How do you control Rabbits (without shooting)?

[Peter Aawen]

Yeah, I know it's a bit of a first world problem, but we've got a bit of a rabbit problem here atm! There's millions of the buggas breeding like... well... rabbits in the Linear Park & Wetlands just a couple of hundred metres away, and they are absolutely killing/destroying the small lawn I have out front with their pill heaps and pee (I can often pick up about 1 kg/2 & a bit lbs of rabbit pills each morning, sometimes as much as 5kg's) and what they haven't already killed that way, they're eating decimating by eating the grass down into the roots! And they leave the lawn infested with fleas! The lawn isn't large, but it's Summertime here in South Oz and my lawn is still green (yeah, I water it with our tank water, not off the town supply) so that it reduces the amount of heat reflected off the front concrete, the drive, and the asphalt roadway out front, into the front rooms of the house - when the lawn went in some years back, it dropped the Summer daytime temps in the front rooms by about 5°C, which is quite noticeable, even on days when the ambient Highs reach into the upper 40's °C, so I want to try to keep it green and alive! And it is pretty much the only truly green lawn within a couple of kilometres or so in any direction too...

As much as I'm tempted, I'm not allowed to shoot them or use any other projectile weapons on them, cos we're in a designated 'suburban estate' and there are houses, people, and domestic animals nearby; and everything (else) that I've tried so far is proving to be pretty much useless at reducing their numbers or scaring them away from my lawn. I've tried spraying the lawn with rodent/bird repellent, which worked for a day or so after each spray, but it's not cheap enough to spray every second day; I netted the lawn with bird netting, and now I've got 30 odd square metres of bird netting with about 20 holes big enough for a Labrador dog to walk thru chewed into it; fresh dog crap on the lawn keeps them away for about 1 metre around each dump, and then hasta be replaced every day or they ignore it, and I end up with dog crap all over my lawn; fresh fox scats keep 'em away maybe 1 & 1/2 metres, but the local fox eradication efforts have been successful enough to make fresh scats very hard to find; and the low, 1/2 metre high wire mesh 'rabbit fences' that the local hardware sells to put around your lawn only keeps them out when they get too fat and lazy to jump that high... by which time there's a half dozen younger generations of a few hundred each to take the place of the oldies!

Every dawn and dusk, before it's quiet enough to move onto my lawn, the local park lands get covered with the pests, and they are so thick and un-fazed by people & dogs, cars, etc, that they barely blink at you, let alone move until you're within a couple of steps. Even in my fairly slow and decrepit condition, I can often catch one with just a couple of quick steps and a stick or a grab, but I'm not able to do enough of that to make any real difference on the numbers, and if their bodies get left out in an attempt to help spread the calicivirus &/or myxomatosis, it doesn't bother those still alive at all and it really upsets some of the neighbours... The local Council has one guy working his butt off trying to reduce the numbers thru poisoning and shooting (but only in designated exclusion areas and at designated times) and they've ripped & gassed the warrens they can find, but all that too is having very little impact on the numbers and is making absofreakinlutely no difference to the hundreds that are hitting my lawn every night!

So, anyone got any other ideas (beyond sitting out there at night with a .22 and a night sight quietly picking them off!) about how to get rid of rabbits, or at least discourage them from attacking my lawn??

 

[2dogs]

Well... a higher bunny proof fence, one they couldn't jump over would be my first suggestion. Beyond that, I'd invest in a pricey pellet rifle with a night vision scope. One that when you shoot it won't make a loud enough sound to draw any neighbor's attention, particularly at night. Then scoop up the dead bunnies before the sun comes up. I would go with the fence first because there's no end to the line of bunnies, and you'd be up shooting bunnies working the graveyard shift all night long for... years? Good luck Oh, by the way we have to be careful here talking about non Spyder subjects because the moderator will get on us about it. LOL

 

[Gwolf]

Natural controls........ dogs and wild cats eat them. The big hawks catch them. The eagles take them back to their nests for the young. Owls catch the young rabbits at night. All I do is mow the fields so them don't have many places to hide. The natural preditors that live here take care of the rest. Snakes catch and eat the smaller ones. I got pictures of a White Oak Rat Snake swallowing a rabbit whole.

 

[jzeiler]

I have used Cayenne Pepper powder dusted in the grass to deter armadillos, not sure if would work with rabbits.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Well... a higher bunny proof fence, one they couldn't jump over would be my first suggestion. Beyond that, I'd invest in a pricey pellet rifle with a night vision scope. One that when you shoot it won't make a loud enough sound to draw any neighbor's attention, particularly at night. Then scoop up the dead bunnies before the sun comes up. I would go with the fence first because there's no end to the line of bunnies, and you'd be up shooting bunnies working the graveyard shift all night long for... years? Good luck Oh, by the way we have to be careful here talking about non Spyder subjects because the moderator will get on us about it. LOL

Nah, this is the 'Off Topic Board', we can talk about just about anything here... except for politics, definitely not politics!

As for the pellet gun, that might be a viable option in your part of the World, and would be even here, if only we were another few km's out of town! But because we're now in a 'township zone', shooting is 'legally' not allowed unless you're an authorised 'Animal Control Officer' - and our local Council has just one of them! Besides, if I used a 'quiet' gun of any sort, I could certainly keep them off the lawn, but only if I guarded it every minute of the day, 24/7 (they've even come onto the lawn while I've been sitting on the front verandah dictating this, just a few metres away, and they come back within minutes of being chased away! ) but whatever way I might kill them, then I'd hafta be able to dispose of the bodies in a way that wouldn't reveal that they died from any projectile, and by my earlier 'estimation' that mean there'd be waaay too many carcasses to burn, bury, or dispose of otherwise in a way that doesn't draw unwanted attention! I can't put anything more into the ground in the back yard, too many b... We're not allowed to burn (and they stink when you burn them anyway) and if I put any more in the tip &/or garbage, 'people' will ask even more pointed questions than they do already!

Here in Oz, any projectile weapon falls into the same category, including slings, slingshots, bows & arrows, crossbows, spears, spear guns, whatever, even an air powered 'spud gun' shooting tiny organic pellets! Mind you, I do wonder if I'd get away with using one of those small 'modified bicycle pump' style spud guns shooting 'pellets' of poisoned carrots or wheat grains?! That'd really just be poisoning them, wouldn't it? Probably wouldn't get away with it tho, cos it's still a 'projectile'.

I've considered the higher fence, &/or using wire mesh instead of bird netting, but I already got a warning from our local Council about the bird netting, cos we aren't allowed to have any 'fences or fence like' structures in front of the house due to encumbrances - apparently, anything like that in front of the house clearly has to be a temporary structure that gets removed daily! So a higher wire fence might be doable and may be my only viable option, but it'll be a pain to put up and take down every day!

Natural controls........ dogs and wild cats eat them. The big hawks catch them. The eagles take them back to their nests for the young. Owls catch the young rabbits at night. All I do is mow the fields so them don't have many places to hide. The natural predators that live here take care of the rest. Snakes catch and eat the smaller ones. I got pictures of a White Oak Rat Snake swallowing a rabbit whole.

That ^ is also something that might work well where you are, and it used to work here too, but not where we are now 'in town'! There's very few non-domestic dogs or cats around here, any animal that isn't registered is actively 'removed' or 'culled' on a regular basis; and all the registered/domesticated animals have curfews and fairly stringent over-night controls imposed. Domestic cats aren't allowed outside at all unless they're in a fully enclosed (including overhead) wire run; and cos it's now a town, dogs need to be supervised and under control at all times. So any cats or dogs loose on the streets at night fairly rapidly become 'former' cats or dogs. And because the Wetlands just down the road from us is a Wildlife & Native Bird Sanctuary, we get very regular sweeps from the local Animal Control Officer, but he's just not running over or shooting enough rabbits when he does a sweep!

There's been a very active 'Fox Eradication Program' in the area too, so we don't have too many of them around any more, altho there is one aging dog fox known to be around the place and still eluding 'capture' (with a high velocity lead injection!) - I guess he might get slower as he gets fatter, but that'll probably just mean he gets shot sooner rather than later!?! As for hawks & eagles, they tend to keep away from the built up areas, and outside of those, they're so well fed now that the Wildlife Protection mob are often out picking them up off the roadsides and taking them to shelters until they digest enough/lose enough weight to be able to fly again!! No joke! We've got Whistling Kites here that are growing bigger'n most of the hawks, and the hawks that are almost as big as Wedge Tail Eagles - there's probably going to be a population boom in all of them soon, cos they're all so well fed! That might help with the rabbit problem, altho by then, the rabbit numbers will probably be so much greater that it's an un-winnable battle, and there won't be anything green left by then anyway!

Snakes, we've got plenty of them, and they too, are already so well fed that they can't eat any more and almost can't be bothered to get out of people's way! That'll mean a population boom of them soon too, but I doubt it'll make much impact on the rabbit population growth - and that'll probably mean a snake eradication program; which will likely lead to a boom in the rat & mouse population and another eradication program, and... Ah, you get the picture!

I'll try the Cayenne pepper, it's a possibility, but then, given the limited & short term success of the rodent/bird repellent spray (which is a capsaicum/chilli/pepper based product) I doubt it'll work for too long - worth a shot tho, and cheaper than the spray! And if that doesn't work, I guess that if I want to keep a green lawn out front, I'll be putting up and taking down wire netting fences every day for the foreseeable future!

 

[canamjhb]

It sounds like your regulations prevent you from doing any effective control. Probably lay your dilemma back on your local lawmakers and let them ponder on the problem. Here in the Arid-Zone-A desert we have rabbits, snakes, owls, eagles, javelins, coyotes, etc. They all seem to coexist keeping the population of each species in balance. Your lack of ability to introduce natural predatory animals results in your bunny problem. Perhaps development of Owl or Eagle nesting programs........ Or adopt a Coyote. Rabbit really does taste just like chicken. Maybe convince a local restaurant to have southern fried rabbit added to their menu.

 

[2dogs]

LOL, I've always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to visit downunder. But now maybe I'll put it further on the back burner and focus a little more on Alaska. I've deterred and chased away bears, coyotes, mountain lions, and wolves from time to time on my place, but I don't think I'd like being forced to put up with your pesky critters 24/7. Good luck in solving your pesky wabbet problem.

 

[Peter Aawen]

I think it's just one of those things where everything's just come together perfectly around here to boost the rabbit boom in this area, only the pesky varmints breed so quickly that now they've passed the peak of the build up cycle locally and now they're in 'runaway' mode... They are around elsewhere, just not in quite the same numbers - yet!

I wasn't quick enough to get a camera out, but our local Control officer just drove thru the paddock over the back and the 'rabbit carpet' barely moved to get out of the way, some not making it quickly enough, so he left a trail of at least a dozen former rabbits behind. Hmmm, maybe I should organise another 'Spyder Muster', only this time add the word 'Rabbit' in the middle - I reckon a couple of hundred Spyders lined up and heading across the paddock would take out a few hundred, if not a thousand or more!! Here's a pic taken earlier/elsewhere (not one of my pics, or here, I think it's in Vic a few years ago) which might give you an idea of how many there are - there's more here now!



Ps: Once you've seen what the introduced 'control diseases' of calicivirus & myxomatosis do to them, you won't want to eat a wild caught rabbit ever again! And because of that, no reputable restaurant would ever cook/sell wild caught rabbits - I'd doubt that even the dodgiest fried chicken shop would touch them! Look those diseases up if you want to, I'm not going to post pics of infected rabbits here, they'd be too gruesome for some and I'd get in trouble with the moderators!

 

[Gwolf]

If the local government and wildlife agents are killing off the birds and animals that eat rabbits, your only option would be Elmer Fudd.

 

[Little Blue]

What a crazy rabbit story. I don't know of anything that would be allowed. Seems like people don't want to accept that this is a real problem.

I know you want some grass but maybe it's not worth the time and effort. I heard about people using
fake green grass. That's a thought
maybe.

That is all I can say.

 

[Mikey]

You need a good group of coyotes, they do a heck of a good job getting rabbits out of Maine. They will move into an area and the rabbits, partridge, cats, weak and sick deer, will be gone! Of course, my best solution is putting them in the pot for dinner! Sorry

 

[Gwolf]

There is another way. It might involve some quiet night time gardening. Go to a farm store and buy about 20 pounds of whatever the most popular greens is there. Could be turnip greens, maybe mustard greens. Find out what politicians are opposing destroying the rabbits and any wild life officers not working to get rid of them. Then quietly and with out lights sow the green seeds in those people's yards. Be sure and throw some of them all around the porches and along the sides of walkways. Right after the next good rain there will be unanimous votes to do something about the rabbit problem. Might also want to discretely sow some of the green seeds around the court house, on the town square, and any other public buildings in the town. You could do that during the day, while you was going to renew a licence or pay some bills and city fees. Don't matter if a few seeds get on the walkways. The seeds are tiny and the rain will wash them off the edges of the walkways into some wet dirt. Think of it as city beautification and sharing the rabbit problem with those who may not be enjoying it as much.

 

[safecracker]

Peter, I have no ideas that haven't already been said. I am glad I do not live in a HOA style community. Hope you find a solution.

 

[Peter Aawen]

There is another way. It might involve some quiet night time gardening. Go to a farm store and buy about 20 pounds of whatever the most popular greens is there. Could be turnip greens, maybe mustard greens. Find out what politicians are opposing destroying the rabbits and any wild life officers not working to get rid of them. Then quietly and with out lights sow the green seeds in those people's yards. Be sure and throw some of them all around the porches and along the sides of walkways. Right after the next good rain there will be unanimous votes to do something about the rabbit problem. Might also want to discretely sow some of the green seeds around the court house, on the town square, and any other public buildings in the town. You could do that during the day, while you was going to renew a licence or pay some bills and city fees. Don't matter if a few seeds get on the walkways. The seeds are tiny and the rain will wash them off the edges of the walkways into some wet dirt. Think of it as city beautification and sharing the rabbit problem with those who may not be enjoying it as much.

Noice! Good idea that, but we don't get too much regular rain here until about April, so it might take a while to produce the desired result.

That said, there is a 'late breaking story' going around that, as a little more immediate 'incentivation' to do something about the rabbit problem, just this arvo, not too long after my last post above, and pretty much right before they should've shut the doors for the weekend, someone who'd caught a couple of these mangy rabbits threw them, live, unfettered, and very scared, thru said doors of the local Council offices... I've been told that the entire staff, including the Mayor, took a bit of a while to catch them, altho I'm not sure if the pesky things ever did make it into the Mayor's office. Oh well, maybe Monday - after all, it's not as if there's not plenty more rabbits where they came from.

There again, the Council offices do have a 'parcel delivery' hatch on the front of the building that opens into their foyer for when the front doors are closed... hatch, or is it a hutch - that's where you keep all your spare rabbits, isn't it??

 

[Raven]

Put up the fence and then leave a couple of ferrets inside of the fence, anything that comes through is lunch.
Here anything that shoots under 400 fps is leagle ( most pellet guns are about 350fps)
I once offered to take out a rabid skunk with my hunting bow, but was told NO.
I thought it was safer than a police officer with a rifle or shotgun

 

[Gwolf]

Put up the fence and then leave a couple of ferrets inside of the fence, anything that comes through is lunch.
Here anything that shoots under 400 fps is leagle ( most pellet guns are about 350fps)
I once offered to take out a rabid skunk with my hunting bow, but was told NO.
I thought it was safer than a police officer with a rifle or shotgun

If a rabbit can go through a fence, a ferret can too. Ferrets can squeeze through tiny holes.

I have a pellet rifle that fires at 1200 FPS, but where I live it is legal. Where I live it is legal to own and fire a 30/30.

 

[BajaRon]

Sounds like they have legislated you into an impossible situation. But I have some alternatives for you.

I asked Google AI this question. Is a laser considered a projectile weapon?
Answer: No, a laser is not considered a projectile, but rather a directed-energy weapon. Unlike projectiles (e.g., bullets, rockets) that are physical objects propelled by external force, lasers emit a coherent beam of photons (light) that travels at the speed of light, causing damage through heat rather than kinetic impact.

My 2nd option would be to concrete your yard. Let them eat that! ;-)

I worked at a fire station in the high desert east of San Diego. Zero vegetation or landscaping. There was about a 15' space between the barracks and the engine bay and I decided to plant some grass there. The existing soil (if you could ball it that) was like concrete. I broke it up and added some amendments. We leveled it, planted grass seed, and watered it faithfully. I wasn't sure it would survive the heat, even though we planted a drought and heat resistant variety.

It wasn't long until I could see a green tinge at the end of the day as the grass began to poke out of the ground. But by the next morning, it was gone.

For several days it was the same thing. Green tinge starting to show by sundown, nothing showing the next morning. I knew something evil was afoot. One evening I arose out of bed and walked to the large window overlooking the area between the 2 buildings and flipped on the floodlights which illuminated the area. At first I was not sure what I was seeing. The brownish ground appeared to be exhibiting a disturbing undulation.

Yes, you guessed it. Wall to wall rabbits! Eating every previous blade of grass!

The next shift I brought my shotgun. I would get as many as 6 rabbits with 1 shot. But it also tore up a good section of grass.

We ended up building a fence.

 

[Gwolf]

You need a good group of coyotes, they do a heck of a good job getting rabbits out of Maine. They will move into an area and the rabbits, partridge, cats, weak and sick deer, will be gone! Of course, my best solution is putting them in the pot for dinner! Sorry

The problem with coyotes is they also take down young, recently born calves, chicken, goats, other domestic animals. They can also carry rabies, and they can spread livestock diseases from one field to another. They hunt in packs making them more dangerous than some of the other predators.

 

[Gwolf]

Noice! Good idea that, but we don't get too much regular rain here until about April, so it might take a while to produce the desired result.

That said, there is a 'late breaking story' going around that, as a little more immediate 'incentivation' to do something about the rabbit problem, just this arvo, not too long after my last post above, and pretty much right before they should've shut the doors for the weekend, someone who'd caught a couple of these mangy rabbits threw them, live, unfettered, and very scared, thru said doors of the local Council offices... I've been told that the entire staff, including the Mayor, took a bit of a while to catch them, altho I'm not sure if the pesky things ever did make it into the Mayor's office. Oh well, maybe Monday - after all, it's not as if there's not plenty more rabbits where they came from.

There again, the Council offices do have a 'parcel delivery' hatch on the front of the building that opens into their foyer for when the front doors are closed... hatch, or is it a hutch - that's where you keep all your spare rabbits, isn't it??

Is there a video?

 

[Peter Aawen]

Is there a video?

Sorry, I believe that the person who delivered the flea infested critters was more interested in leaving rapidly than staying to video...

Besides, I never remember to do that until after!

Just Sayin'