OK OK I know the most popular answer will be: "You can't" but
nonetheless: how do we control rabbit ingress?

My new employer has about an acre of garden, in which we're about to
create a new perennial border. The garden is out in the country, and is
bordered on one side by the road and the old (gappy) hedge, and on the
other sides by a standard post and rail fence. Across the fence is a big
field (10 acres?) which occasionally has a few sheep in, but is mainly
used for hay (I think).

Rabbits aren't a big pest yet in this garden, but they are around. Is it
possible to dissuade them?

I was thinking of nailing chicken wire around the entire perimeter. I
know that they burrow, but I figured maybe they only do that when
there's a vegetable garden to be got at.

BTW my employer is currently 'absentee' (working abroad for a few
months) and so can't be around to stand duty with a shotgun.

Any advice gratefully accepted!

Cheers
John

On Thu, 12 Mar 2015 20:54:12 +0000, Another John wrote:

was thinking of nailing chicken wire around the entire perimeter. I
know that they burrow, but I figured maybe they only do that when
there's a vegetable garden to be got at.

You have to bury the fence to 4 inches to keep out rabbits. Anything in
there that they can eat, they'll get at. It's all a vegetable garden to
them!



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On 12/03/2015 20:54, Another John wrote:
OK OK I know the most popular answer will be: "You can't" but
nonetheless: how do we control rabbit ingress?

My new employer has about an acre of garden, in which we're about to
create a new perennial border. The garden is out in the country, and is
bordered on one side by the road and the old (gappy) hedge, and on the
other sides by a standard post and rail fence. Across the fence is a big
field (10 acres?) which occasionally has a few sheep in, but is mainly
used for hay (I think).

Rabbits aren't a big pest yet in this garden, but they are around. Is it
possible to dissuade them?

I was thinking of nailing chicken wire around the entire perimeter. I
know that they burrow, but I figured maybe they only do that when
there's a vegetable garden to be got at.

BTW my employer is currently 'absentee' (working abroad for a few
months) and so can't be around to stand duty with a shotgun.

Any advice gratefully accepted!

Cheers
John

I use electric rabbit netting.
You might find this of interest
http://www.agrisellex.co.uk/articles...t-fencing.html
David @ a yet again wet side of Swansea Bay

On Thu, 12 Mar 2015 22:43:44 +0000, David Hill wrote:

I use electric rabbit netting.

I used to have dahlias, rabbits loved them. Don't do dahlias any more.



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

In article ,
Chris Hogg wrote:

Our bungalow is adjacent to a field that always has rabbits in it. We
see them every day. Their warrens come up to and under our stone
garden walls, and we get rabbit holes in the flower beds adjacent to
those walls. Rabbits regularly come into the garden. I see droppings
on the lawn, and at this time of year, the youngsters are about. They
disappear back down the holes sharpish if they're disturbed. But they
only ever seem to eat the grass in the lawn, and a few weeds between
the patio slabs. I've never seen evidence of them eating any of the
plants. OTOH we don't grow vegetables or salad crops.

Farmers round here will completely surround a field with netting if
they've got stuff attractive to rabbits growing in it. Usually it's
the fine pea netting with centimeter holes, supported on bamboo canes.
The netting is about a meter wide; two-thirds of it is vertical, the
other third lies flat on the ground on the outside of the area being
enclosed, and pegged down every few feet or so, to stop the rabbits
digging their way under it. Apparently they don't have the sense to
start digging a little way back. It's a lot easier to do the fence
that way, rather than trying to bury it, and if you just have it
straight down to the ground, the rabbits will push or dig their way
under it.

Chris - thanks very much for this, which definitely looks useful.

Thanks also to the other respondents: it is all useful grist to the mill!

John

"Another John" wrote in message
]...
I was thinking of nailing chicken wire around the entire perimeter. I
know that they burrow, but I figured maybe they only do that when
there's a vegetable garden to be got at.

That will work well, providing you bury about a foot of the wire at right
angles outside the fence. It doesn't need to be deep, it will prevent them
burrowing in. As it will be whole lot of work to enclose the area, you
might as well do it once like that, rather than finding out later that they
can dig underneath if you don't
HTH
Tina
P.S. I had a bit of trouble once with rabbits. My lurcher said No - she
used to come in from the garden with a rabbit, claiming it jumped into her
mouth ;-) There might be rabbits in the fields at the bottom of my garden
even now but I doubt they would risk Ms McGregor's dog again.

I realise this isn't an option for you. Go with the buried fencing.

On 13/03/2015 7:54 AM, Another John wrote:
OK OK I know the most popular answer will be: "You can't" but
nonetheless: how do we control rabbit ingress?

My new employer has about an acre of garden, in which we're about to
create a new perennial border. The garden is out in the country, and is
bordered on one side by the road and the old (gappy) hedge, and on the
other sides by a standard post and rail fence. Across the fence is a big
field (10 acres?) which occasionally has a few sheep in, but is mainly
used for hay (I think).

Rabbits aren't a big pest yet in this garden, but they are around. Is it
possible to dissuade them?

I was thinking of nailing chicken wire around the entire perimeter. I
know that they burrow, but I figured maybe they only do that when
there's a vegetable garden to be got at.

Chicken wire works well, doesn't need to be very high but does need to
be buried or held fast to some form of solid barrier to be effective.

I use chicken wire that is only 1 ft/30 cm tall around some of my veg
beds and that butts up to old timber railway sleepers and it is held in
place with bamboo stakes shoved deep into the soil every 9 inches or so
right round the internal edge of the wire. That height is enough to keep
them out of my veg beds.

Rabbits also do not like blood and bone meal but that is only temporary.

The little stinkers will have a go at anything green. I've just been
out inspecting my bulbs coming up and they have nibbled at my Cuban
lillies and taken the tops out of many of my succulents and would have
eaten all of my dahlias to the roots if I hadn't surrounded them with
cages. They don't seem to like Peonies or irises.

1080 poison is very effective but you have to feed them the unbaited
carrots for a while to get them feeding on it and then you hit the
carrots with the poison. We don't using 1080 though because it's deadly
to mammals such as dogs. A .22 also works well. Ripping their burrows
with a deep ripper on a tractor also works and so does fumigating their
burrows by shoving a hose onto the end of an exhaust pipe of a leaded
petrol car and shoving the end down the burrow and then closing over all
holes with dirt and leaving the car running for a while. These days
that means you have to find an old car where lead is added to modern fuel.

On 12/03/2015 20:54, Another John wrote:
OK OK I know the most popular answer will be: "You can't" but
nonetheless: how do we control rabbit ingress?

My new employer has about an acre of garden, in which we're about to
create a new perennial border. The garden is out in the country, and is
bordered on one side by the road and the old (gappy) hedge, and on the
other sides by a standard post and rail fence. Across the fence is a big
field (10 acres?) which occasionally has a few sheep in, but is mainly
used for hay (I think).

Rabbits aren't a big pest yet in this garden, but they are around. Is it
possible to dissuade them?

Chicken wire dug in about 4" at the bottom of the fence works well for
me. I did it after they decimated my lettuces one year.

I was thinking of nailing chicken wire around the entire perimeter. I
know that they burrow, but I figured maybe they only do that when
there's a vegetable garden to be got at.

Needs to go under the ground so they can't just dig a bit and then
squeeze under. They fit comfortably through pig netting.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 15/03/2015 07:26, Fran Farmer wrote:
so does fumigating their burrows by shoving a hose onto the end of an
exhaust pipe of a leaded petrol car and shoving the end down the burrow
and then closing over all holes with dirt and leaving the car running
for a while. These days that means you have to find an old car where
lead is added to modern fuel

It's not the lead, it's the carbon monoxide that does for them. Anything
without a catalytic converter will do - which includes old diesels as
well as petrol. A lawnmowers would probably do - although you'd have to
run a lawnmower an awfully long time to get much exhaust.

Andy

On 17/03/2015 8:46 AM, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 15/03/2015 07:26, Fran Farmer wrote:
so does fumigating their burrows by shoving a hose onto the end of an
exhaust pipe of a leaded petrol car and shoving the end down the burrow
and then closing over all holes with dirt and leaving the car running
for a while. These days that means you have to find an old car where
lead is added to modern fuel

It's not the lead, it's the carbon monoxide that does for them. Anything
without a catalytic converter will do - which includes old diesels as
well as petrol. A lawnmowers would probably do - although you'd have to
run a lawnmower an awfully long time to get much exhaust.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to imply that it was the lead in the fuel - I was
trying to say that older petrol engined cars are the ones to use.

Diesel engined vehicles are, for some reason,deemed to be 'useless'. I
don't know whether that is just an old farmer's tale but it's always
older petrol cars that have the lead to added to the fuel that are used
regardless of any diesel powered vehicles that might be on hand.

I've used the old petrol car exhaust trick on rat burrows round my chook
pens using my 1952 Morris Minor. That worked for quite a while.

I'm girding my loins to do a rabbit burrow on the edge of our 'lawn'
where the blasted bunnies have dug a warren between 2 rocks. There are
a few fox poos round the entrance and at least 8 rabbits have been shot
at dusk on the 'lawn'. But it needs even more action taken. I'm
thinking an old Riley might be the way to go this time round.

In article ,
Fran Farmer wrote:

On 17/03/2015 8:46 AM, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 15/03/2015 07:26, Fran Farmer wrote:
so does fumigating their burrows by shoving a hose onto the end of an
exhaust pipe of a leaded petrol car and shoving the end down the burrow
and then closing over all holes with dirt and leaving the car running
for a while. These days that means you have to find an old car where
lead is added to modern fuel

It's not the lead, it's the carbon monoxide that does for them. Anything
without a catalytic converter will do - which includes old diesels as
well as petrol. A lawnmowers would probably do - although you'd have to
run a lawnmower an awfully long time to get much exhaust.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to imply that it was the lead in the fuel - I was
trying to say that older petrol engined cars are the ones to use.

Diesel engined vehicles are, for some reason,deemed to be 'useless'. I
don't know whether that is just an old farmer's tale but it's always
older petrol cars that have the lead to added to the fuel that are used
regardless of any diesel powered vehicles that might be on hand.

I've used the old petrol car exhaust trick on rat burrows round my chook
pens using my 1952 Morris Minor. That worked for quite a while.

I'm girding my loins to do a rabbit burrow on the edge of our 'lawn'
where the blasted bunnies have dug a warren between 2 rocks. There are
a few fox poos round the entrance and at least 8 rabbits have been shot
at dusk on the 'lawn'. But it needs even more action taken. I'm
thinking an old Riley might be the way to go this time round.

Your garage sounds at least as interesting as your garden :-)

J.

On 17/03/2015 09:25, Another John wrote:
In article ,
Fran Farmer wrote:

On 17/03/2015 8:46 AM, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 15/03/2015 07:26, Fran Farmer wrote:
so does fumigating their burrows by shoving a hose onto the end of an
exhaust pipe of a leaded petrol car and shoving the end down the burrow
and then closing over all holes with dirt and leaving the car running
for a while. These days that means you have to find an old car where
lead is added to modern fuel

It's not the lead, it's the carbon monoxide that does for them. Anything
without a catalytic converter will do - which includes old diesels as
well as petrol. A lawnmowers would probably do - although you'd have to
run a lawnmower an awfully long time to get much exhaust.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to imply that it was the lead in the fuel - I was
trying to say that older petrol engined cars are the ones to use.

Diesel engined vehicles are, for some reason,deemed to be 'useless'. I
don't know whether that is just an old farmer's tale but it's always
older petrol cars that have the lead to added to the fuel that are used
regardless of any diesel powered vehicles that might be on hand.

I've used the old petrol car exhaust trick on rat burrows round my chook
pens using my 1952 Morris Minor. That worked for quite a while.

I'm girding my loins to do a rabbit burrow on the edge of our 'lawn'
where the blasted bunnies have dug a warren between 2 rocks. There are
a few fox poos round the entrance and at least 8 rabbits have been shot
at dusk on the 'lawn'. But it needs even more action taken. I'm
thinking an old Riley might be the way to go this time round.

Your garage sounds at least as interesting as your garden :-)

J.

You need a man with a ferret.

On 17/03/2015 8:25 PM, Another John wrote:
In article ,
Fran Farmer wrote:

On 17/03/2015 8:46 AM, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 15/03/2015 07:26, Fran Farmer wrote:
so does fumigating their burrows by shoving a hose onto the end of an
exhaust pipe of a leaded petrol car and shoving the end down the burrow
and then closing over all holes with dirt and leaving the car running
for a while. These days that means you have to find an old car where
lead is added to modern fuel

It's not the lead, it's the carbon monoxide that does for them. Anything
without a catalytic converter will do - which includes old diesels as
well as petrol. A lawnmowers would probably do - although you'd have to
run a lawnmower an awfully long time to get much exhaust.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to imply that it was the lead in the fuel - I was
trying to say that older petrol engined cars are the ones to use.

Diesel engined vehicles are, for some reason,deemed to be 'useless'. I
don't know whether that is just an old farmer's tale but it's always
older petrol cars that have the lead to added to the fuel that are used
regardless of any diesel powered vehicles that might be on hand.

I've used the old petrol car exhaust trick on rat burrows round my chook
pens using my 1952 Morris Minor. That worked for quite a while.

I'm girding my loins to do a rabbit burrow on the edge of our 'lawn'
where the blasted bunnies have dug a warren between 2 rocks. There are
a few fox poos round the entrance and at least 8 rabbits have been shot
at dusk on the 'lawn'. But it needs even more action taken. I'm
thinking an old Riley might be the way to go this time round.

Your garage sounds at least as interesting as your garden :-)

LOL. His garage is very interesting. My only involvement is to lift or
hold or jump in when told to do so or to say "Really dear? How
dreadful/nice".

"Vir Campestris" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 15/03/2015 07:26, Fran Farmer wrote:
so does fumigating their burrows by shoving a hose onto the end of an
exhaust pipe of a leaded petrol car and shoving the end down the burrow
and then closing over all holes with dirt and leaving the car running
for a while. These days that means you have to find an old car where
lead is added to modern fuel

It's not the lead, it's the carbon monoxide that does for them. Anything
without a catalytic converter will do - which includes old diesels as well
as petrol. A lawnmowers would probably do - although you'd have to run a
lawnmower an awfully long time to get much exhaust.

Andy

I do this for rats, we run a lawnmower engine under the chicken huts and the
rats run out into the jaws of the terriers. Snap. Into ratty heaven
instantly, much better thsn poison which I refuse to use since I had to kill
one dying slowly once when I used it. Never again. The poor thing took
ages to die until I firmed up and bashed it on the head with a brick - which
was difficult.
Terriers are best with rats, they either kill them immediately or they get
away for another time to meet the terriers again. A big rat almost bit the
nose off one of the terriers.
Boyfie kills the small rats. He is not brave enough to tackle the big ones
with huge brown chisel teeth. He needs the terriers for that.

"Fran Farmer" wrote in message
...
On 17/03/2015 8:46 AM, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 15/03/2015 07:26, Fran Farmer wrote:
so does fumigating their burrows by shoving a hose onto the end of an
exhaust pipe of a leaded petrol car and shoving the end down the burrow
and then closing over all holes with dirt and leaving the car running
for a while. These days that means you have to find an old car where
lead is added to modern fuel


I do rats like that. We use a hedgecutter engine to smoke them out into the
jaws of the terriers. It's so much kinder than poisoning. Either the rats
are dead immediately or they get away.
I stopped poisoning ages ago after i kept find rats dying slowly and had to
kill them myself.
So I have the dogs in. they re very good. My cat has to stay inside
otherwise he'd be an ex-cat.
So they the terriers sweep through. No rat will live. Although once a very
big rat here took off half a terrier's nose but she didn't mind. She killed
it anyway. It was under tree roots and she dug it out, and it gripped on to
her face.
Boyfie says no about big rats. He does the little ones.
Big ones with chisel teeth, absolutely not.