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Saturday, January 9, 2016

The Curse of the Were Rabbit!

I have a big rabbit problem in my farm.  I transplant the seedlings in the rows where they are going to grow and return the next morning to find three quarters of a 50 foot row decimated by rabbits.  The seedling are sow small that they basically kill the plant by eating the growing part, and only leaving a short stem.     Over the past week, they have eaten over 500 seedlings.   It takes a lot of work to plant and nurture the seedlings to the point where they can be transplanted.      They have eaten lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, celery, kale and pea seedlings.     The corral where I grow my veggies is fenced in with 2 inch square fencing.  We cannot figure out how they are getting in.

Here are images of the damage.





We thought they were coming up from the river bottom and there is a gate with the same 2 inch fencing on the fence separating the property from the river bottom.   I put some rabbit fence over the 2 inch fencing and put a wildlife camera up.   I expected to see rabbits from the river side trying to get into the property.   Much to our surprise, the rabbits were inside trying to get back to the river bottom.  Here are some images from the wildlife camera.




I decided to set the camera up last night near where they have been eating and I have been finding rabbit pellets.   I also set up a havahart trap, with some lettuce and peanut butter as bait.   I figured I could catch them and relocate them.    This was also inside the corral.
Here is the only picture that I got.   The rabbit was interested with what was inside the trap, but never entered it.  The trap was empty this morning.    If anyone has any tips on keeping rabbits away from my veggies, I would be happy to hear from you.





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