Extremely random anyone know how to stop bunnies
from having babies all over our lawn? Last year we moved into our house in July and we noticed a bunny around our house all of the time but we just thought it was... well just a random bunny. After winter when spring hit the bunny came back. A couple weeks later we noticed a bunch of holes in our backyard (about half a foot deep, some deeper) covered in this gray fuzz, something like what you would find in a bird's nest. After a few days our dog had killed a baby bunny in the backyard. We just thought maybe it was a one time thing. A month later our dog killed another bunny and we found three live ones scattered around. We dropped them off at a humane centre and then figured it would stop since spring was ending and summer was coming. It did for a couple months.
Tonight, however, I came home to my dog going CRAZY in the house when I opened the front door. Like, more excited to see me than he had ever before. I thought it was just cause I worked late but when I let him outside he ran to the middle of the yard and sat down staring at the ground. I went out, found another hole, and saw this sitting in it;
http://i.imgur.com/ZSvfo.jpg
It's at least four, probably more bunnies, and they're definitely new born in the last ten hours since when I left for work everything was fine. I normally wouldn't have a problem with bunnies in our backyard but our dog kills them (most likely on accident) and he nonstop whines to be let outside. We're going to have to resort to going out with him on a leash. In our own backyard.
Anyone know how to make it stop? It's been three times this year, who knows how many more times it's happened and we didn't notice, and it's driving us crazy. I don't want to hurt them. I just want them gone. Ideas?
11 Comments • Newest first
Pay someone to capture them all and take them to a shelter or get a dog to hunt them all down for you. I have a boy lionhead bunny and a girl angora bunny in the same cage. No babies after six months. We need more gay bunnies in the wild too.
[quote=HolyMythos]Our yard is small; probably a third of it is the garage. We have fences throughout the entire backyard but the mother keeps getting in and out somehow. I can't count the times I come home from work, pull in the driveway, and she jumps across our front yard. The other problem is that they're always in the same area and it's right by our back door. If we were to fence them in it would cut off a huge portion of our yard and we'd have to walk out dog out to the non-fenced (or fenced) in area.
I'll look into some sort of exterminator. Perhaps not to kill the bunnies but to make our backyard somehow uninviting to them.[/quote]
That's what I was probably expecting.
My cousins had a similar problem, where ferrets were digging beneath the fences into their garden. I think they tried putting heavy rocks around the fences before they were outsmarted and they nosed beneath those. I would check, if you haven't already, if you have something similar.
That suggestion that was brought up before and by yourself is probably the best option. A repellant would be ideal, but my grandmother still gets raccoons stuck in the attic.
[quote=HolyMythos]Our yard is small; probably a third of it is the garage. We have fences throughout the entire backyard but the mother keeps getting in and out somehow. I can't count the times I come home from work, pull in the driveway, and she jumps across our front yard. The other problem is that they're always in the same area and it's right by our back door. If we were to fence them in it would cut off a huge portion of our yard and we'd have to walk out dog out to the non-fenced (or fenced) in area.
I'll look into some sort of exterminator. Perhaps not to kill the bunnies but to make our backyard somehow uninviting to them.[/quote]
try looking for a bat, or a club, something to knock their brains out to humanely kill them. It should take 1 strong hit to knock them unconcious or to kill them. afterwards you can skin them, tan the skin and enjoy some rabbit stew!
a couple years back i shot one cuz it ate my plants.
[quote=325698]This is difficult considering all my options/ideas, you've already tried.
I would suggest trying your hardest to fence in/out the bunnies. Possibly fencing your dog in a disclosed area of your yard could be another possibility but I don't think you or your dog would appreciate the limited freedom.[/quote]
Our yard is small; probably a third of it is the garage. We have fences throughout the entire backyard but the mother keeps getting in and out somehow. I can't count the times I come home from work, pull in the driveway, and she jumps across our front yard. The other problem is that they're always in the same area and it's right by our back door. If we were to fence them in it would cut off a huge portion of our yard and we'd have to walk out dog out to the non-fenced (or fenced) in area.
I'll look into some sort of exterminator. Perhaps not to kill the bunnies but to make our backyard somehow uninviting to them.
Maybe some sort of fence or bunny repellent.
This is difficult considering all my options/ideas, you've already tried.
I would suggest trying your hardest to fence in/out the bunnies. Possibly fencing your dog in a disclosed area of your yard could be another possibility but I don't think you or your dog would appreciate the limited freedom.
You can try to move them in another designated area, and cover holes in the fences where you'd think any bunnies can't go through.
Raise a bunny farm
free rabbit meat?
At first, I thought the picture was a pile of dead bunnies your dog collected.
I'd hate to say it, but you can get rabbits exterminated. They're treated as vermin in some extermination companies.
Edit: Oh god, they're so adorable. I can't honestly suggest that. If I recall correctly, at a lot of gardening stores they have Rabbit sprays, that prevent them from coming into your yard and eating your veggies. Only catch is the spray is made with urine.