbits out of my garden, I hate the little buggers" thread! Also, I can't help but feel that sometimes people don't read too closely! :) I mentioned this before, but I have a fence, the edge is buried properly. The mesh used for the fence is too large. Very small (like the size of a soda can to the size of a lady's 8 sneaker) rabbits squeeze through. They eat the veggies, notably the beans. I didn't like putting up the fence enough to want to re-fence with smaller gauge mesh. I made the fence because all the spraying, peppering, soaping needs frequent re-application. I'd rather be weeding, mulching, picking, and enjoying! There is a ton of clover in my yard. They still prefer to snip my beans if they can reach them. I live less than 4 miles from the White House- although I am free to bear arms, should I discharge one this close to this many houses, I will be locked up and unable to garden. (I don't think we have thought police yet, though, so maybe I can just decide like john suggested?) We do not have room for a dog (where's he going to roam? In the garden? No. Bad dog! Out of the Garden!)... and I have a ton of bunching onion seeds which I have no trouble sprouting. And thus, my brilliant(ish) idea!!! (Please note that all of the preceding was meant in a light, humorous tone... if I have missed the mark, I can only say that my power finally just came back on after being out for 7 hours and I'm freezing my buns off here.) Thank you, though, everyone for all of your input! Oh, and scarletdaisies- I don't know about the parasite thing, but I do know that generally speaking hunting season is only in the fall/early winter months. I thought it had more to do with letting animals have a chance to raise their young, but I don't really know. Cheers, all y'all! Sunni

Dawn, Thanks for remembering that, because I had searched, and found the Nolo bait, and was wondering if it really worked. I'll bet our grasshoppers are close to 1/2" but I'm going to try it anyway, if it doesn't work, I'll order the other stuff. I have seen a lot more grasshoppers here than what we usually have, and was fearful for the tomatoes!! I'll bet the guineas would not work here in town. We got our first tomato today, it was a big boy and was pretty good. It actually did not rain here today, yea!!

Short paragraph article on Chipmunks: This mammalian wildlife species is adept at burrowing and creating tunnels several feet underground. This trait, combined with their natural diet of bulbs, berries, nuts and roots, makes chipmunks a potential threat to flowering plants. Also, chipmunk tunnels can uproot plants and make it hard for roots to gather water for their plants. According to the University of Vermont, gardeners are prohibited by law to rid their gardens of mammal pests as they would insect pests. Thus, a possible method of catching chipmunk pests is to set up traps and then release them into the wild.

I find that there are some plants rabbits can't resist, like beets, chard, parsley, etc. I grow those on the roof of my garage in containers. But they leave most stuff alone. I think it's because I don't try to keep a pristine back or side lawn. I let the clover, plantain, dandelion, etc. grow in the lawn at will, with only the front lawn kept weed-free to placate the neighborhood, and the rabbits prefer the grass and the weeds growing in it to what's in the veggie beds. There have been a ton of rabbits this year--I saw lots of babies and juveniles earlier in the season (they're all grown now) and up to 3 or 4 rabbits grazing on my tiny .25 acre yard at a time, yet not a single vegetable plant has been lost to them so far. I'm not saying they haven't taken the occasional bite out of something here or there, but nothing significant. I used to run out and try to scare them off until I realized they weren't doing anything bad. So now I just enjoy having them around. So how much damage rabbits do probably have a lot to do with what's available to them. My parents used to live in one of those McMansion subdivisions with an overbearing HOA where everyone had impeccably manicured yards, and there were terrible issues with rabbits eating their ornamentals (they couldn't have a veggie garden). I imagine that people living in drier areas with less natural rabbit fodder would also have more problems.