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Cottage Gardens

Owls, scarecrows and rabbits

15 years ago

Does anyone have any success with keeping rabbits away using owl figurines or scarecrows? They are especially active this year and attack my oriental lilies daily.

Thanks!

~Natalie

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Comments (9)

redrumed
15 years ago
The only way I have been able to get rid of rabbits is with a 22 and my german sheppard honey bunny (who hates rabbits).
DYH
15 years ago
I've never tried owl figures, etc.

However, my BLACK garden hose through my garden seems to make them think that our real black snakes are out and about. We do have two regular black snakes. We also have a red-tailed hawk who patrols regularly. The bunnies sometimes go into my garden, but they try to hang close to the woods for cover. My garden is out in a meadow setting, so that exposes rabbits until they can get into the garden.

Cameron
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di_h and David and Kasie, I'm so glad to hear you say so. I was thinking that maybe I was just imagining this. But really, I've been plagued by rabbits in my raised beds and squirrels stealing my apples, but so far none are around. I'm so happy to reveal this secret!!!!! This scarecrow was nothing more than one of those decorative full-size ones I bought at Halloween time last year at Wal-Mart. For sure, I'll be buying a few more this year. I'll station one at the base of the apple tree. Thanks for the comeback, folks.
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I do not know how this happened guys, it should be in answer to Harry's last post on New Neibour! I thought I was answering it, then it said I needed a subject to match my post. Thought it was strange asking that, so I put in OWLS! It is obvious now that I must have started posting, OUTSIDE the topic in error! Pauline
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An owl's eye is probably the most efficient organ of vision possesed by any animal. It has a visual sensitivity at least 35 times greater than ours, and possibly as much as 100 times greater. They can see well in both light and dark. They can't roll their eyes in the sockets because their eyes aren't round. They're more like tubes. To make up for that, they can rotate their heads maybe as much as 270 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees or more vertically. Owls also have great hearing. The "ear tufts" of feathers on top of their heads are not ears and have nothing to do with hearing. A bird's ears are holes in the sides of their heads, covered with feathers. Owls especially can hear high sounds like the squeaking of a mouse, or a mouse scurring across a field, twigs breaking, that kind of hunting noises. Do you know if there is anything I can do to encourage them to stay? Barred owls eat mice and other small mammals, as well as frogs, birds, and snakes. They can also wade into the water to catch fish. They like small prey they can swallow whole. Larger prey is ripped into chunks. They digest what is digestible, and cough back up and spit out a pellet of what is not digestible. Scientists examine those pellets to figure out their diets. CAN an owl kill a dog or cat? Oh my yes. Owls can and do attack, kill and eat small dogs and cats, although they prefer smaller puppies and kittens. It's not real common; it's not their food of first choice, but it happens once in a while. We had a Great Horned Owl in our last neighborhood that was killing feral cats -- according to an owl expert I talked with. Owls can swoop on their prey so quietly they take them by surprise; their feathers are fringed in such a way as to absorb noise. Owls usually behead their prey, and almost certainly eat the eyes first. So if you find a dead animal and the head and eyes are intact, it almost certainly was not an owl. A Great Horned Owl weighs about 4-5 lbs, and a grown Barred Owl is about the same I think, so it's not like they're going to fly away with heavy prey. The GHO is a little stronger than the Barred. The good news is they only hunt at night. So watch your small and baby pets at night and don't leave them out alone -- especially during nesting season when the owls have young to feed. Owls will attack a human too (not for kill/food of course), generally to scare you away from their nests. They have very nasty talons and can be very aggressive during nesting season so if they swoop you, stay out of that area after that for a couple of months. You might want to learn what months the Barred Owls nest in your area. I am not saying you should be terrified of owls. That would be silly. But you should have a healthy respect for them and some knowledge. Here, watch these daytime territorial attacks to see how brave and aggressive an owl can be... Fearless owl Here is a link that might be useful: Owl attack
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Yeah, squirrels are pretty smart and persistent too. Fortunately, I haven't seen them in the garden.....yet. We live with hundreds of black walnuts trees around, so I think the fallen walnuts can distract them for awhile. When I put out some suet on a tall shepherd's hook with no trees around, for the birds in a bad winter, I find them hanging upside down on it, enjoying large amounts of suet. If I think they're eating too much, I'll set off my car alarm from the kitchen to scare them off..........but they come back eventually. I guess we're all trying to find food!
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natalie4b
Original Author
15 years ago
I am at my wit's ends - ready to try anything!
mystic_dragon72
15 years ago
My neighbor has three of those owl statues that sit "guarding" her gardens.... I saw a rabbit eating a plant right next to one so I'm assuming they don't work. Either that or because she doesn't move them around to different positions on occasion the rabbits have got used to them. She uses a .22 as well to control them and even though she doesn't move the bodies they are usually gone by morning... (we have a resident red fox that probably enjoys the free dinner!)

I have personally witnessed 4 of our bunnies getting caught and carried off by the red-tailed hawks we have flying around but they don't take care of our backyard because of the trees... we also have a recent addition to the family (a stray cat turned up about three weeks ago) and he, Peaches, chases the bunnies away.

I guess if you do get the owl statues at least move them around every once in a while so the bunnies don't get used to them... I don't know if it'll work or not.

ttfn
Mystic.
Vikki1747
15 years ago
Natalie,
I feel your pain. Cwazy Wrabbit has been dinning on my garden all season.

In the past I've tried blood meal but you have to reapply everytime it rains or you water. I sprayed a mixture of Texas Pete and water on the plants but you have to reapply that also.

I tried a "Have-a-Heart" trap and I could hear the rabbit laughing at me.

I've recently gotten a bag of human hair from my beauty shop and just last night spread some around in the flower beds. I've heard the human hair thing might work.

My next step will be to get a BB gun.
Vikki
lorna-organic
15 years ago
Somebody on the Vegetable Forum recently posted a photo of a medium-size scarecrow she put in her garden. She said it seems to have made a good difference. She mentioned that she plans to move it around every so often so the animals and birds don't become used to it and begin to ignore it. She made a point to say that lightweight clothing is best because it flaps a lot in the breeze.

Lorna
angelcub
15 years ago
Natalie, I have felt your pain! : ( We have lots of rabbits here - cotton tail and jack. They used to come with all their kin and use my gardens as their salad bar. Made a mess and never cleaned up after themselves. #%$&!!! I tried everything mentioned and more. The only thing that worked was fencing. It has to be at least two feet high and openings need to be small. They can squeeze through chain link so I ran two ft. high hardware cloth on the outside of it out back. The openings in the hardware cloth are only 1/2" wide.

I should add that very active cats and dogs with a taste for rabbit help, too. A portion of our fence has been down for awhile and we haven't had any problems this year. I attribute that miracle to my neighbor's cats coming up at night and hanging out on my deck. Good kitties. : )

Diana
DYH
15 years ago
I just read an article on FG about deterring rabbits. The author suggested using holly branches around plants...but, then I wonder about the Peter Rabbit story of not wanting to be thrown into the briar patch! :-)

The author also suggests gathering sweet gum balls in the fall, keeping them dry over the winter and then firmly pressing them into the soil around seedlings. I think you'd need really heavy gloves for that task! I know that Charm, my greyhound, is really pitiful when she gets a sweet gum ball stuck between her toes. Poor pup!

Anyway, I also use my nepeta and lavender trimmings and scatter those around my rudbeckia. I'm planting nepeta and agastache closer and closer to the rudbeckia.

Here is a link that might be useful: article
Vikki1747
15 years ago
Cameron,
Excellent article...I printed it out for future reference. THANKS!!
Vikki

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