protect my veg from rabbits

rachell24 · Post by **rachell24** » 21 Mar 2008, 13:43

I am going to use a bit of my Dads garden for veggies but there is a massive rabbit popluation where he lives.

Has anyone got any tips on how they they have protected their veggies from these little fluffy bundles?

)hlp>

Rachel

Post by **saint-spoon** » 21 Mar 2008, 16:09

shot gun?

Post by Mo » 21 Mar 2008, 16:33

Chicken wire or little fences made of sticks with plastic (strips of clear bags) threaded in, round the beds. The plastic gives a bit of protection from the wind to get things started and keeps the carrot fly away too. Not very ornamental though.

I don't suppose it would stop them if they were determined but might make them think the lawn was an easier option.

AnnaB · Post by **AnnaB** » 21 Mar 2008, 20:44

saint-spoon has the right idea.

You will need to dig a channel of 12-18" around your plot. Sink chicken wire !/2" is best as the babies can squeeze through 1" make sure it is at least 24-30" high as they do jump when they are being chased by the fox.

Best of luck with it as it cost us a fortune to have someone in to do our garden. I am glad we did it though as they ate everything.

rachell24 · Post by **rachell24** » 21 Mar 2008, 21:10

My Dad tried the shot gun thing, well, an air rifle, not that I personally approve of that, but there is just too many of them. He lives in Alderley Edge, right at the base of the forest surrounded by fields so theres just no stopping them, plus the people who own the fields where alot of them have their little burrows, dont like to kill them so just let them do their thing.

He has had people knocking on his door blaming him for the rabbits when its not his field!

His cat has brought a few in the house much to my Dads dismay so now Monty (the cat) has to be locked out of the main house at night and only allowed in the kitchen as he was sick of getting up and finding baby rabbits and other little creatures hopping around the living room. :shock:

Thanks for the tips, will see if My Dad is feeling up to a bit of digging LOL.

Rachel

Post by Mo » 22 Mar 2008, 09:35

I think our local farmer poisons the rabbits. And it may have been finished off our previous cat - something did.

My daughter's cat is fond of bringing live frogs into the house. Other daughter and OH have a routine of shouting "mouse, mouse" when one their cat has brought in emerges from behind a cupboard, fun and games and chasing follow! Our Pat-the-cat finds it almost too much effort to get through the cat flap on his own, so he leaves his outside.

charlwood1005 · Post by **charlwood1005** » 25 Mar 2008, 22:02

My greyhound could pop round, she likes a bit of gardening

Only problem is she only has 4 teeth, but she could scare them

rachell24 · Post by **rachell24** » 25 Mar 2008, 23:17

Oh, shes lovely. If shes anything like my cocker Spaniel she would join in and help the rabbits eat the carrots. she luuuuvvvvvvvvvvs them! Carrots, not rabbits.

melons · Post by **melons** » 26 Mar 2008, 09:14

My cat is turned on by carrots, she turns into a right dirty trollop :oops:

Lovely lovely greyhound there, I always have a soft spot for them :-D

Rachel my dad used to have about a 1/3 of an acre veggie plot, pigeons were worse than bunnies for taking green veggies, he did dig the fence in, but they still got in as babies then grew too big to get out again, I think you'll just have to accept they are there & you'll loose a few bits here & there.

We used to buy out fish & chips in Alderley edge whe I was a kid )t'

rachell24 · Post by **rachell24** » 26 Mar 2008, 10:34

that chippy is still there, if its the one near the Trafford Arms your taking about. You wouldnt recognise it now. They are still gorgeous though if a bit expensive! Did you live round there?

melons · Post by **melons** » 26 Mar 2008, 16:21

The chippy was on a hill with a right hand bend to it, if i remember rightly, I used to be given a free drumstick sweetie each time we went, one of those multicoloured things on a stick.
I was born & grew up in your area )t'

seahorse · Post by **seahorse** » 26 Mar 2008, 18:50

Last year the bunnies ate or dug up most of the new plants put in at work, much to eveyones dismay. The plants dissappeared overnight ,chewed down to the roots. This year we have fed all the plants new and old with rooster booster chicken pellet manure. It seems to have put them off as it pongs after the rain. Maybe this sort of thing might keep them away from the precious veggies. They dont like onions either, so perhaps a kind of fence of leeks and onions would help. (f+

AnnaB · Post by **AnnaB** » 26 Mar 2008, 21:13

Hi seahorse

Years ago when we first moved here, I planted my first onions and the 'things' ate them........

rachell24 · Post by **rachell24** » 26 Mar 2008, 21:19

Just been up to my Dads to feed his cat as he is away on holiday and found a headless baby rabbit in the hallway and a little mouse in his cat basket, which looked like it had been scared to death. So maybe I dont need fencing, Ive got hte biggest rabbit deterrent, Monty the head eating rabbit cat. Didnt find its little head, UUH.