Rabbits are cute animals and it is fascinating to see them hop around nibbling at grass or leaves. Nevertheless it is definitely not a happy sight to see them nibbling plants and vegetables in your garden. They are common garden pests and can literally destroy vegetable gardens if the owner is not careful.
You can get rid of the rabbit invasion with the help of some simple natural methods that will do no harm to the vegetable garden and will keep the animals away.
These simple methods are easily workable and effective. They can be used in isolation or in combination with each other.
The most basic and practical way to keep rabbits away is to fence in the vegetable bed. Chicken or poultry mesh works best.
Choose one where the holes are no wider than two inches. Remember to dig a little deep, say about a foot or so, when fixing the fence which should be about two feet high from the ground.
This will keep the rabbits from hopping over the fence as well as burrowing under them. Rabbits will generally go under rather than hop above.
Another easy method would be to spread natural repellants. The easiest is dog or human hair. If a small quantity is sprinkled around the plants, the rabbits will not come near the plants as they will smell their predators and will be scared. Similarly fox urine or dried blood will also keep the furry animal away.
Ferret feces are also good repellants as they make the rabbit think that a predator frequents the place. Human hair can be easily got from a nearby salon. Dried blood and fox urine can be bought from stores selling garden supplies.
Another simple trick would be to spray the plants with cayenne pepper or even diluted hot sauce.
It will keep the rabbits away. Corn cobs soaked in vinegar (for about 5 minutes) and left around the vegetable beds can also do the trick. Still the corn cobs would need to be treated with vinegar every week.
Rabbits love to eat weed plantain and clover, so it might work in the favor of the vegetables if these weeds were allowed to grow amongst the plant. The rabbit may just eat its favorite food and leave the plants alone.
If nothing seems to help one can opt for rabbit traps. These can be placed around the beds with carrot or lettuce bait. They will trap the animals and not hurt them. The trapped animals can then be relocated.
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