Re: [gardeners] Rabbit in my garden
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 16 Apr 1998 13:29:00
At 11:03 PM 4/15/98 -0400, you wrote:
>At 04:44 PM 15-04-98 PDT, you wrote:
>>I have this cute little cottontail living under my air conditioner and
>>eating all of my flowers! Is there a humane way to deter this little
>>bunny? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
>
>What a heartless attitude, to want to deprive a harmless rabbit the
>occasional heuchera, lily, impatiens, begonia, rose, sedum, geranium
>(scented and zonal), lettuce, spinach ... just to mention what Eton has
>eaten in the last few days.
>
>I would suggest putting enough savory food near the air conditioner --
>greens and carrots and even rabbit food (which is dirt cheap) -- near his
>home so he is too full to eat your garden.
>
>Now, if anyone wants a lop, and is really quick, I have an offer for you.
>
>Yesterday morning when we got up, Eton didn't immediately rush to us and
>greet us. Very unusual; he is generally very excited to see us in the
>morning. Two hours of looking in all his favorite places ... nothing.
>Looked in all his favorite haunts outside, thinking he might have snuck out
>... nada.
>
>Finally I went out to do some gardening. In one of the plastic tunnels in
>the vegetable garden I found one totally sacked out lop eared bunny. Took
>him inside and he flopped out in the kitchen and didn't stir until after
>lunch. He must have had quite an adventure.
>
>Skip forward to late this afternoon. Out gardening, Eton buzzing around my
>feet, and suddenly he was gone. Looked around and eventually looked over
>the fence into Farmer McGregor's garden, the next door neighbor. And Farmer
>McGregor (aka Bill) was coming across his yard holding my prodigal bunny.
>
>We talked, as neighbors do, and he mentioned that he often looked out at
>night and saw as many as five rabbits in his yard at a time. In fact, last
>night he thought one looked like a lop, but it was hard to see, and he knew
>we kept Eton in at night.
>
>So now we know why Eton was so tired. And I am anxious to see what the next
>crop of wild rabbits looks like.
>
>
>Duane Campbell dcamp@epix.net
>http://www.epix.net/~dcamp/
>
Don't be surprised if you see a lot of bunrabs with lop ears. Many, many
years ago we had a neighbor who tired of raising rabbits and turned about
30 Checkered Giants loose. For a number of years after that we would see
variations on the black and white or red and white Giants running around.
Just let ol' Eton rest awhile, feed him up, and then let the games begin
again.
George