Has anyone used Nature's Mace Deer and Rabbit repellent? Or possibly their rabbit-specific "Rabbit Mace" repellent? We have a huge problem with rabbits in our urban yard, and I have about 30 young JMs I need to protect. They all have at least one layer of chicken wire around their base and up to 24", but I've noticed the rabbits are still trying to reach up and nip the smaller branches. Once the snow arrives, if it's thick, they'll have even easier access. I looked into coyote urine, fox urine, and other methods, but they seemed to be problematic for most people, with a lot of people reporting the method didn't work for rabbits. Then I clicked on Nature's Mace, and it's got five-star reviews from every reviewer. Has anyone here used it on JMs? http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Mace-Concentrate-Rabbit-Repellent/dp/B00LS80PZS I ordered a small sample of Rabbit Mace, a rabbit-specific product from the same company, but I thought I'd ask here before spraying it on the yard and on the trees... has anyone used this company? Should I have any concerns? http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Mace-...F8&qid=1417289389&sr=1-2&keywords=rabbit+mace
All of what you mentioned have no or very little effect on detering rabbits,if you know anyone who shoots vermin ie: foxes ask if they will supply you with a freshly shot fox pelt. Attach the pelt on a length of rope then drag the pelt around the areas of your yard where the rabbits tend to enter,this will have a deterent but only for a while. Rabbits and Deer are not as thick as what people make them out to be, yes you can have limited success with certain products, but the overall desire for these animals to eat out weighs the smell of one of a handful of their natural predators. The only other way of erradication is the far less popular method of culling,now you have to be able to differenciate between the cute little bunnies hoping around in your garden with mummy and daddy bunnies only nibbling your trees to surrvive the coming winter, or some horrible buck toothed villians who are destroying your pride and joy which you have loving cared for throughout the year. For myself i would have no hesitation in using my .22 rimfire rifle with fixed sound moderator, this is an ideal sollution plus i would also have a free source of food, rabbit casserole any time!!! but please make sure you have a safe area to shoot and you have the correct legal right of despatching said vermin don't know how this works in the US, strictly goverened over here though. Just one of many ideas and people do have their own personal views this i realise,but this is a very effective way of control. NOT FOR EVERYONE!!!
I grew up in the country with a father who hunts, so shooting the little sweethearts is a logical alternative in my mind. The only problem with that is our neighbors. We live in very urban, very compact yards, and if one of them saw me outside shooting rabbits I'm sure we'd get more than a couple calls into the local law enforcement. Also, there's such an abundance of rabbits in this area that whatever I take through culling would be a drop in the bucket. What we really need are more predators. I never thought I'd be grateful to see feral cats, but when one comes through the yard I'm crossing my fingers it's hunting rabbit.
I applied it twice since November, which I was hoping would be enough over the winter, but I walked out this morning and saw this rabbit damage to our new Red dragon.... the rabbits are out of control around here. You should see what they did to our Tsukushigata... It looks like each tree is going to need a 3-foot fence in future years. I'm also going to start trying human hair, blood meal (perhaps? I need to research the effect on JMs), and predator urine as repellants, as well as live-trapping. Rabbit Mace definitely was not the answer. The rabbits were chewing branches off the trees within a week of applying it.
A dog isn't in the cards for us, unfortunately. Even neighbors with dogs (big and small) say the rabbits come back as soon as the dogs are inside. Drives the dogs crazy, and the rabbits still eat the gardens/landscaping.
This really stinks, so sorry. I think the only solution is to make the fencing higher. Of course with all that fencing comes further inconvenience: weeding it, and maybe above all having to look at it. The problem with rabbits is that, well, they breed like rabbits. I recently had a conversation with a vegetable producer in the village who is being plagued by them. (Funny, he's in the valley and only a few kms away, whereas here we haven't had a rabbit problem for 20 years, when the myxomatosis kiiled the cute little buggers off). Anyway after shooting and trapping he has installed an electric rabbit fence buried to 20 cm. This being France, his insurance money from damages actually paid for some of it... My problem this winter has been mice, some pretty annoying losses. But the roe deer will be here as soon as things start to sprout, hopefully I'll have everything protected.
Thanks. Last summer, once there was grass and clover for the rabbits to eat, I was able to take the perimeter fences around each tree down and just keep up smaller fences around the trunks. At first I'd taken all the fences down, but I noticed the rabbits would hop by and take little nips out of the trunks here and there. So, the trunk protectors went back up. This next fall I'll have to make the perimeter fences taller. Eventually the taller trees shouldn't be a problem, right? Trunks will get high and thick enough that rabbits won't be so interested in gnawing at them? I'll always have to protect the trees with low branches and the dwarfs, I'm assuming. Just the price of being JM-obsessed in the city. We'll see, I guess. I just ordered a live trap, and I'll start trying the bonemeal/hair defense ASAP. I'd like to catch the dam (ha!) rabbits before they give birth to their first spring litters. An electric fence... one can dream!
I don't know electric fences able to protect from rabbits but there is one against wild boar troops damages (my problem is not rabitts but wild boar !). So in 2009 i got one and put it all around my 2,5 ha garden. The first line is 20 cm hight and the second 50 cm from ground. The protection from wild boar is quite effective . I observe with amusement that hare is able to crawl through under (no photo)... imagine this long eared clever animal swimming under this fence ... To protect my plantations and containers from some rare hare and numerous roebuck, i pulverise 3 ou 4 time year a repulsive, a german one made with fat of sheep ; all is safe. When i put a live trap, it catch cats ... That as part of our story life with wild animals ...
A wild boar would be quite an event in our urban garden! There are coyote and deer nearby, but they don't approach our little yard. As for hare getting under your fence-- I can believe it! What small brains they have must be very efficient at cleverly thwarting our protection methods! I've been doing more research, and in addition to live trapping I may try a repellant called Plantskydd. I've read some good things about it keeping deer and rabbits from eating landscaping bushes, and apparently it only takes one fall application. Worth a try!
