"Neill Smith" wrote:
I live in a country area in North East Victoria and want to start a veggie
garden but we have problems with rabbits. Aside from rabbit proof fences,
which do not appear to work anyway, does anyone have a method to keep them
away from the veggie garden.

Shooting is not an option.

What about poisoning?

Would it be feasible to surround your garden with an ordinary fence which
has some gaps left in it, with traps set at the gaps? Not necessarily the
cruel steel-jaws trap. I'd imagine that Thumper would choose the path of
least effort, in preference to jumping the fence? Then again, maybe
rabbits show more nous than I give them credit. :-)

Perhaps a fence made of close-spaced strands of wire, with every second
strand electrically insulated and connected to an electric fence tickler
and all the other strands connected together and earthed. Then, whatever
pair of wires the rabbit tried to squeeze between, it's body would still
complete a circuit to earth.
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")

"Neill Smith" wrote:
I live in a country area in North East Victoria and want to start a veggie
garden but we have problems with rabbits. Aside from rabbit proof fences,
which do not appear to work anyway, does anyone have a method to keep them
away from the veggie garden.

Shooting is not an option.

Another idea-

I notice that our moggie triggers the infrared sensor on the security
light over our back stairs, so I expect that a rabbit would do so, too.
It should be possible to guard your plot with a couple of these sensors,
and arrange it that instead of powering light bulbs for 5 minutes when
triggered, it turns on a hissing sprinkler, or rattles a can, or drops a
rubber snake, or bursts a balloon or does something else that will
frighten off any hare-brained intruder.

But haven't your kids been pestering you for ferrets for Christmas ...?
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")

...snip....

I notice that our moggie triggers the infrared sensor on the security
light over our back stairs, so I expect that a rabbit would do so, too.
It should be possible to guard your plot with a couple of these sensors,
and arrange it that instead of powering light bulbs for 5 minutes when
triggered, it turns on a hissing sprinkler, or rattles a can, or drops a
rubber snake, or bursts a balloon or does something else that will
frighten off any hare-brained intruder.

If curiosity killed the cat, then rabbits survived only because they
were second in line. All this would do is give the rabbits something
else to chew on.

In article ,
John Savage wrote:

Despite the population having developed some
resistance to the disease, mixomitosis was still an effective
biological control for limiting the number of rabbits that farmers had
to contend with. If I recall correctly, the calici virus doesn't work
very effectively in dry areas (and isn't that most of the continent at
the moment?).

No, the other way around -- calicivirus has done wonders in dry areas, but not
so well in higher rainfall areas.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

I don't regard myself as a fanatic. I just have handy milk dispensers.
-- Lee, misc.kids