Hello snaylor, " The rabbits come up on the railing of my deck to eat from the rail planters and the other plants (on plant stands!) on my deck. Stargazer lilies chewed to the ground before they are an inch high. Nothing "cute" about bunnies, they are destructive, filthy animals. " Since you have a neighbor, I assume you live in town and an air rifle is not a good idea for controlling the rabbits. A slingshot would probably be legal, but would take some practice. Assuming your deck is in your backyard, fencing the rabbits out of your backyard is probably the best idea. A chicken-wire fence about 3 or 4 feet high might work, provided that your codes permit that. If you have an existing fence, the chicken-wire would just serve to make it rabbit proof. Nothing will keep squirrels out, but as you already know, they can be trapped. Fortunately for me, rabbits don't damage my zinnias. We have several native plants in our rural area that they prefer. ZM

I've found that rabbit damage isn't permanent unless they eat down into the crown of the plant--which they did to some of my hardy geraniums and killed 3 of 6. Foliage and flowers come back the next year if it's just the growth that they are eating. Although the deer don't bother my garden, the rabbits like a few things, especially in early spring. I use the I Must Garden Rabbit Repellent in the large jug with spray. It lasts at least a month, even through the rain. I spend about $25 a year on it. It doesn't smell as bad as some things! Cameron

Iris, your plant looks like it might be Callirhoe involucrata - aka Wine Cups or Purple Poppy Mallow. It is very pretty. Your rabbits probably felt it needed a bit of pruning. :-) The little rabbits here trimmed up a Orlaya grandiflora plant. It has the lacy foliage, too, much like the mallow. Maybe that type of foliage is especially attractive to wild rabbits! They didn't eat all of my plant (just tidied it up), and now it is putting up buds. I hope they don't return to it. The blooms are big, white lacy looking blooms that resemble Queen Ann's Lace but they grow on plants that are only about 12-14 inches high. Orlaya grandiflora - aka White Lace or Minoan Lace Plant We've been having terrible storms here and I've not been outside much the past few days. The bad weather is supposed to move on by tomorrow. Just now tried to take a photo of one of the babies from the deck. He is eating from his food dish under the edge of the GH. It was at some distance and the camera kept attempting to focus on the fence slats. It isn't a good photo but you can see his bright eye between the leaves, the tips of his ears and his tiny (and long) feet that he has tucked up under his body. His little cotton tail is hidden behind the rock. Once it dries up a bit, I will try to catch him out and about. I've never had wild rabbits around so not certain what to expect. They are better behaved since I began putting food out for them. :-) I've been feeding them carrots, too, and they like those. They still nibble a bit on certain things but nothing like before. For some reason, they don't like the white veined dutchmen's pipevine that hangs over the edge of the raised bed. Each morning I find where they've clipped off the ends of the vines. They don't eat them, just clip them and leave them where they drop. I've been bringing the clippings in and keeping them in water until they're needed to feed the second group of pipevine cats I'm raising. At least the clippings aren't going to waste. :-) His food dish is a plastic sandwich container so you can see how tiny he is. Such a a sweet little guy. When he runs up and down the garden path playing, he will spring really high, throw his body sideways and kick his little back feet out. Such innocent joy. ... Mary Baby Cottontail Rabbit - click on photo to enlarge

These read like war reconnaissance reports. 5 new babies munching the lawn down to the earth. 1 phlox decapitated baby rabbit in 1 raised bed. Delayed putting deterrent because heavy rain is imminent. Too bad for bunny; it probably would have enhanced the zinnias flavor. He had to eat it plain and I could hear the complaints from inside the house. Worst year in 23 I've lived here. Where are the raptors, the foxes, the cats and the beagles? I think the overwrought chipmunk populations must be making some contribution to this wreckage. I just can't catch them eating. Just running through the garden like they are on uppers.