A neighbor moved in with a free roaming old beagle. Since then I've seen fewer rabbits. Cats who know how to hunt might also eat the young rabbits.

I use a hav-a-heart trap for them. In my case there isn't a huge rabbit population and the neighborhood hawks hunt them so I just set the trap out after I see evidence of their presence.

After trapping one or two that's usually the end of the problem for the year.

Something I read that seems true is that rabbits are territorial and establish feeding routes so a rabbit munching in your yard (or rabbits) have decided that your yard is their territory and they know there is food there for them. If those rabbits are removed from the area the next group to move in won't immediately know about your garden and it's bounty of yummy plants.

At that point deterrents are supposedly much more effective.

Once the local rabbit population figures out where the goodies are though, they become less effective.

Your mileage may vary with this though. Good luck, I know how frustrating it is to lose plants to those wraskly wrabbits

Kathy,
I know your frustration..
But this year we have a new dog, an energetic Smooth Collie/Fox Terrier mix, now a year and a half old that runs 32 mph (neighbor clocked her w/his four-wheeler), and I've only seen two rabbits so far this year. But the neighbor, who we share the same driveway with, also has a hunting cat.

So, as happyday said above, dogs & cats might be your best solution.

Good luck to you!

Julie

I do have dogs; 2 labs who do more damage to the garden than the rabbits. They'd much rather run through the flowers, than stick to the paths! This year seems much worse than previous ones...I think the word's gotta around about Kathy's salad bar.

I'm trying Plantskydd, this week (dried bovine blood that you mix with water. It looks like I slaughtered something in my garden. Ugh). But, I think trapping is probably the way to go.
Thanks, all.

Our neighborhood had rabbits everywhere, so I can sympathize.

I had good success with Pepper Wax Spray, but after my garden started expanding that got too expensive. I also used a HavAHart trap, but haven't used it since a squirrel got in. Squirrels don't sit quietly shaking like rabbits, they go crazy in the cage if you get to close. We also tried the lead poisoning method, aka a pellet rifle, but that's too risky, and not as effective as one would hope. What finally worked, and I take no credit for this, was cats prowling at night. I don't know if people in the neighborhood are intentionally buying cats to take care of the problem, or if animal control has stopped trapping cats, but I rarely see rabbits anymore.

Duh! (The energy saving light bulb goes on). Last fall, our elderly outdoor cat died. He hadn't wandered further than the garden for years (he loved the nepeta), and I doubt he chased rabbits much last year, but I bet that's why the population seems to have exploded this summer.

I do have dogs; 2 labs

Well there is your problem. Your labs are retrieving all the neighborhood rabbits and bringing them home to your yard. :)

I have dogs and 2 neighborhood cats that keep the rabbit population down. We still see a few, but hey, they've gotta live too!

Last year I had a lot of plants eaten by rabbits. Deer Off worked in some areas, but not everywhere. Blood meal attracted my dog which was as bad as the rabbits. Chicken wire cages around my most vulnerable plants worked well. I could take off the cages by the end of summer as the rabbits weren't interested in the older growth. Last fall we improved the fencing in the backyard to keep our new dachshund in which had the benefit of closing off most of the rabbit entrances. Then during the winter the dogs caught and killed a rabbit. This year I only had one rose on the corner of the garden get eaten. I used some Liquid Fence but I haven't really kept up with it and the garden is fine.

I agree, their numbers are up, probably due to the mild winter.
Thankfully I fenced the veggies, they are fine now.
I was spraying hot pepper spray on the flowers, that seemed to work for a while until I forgot to spray after a rain. So the flowers are gone now. Seem to love lillies.

They won't go into a Havaheart trap. (I even tried having the kids draw sexy pictures of rabbits and putting them in the cage :) I put up a plastic owl last night, need to get Bill Murray to send me an audio file saying "stay way Mr. Rabbit, I'm not a plastic owl, I'm real"

One was taunting me in the backyard this morning. My girls think they're cute, I can only see them rotating on a spit with an apple in their mouth.

I think fencing is the only sure way.

hello everyone,
I am malini,a new member of the gardenweb community,from Oshkosh , WI.
Rabbits, they like to play naughty with me, they snip off my buds or new shoots, just for fun. they don't even eat them .
Well my trick is MARIGOLD. i should say , it works wonders.
I plant a row of marigold around the borders & amazing, it works like a fence, keeps rabbits at bay. It is inexpensive & gives great color to the garden.
I have been trying this method on a small garden for 2 years now & it has worked for me.
Hope this helps.
Happy Gardening!