Over the past 48 years, time and time again, our family has enjoyed going to the same restaurant. We have enjoyed hundreds of dinners, thousands of hours of laughter, and copious amounts of delicious food. El Niagara in Woodstock has firmly established itself as our go to place when dining out. Over the past almost five decades, nothing has stopped us from enjoying delicious carne asada, fajitas and chimichangas from their menu. Even when the restaurant burnt down, we waited patiently for it to be rebuilt and then went back.
Just like El Niagara is our family’s favorite restaurant, your yard may have become a family’s favorite restaurant. If you have noticed rabbit damage to your annual or perennial flowers this summer the neighborhood rabbits have been passing around the menu boards and enjoying a delicious feast. Those cute bunnies are spreading the word that your yard is open for business and it has delicious food available for free. Before the word spreads too quickly, you may want to encourage the critters to find a new favorite restaurant.
Rabbits, like many of us, are creatures of habit. Once they get in the habit of foraging in a specific yard, it may take time to encourage them to change their habit. It is certainly not impossible, though, and the sooner you start to encourage them to stay away from your yard the sooner your plants will be protected.
One step in protecting your plants from rabbit damage may be to eliminate any potential nesting spots. Overgrown shrubs, tall weeds, high blades of grass, and low-branched evergreen trees often offer the perfect cover for female rabbits. By proactively eliminating potential nesting spots, you may help to reduce the amount of rabbits in your yard. On average, a rabbit has five to eight bunnies per litter and three litters per year. It is important to note that it is against Illinois law to knowingly disturb or relocate a rabbit’s nest. If you find a rabbit’s nest in your yard, leave it in place.
Protecting your plants from rabbits is often a process that requires a multi-faceted approach. Rabbits may be repelled from your yard through one of their senses. If rabbit damage is a problem in your yard, I encourage you to choose a sense i.e. taste, smell, touch, hearing and sight and then work on repelling the rabbits based on one of their senses. It may be more effective to try a combination of methods and change them up every so often. I do not recommend spending hundreds of dollars to repel the rabbits from your yard. Instead, consider using some commercially available products in conjunction with those that are available for free or are inexpensive. The following are a list of products, categorized sense that may help to repel the rabbits that are eating your plants.
Sight – These are some items that when placed in your planting beds may scare rabbits into leaving your yard. These include holiday or children’s pinwheels, shiny compact discs or reflective strips of aluminum foil tied to twine hanging from shrubs or plastic owls or snakes (make sure to move these around frequently).
Smell – Commercially available products that mimic the smell of predators in the area can be very effective in repelling rabbits. Bone meal and blood meal are available in a powder form and also act as a natural fertilizer. They do break down easily and may need to be reapplied after a rain. Human hair, dog fur and cat fur is also used as a rabbit repellent when sprinkled near plants. Irish Spring soap, with its strong odor, can be cut in smaller pieces and placed throughout the mulch area.
Taste – There are many commercially available products that when applied may help to repel rabbits based on their sense of taste. Repels-All by Bonide is available in granular and liquid forms. Cayenne pepper flakes may be sprinkled sparingly around planting beds. Please note though, it may be harmful to our pollinators so its use should be limited.
Hearing – Motion sensitive ultrasonic rabbit repellers emit a sound that is audible to rabbits but not humans. These units detect movement and then emit the sound that is designed to scare rabbits away from the area. Wind chimes may also help to scare off rabbits but be mindful that it may also irritate neighbors.
Touch – Motion activated water sprinklers offer a very humane way to repel rabbits. The sprinkler shoots out a burst of water often startling pests and sometimes humans. These battery-operated devices cover a wide range of area and are very effective. Scram barriers in the form of mats of soft plastic spikes can be put around selected plants. The pliable spikes make it uncomfortable for rabbits to be in the area but do not injure rabbits.
Although the summer is when rabbit damage is often noticed more, I see the most severe damage occurring during the winter. Make sure to continue to protect your plants through all twelve months of the year. Although it is unusual for rabbit damage to result in plants dying, it can result in few flowers and a greatly reduced size.
There is quite a long list of beautiful plants that are considered to be rabbit resistant. If you know that you have rabbits currently eating your plants, it may be wise to consider planting rabbit resistant plants when expanding your landscaping. Unfortunately, though, no plant is rabbit proof.
Removing rabbits through live trapping is illegal in many areas and where legal, does require a permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Please contact a licensed wildlife specialist if you have any questions.
Reading and following the directions carefully is crucial when applying any commercial produced plant care properly. Please also review Homeowner Association regulations. What works to repel the rabbits in a friend or neighbor’s yard, may not work to repel the rabbits that are coming to your yard. Do not get discouraged. Out lasting the rabbits will give you your best chance of success.
After working to protect your plants, perhaps consider treating yourself to a delicious dinner out at your favorite restaurant. You have earned it!
