How do you keep bunnies from eating your tulips and other bulbs?

[Aemma]

Where I live we have quite the wild bunny population, actually we're pretty well known for having these wild bunnies everywhere in our part of the city. I love seeing them in my yard when they do appear but at around this time of year I start getting pretty annoyed with them, since they come and raze my tulips before they've had a chance to do anything. A couple of years ago, I didn't get any crocuses because they came and ate the tenderlings!

Last year we had to fashion some kind of wee fencing around the flower beds just so my tulips could come to life. Once fully grown, the bunnies don't pay them much attention, but until then....

So do any of you have such problems in your own gardens? If so, what have you done to keep the bunnies at bay? Care to share your ideas/strategies with me please? Other than plunking down some ugly chicken wire all over the place, I don't know what else to do.

Thanks for any and all responses!

Cheers!...Aemma

[Æmeric]

You could shoot the bunnies.:bunny000: Or... you could get a couple of cats. We let a stray cat stay at our house several years ago - for the purpose of keeping down the rodent population. There are now 5 cats, no names, they live outside & occasionally a mouse will get pass them into the house. But they also cut down on the rabbit population. I don't think there's a rabbit within 1/2 a mile of here. Or a chipmunk. :kitty000:

[Manifest Destiny]

Bunny repellent. (http://www.dpmsinc.com/store/products/?prod=5355)

[Aemma]

LOL! I think I should have turned this into a poll:

What to do with the bunnies?

Answer a): Shoot them bunnies

Answer b): Shoot them rascally bunnies

Answer c): Shoot them pesky wabbits

Answer d): Make bunny stew

Thanks for the feedback so far guys! LOL ahh Dres, nothing like REAL fire power eh? ;)

Cheers!...Aemma

[Allenson]

What kind of rabbits are they, Aemma? Cottontails? Snowshoes?

Anyway, I would stick to the low fencing and perhaps some predator urine:

http://www.predatorpee.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=CU

[Manifest Destiny]

Anyway, I would stick to the low fencing and perhaps some predator urine:

http://www.predatorpee.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=CU

Nothing like spending a sunny afternoon in the pee-smell garden. :thumb001:

[Æmeric]

:D


KBAZidONziI

[Treffie]

You could shoot the bunnies.:bunny000: Or... you could get a couple of cats. We let a stray cat stay at our house several years ago - for the purpose of keeping down the rodent population. There are now 5 cats, no names, they live outside & occasionally a mouse will get pass them into the house. But they also cut down on the rabbit population. I don't think there's a rabbit within 1/2 a mile of here. Or a chipmunk. :kitty000:


Ok, what happens when the cats take over? :)

[Æmeric]

You stop feeding them & they move on.

I use to have a problem with possums also. But the cats chased the possums off.

[Aemma]

What kind of rabbits are they, Aemma? Cottontails? Snowshoes?

Anyway, I would stick to the low fencing and perhaps some predator urine:

http://www.predatorpee.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=CU

Here are a couple of pics of my friendly visitor (taken last year):

http://i44.tinypic.com/2hcmef9.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/2dj2yas.jpg

So would this be a cottontail then? Its wee tail is pure white. It's cute as heck but an awful bummer that it eats my flowers!!

So Coyote pee eh?...

Thanks Dalton!...Aemma :)

[Absinthe]

It's so cute...please don't shoot it! :(

[Vulpix]

There's always this solution:

http://z.about.com/d/landscaping/1/0/N/I/wooden_tulip_window_box.jpg

:D

[Aemma]

It's so cute...please don't shoot it! :(

Oh jeepers, I would never Absinthe. I was just joking about the poll thingie. :) The only shooting I do is with a camera. :)

I just want it to not eat my tulips...I don't want to eat IT! :D

Cheers Absinthe!...Aemma :)

[Allenson]

So would this be a cottontail then? Its wee tail is pure white. It's cute as heck but an awful bummer that it eats my flowers!!

Yup, it looks like a cottontail to me--the eastern cottontail (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&um=1&sa=1&q=%22eastern+cottontail%22) to be more specific.



So Coyote pee eh?...

Works like a charm actually. And, it doesn't smell too bad. :chin:

[Manifest Destiny]

Oh jeepers, I would never Absinthe. I was just joking about the poll thingie. :) The only shooting I do is with a camera. :)

I just want it to not eat my tulips...I don't want to eat IT! :D

Cheers Absinthe!...Aemma :)

Do you know how many Americans are killed each year by bunnies? It's him or you. For the sake of Apricity and our Other Marriage, please let it be him.

[Treffie]

Works like a charm actually. And, it doesn't smell too bad. :chin:


Dalton, availability maybe a problem here, where could I buy a pint of Coyote urine?:)

[Allenson]

Do you know how many Americans are killed each year by bunnies? It's him or you. For the sake of Apricity and our Other Marriage, please let it be him.

Watch out for killer rabbits.

http://www.pythonline.com/files/pythonline/images/MontyPythonKillerRabbit1.jpg

[Manifest Destiny]

Watch out for killer rabbits.

http://www.pythonline.com/files/pythonline/images/MontyPythonKillerRabbit1.jpg

Exactly. If this ends badly for Aemma, don't say that Monty Python didn't warn us. Maybe she can scare the bunnies away by farting in their general direction?

[Allenson]

Dalton, availability maybe a problem here, where could I buy a pint of Coyote urine?:)

No coyotes in Britain? ;)

It's available online. Here's a link:

http://www.yardlover.com/products.php?catID=780&gclid=CImTkJuE1ZkCFQquGgodXG8qWg

They have bobcat, coyote & fox. :)

[Manifest Destiny]

No coyotes in Britain? ;)

It's available online. Here's a link:

http://www.yardlover.com/products.php?catID=780&gclid=CImTkJuE1ZkCFQquGgodXG8qWg

They have bobcat, coyote & fox. :)

Have him give you money and then send him a bottle of your own pee.

[Aemma]

Do you know how many Americans are killed each year by bunnies? It's him or you. For the sake of Apricity and our Other Marriage, please let it be him.


:rotfl: :pound: :lol: :clap: :lmao :bowlol:

Now that was too dang funny! I love ya Dres! :D

[Æmeric]

hw1R78lHeoo

[Allenson]

WTF happened to this thread, anyway? ;)

[Aemma]

WTF happened to this thread, anyway? ;)

It seems it got hijacked by Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd! ;)

:D...Aemma

[Skandi]

Try human hair, it's meant to work if you put it in bundles around the edge of the garden, personally I would shoot them though.

[Frigga]

I remember Gwynyvyr posted a good post on O.net, and she said to go to your local barber, and collect lots of hair, and place it around your garden. And you can even collect your own urine (hey it's free!!!:D) and pour it around the perimeter of your tulip beds. And do it often. You want the bunnies to think that you frequent the place all the time. They don't want to think that they might be on the menu, and if there's a lot of predator activity, they'll be in danger of being picked off. Therefore, they'd be scared to go to a feeding area.

You can also make a bunny repellent spray, using hot pepper oils, and spraying it on your flowers. They won't want to eat those tasty tenderlings if their tongues get burned! :D

But, if it was me, I'd shoot them damn bunnies, and make bunny stew! :D Actually, I'd get my boyfriend to shoot them, and then I'd make the stew. ;)

[Birka]

Grow some cannabis plants, the rabbits will prefer these and get too stoned and will forget about eating your flowers. :thumb001:

When we were wee lads, my brothers and myself did supply quite a bit o rabbit with our trusty .22's, and my mom used to combine rabbit with chicken (and even squirrel at times) for a great pot of natural stew.

[Ulf]

Cuddle them. To death.

@Brika, tulips are like Doritos to rabbits, now imagine a high rabbit.

[Vulpix]

Cuddle them. To death.



I have thought about that :eek:! :bunny *cuddle cuddle cuddle* :D:D:D

[Birka]

@Brika, tulips are like Doritos to rabbits, now imagine a high rabbit.


Ha Ha. Just imagine, rabbits with munchies! But then they would hop home very, very slowly and watch old black and white movies all night long. Err, or was that me?

[Mikey]

Dalton, availability maybe a problem here, where could I buy a pint of Coyote urine?:)
Go to a beer bar for coyotes and hang around in the bathroom with a bucket?:D

You think rabbits are a problem, how about having the occasional Moose stomping around out back in your orchard, these dudes are BIG:eek:;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHIMJuoQZAo

[Birka]

Go to a beer bar for coyotes and hang around in the bathroom with a bucket?:D

You think rabbits are a problem, how about having the occasional Moose stomping around out back in your orchard, these dudes are BIG:eek:;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHIMJuoQZAo


Mmmmmmm, moose stew. I love to watch the news stories when a moose would get confused and hang around a farmer's cow. The cow would pay the moose no attention, but he would keep hanging around, hoping she would change her mind. Funny stuff.

Confused Moose:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPOp5dOI-DQ

[Loddfafner]

I did not realize that rabbits liked tulip sprouts. It is the squirrels that dig up the bulbs in the fall right after they get planted. I don't even bother with them in the city due to the crackhead squirrels. Moles and voles are a problem, now. I am encouraging foxes to hang around. But in past years, enough tulips made it to spring that I am not worried yet. It is the vegetables that I am fortifying and arming. All those organic remedies such as pepper, piss, and marigolds were insufficient.

Maybe distractions such as alfalfa would help, although that risks boosting the rabbit population.

[Jamt]

I don't even bother with them in the city due to the crackhead squirrels

:thumb001:

[Birka]

I did not realize that rabbits liked tulip sprouts. It is the squirrels that dig up the bulbs in the fall right after they get planted. I don't even bother with them in the city due to the crackhead squirrels. Moles and voles are a problem, now. I am encouraging foxes to hang around. But in past years, enough tulips made it to spring that I am not worried yet. It is the vegetables that I am fortifying and arming. All those organic remedies such as pepper, piss, and marigolds were insufficient.

Maybe distractions such as alfalfa would help, although that risks boosting the rabbit population.

Try this Alfalfa:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgUEyzyqCfE

[Solwyn]

We have rabbits here the way that pigeons and seagulls proliferated at home. Aside from snaring the little buggers and having rabbit stew, you could also try using cat hair in your garden. I don't know if you have any pets, but if you don't, ask a neighbor if you can have the brushed hair from their cat(s). That's what I do with Honey's hair and it seems to work. Just place it in little rolls and clumps around your plantlings. Two years ago a falcon took up residence in my backyard and stayed all summer until just before the GM. Not a single problem with any critters that year:D

[Lady L]

Aemma, maybe you need a mean Bunny...? :D

YdwtAGIp0nQ

[Albion]

If you have a male dog, allow it to go into the garden and mark its territory. If you don't have a dog then get a bloke instead, don't use bitch or woman pee though since it turns grass yellow - too much ammonia.

Prey animals get scared when they smell that predator animals have staked their territory so avoid it. You'd probably have to re-apply after rain.

Alternatively you can buy (https://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=predator+urine) it, it's probably not cheap though.
But I'm guessing you won't want pee all over your garden, so probably just best to put them out of the way of rabbits.

:laugh::biggrin:

[Daos]

Why not shoot them and get free meat?:noidea:

[Albion]

Why not shoot them and get free meat?:noidea:

Yeah right, women can't even step on a worm without feeling sorry for it. ;)

[The Lawspeaker]

mHm4wn4Fm0I