How To Keep Rabbits Out Of Your Yard With Humane Techniques

A pair of rabbits nestled into your lawn is a lovely sight. But remember, rabbits can be as destructive as they are adorable. And if you see one rabbit ... you know the rest. Rabbits are famous for effectively making new rabbits, and a lot of them. For those of us with gardens, decorative plantings, or fruit trees in our yards, rabbits can be quite harmful. They can also carry fleas which, though unlikely, can spread to our pets. So, how do you keep rabbits out of your yard, but not harm the rabbits? Fear not, there are strategies to achieve your goal, like using fences, smart landscaping, or strong scents to deter them. 

The rabbit you're most likely to encounter outside is the eastern cottontail. There are other species of rabbits, but they are not as common in residential areas. These prolific pests are an essential part of the food chain. Foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and birds of prey like eagles, owls, and hawks all eat cottontails. In fact, one strategy for dealing with rabbits is to wait until a local predator takes care of the problem. 

Baby rabbits, or kits, leave their nest at about 3 weeks of age, at which point they are only a bit larger than a chipmunk. Even so, they are on their own and free-range eating already. Commonly thought of as rodents, they are actually lagomorphs, which is a technical distinction without a whole lot of difference. They live in burrows, under sheds, and in dense cover, and they eat greens, flowers, grass, vegetables, as well as twigs, and even tree bark when food is scarce.

One important way to keep rabbits out of your yard is to remove places where they will hide: tall grass, leafy areas, vine thickets, and other excessive vegetation. If you find a burrow, fill it with gravel. By eliminating places where they can hide safely, rabbits will move to a better environment. To keep rabbits from your flower or garden beds, fences are the best option. A 2-foot-high chicken wire fence will deter the rascals from your plants. (If damage continues after you fence off the garden, it's probably a deer.) 

Many folks don't like the look of a wire fence, especially around flowers rabbits love to eat. You can either make a more attractive fence or just use the fencing when the plants are small, then remove it after they are well established. For trees and shrubs, use a protective wrap at the base that's at least 24 inches tall. There may be success with humane store-bought repellents, and many are on the market. Employ them in areas too small to be practical for a fence-type barrier and around individual plants. If used in a vegetable garden, be certain that the repellent is safe for consumption. 

Homemade recipes to repel rabbits abound, using garlic, red pepper, pet urine, soap flakes, moth repellent, and more. These efforts may be effective, but there isn't much empirical evidence to support the claims. It probably won't hurt to apply cayenne pepper to keep rabbits away. Things to scare the rabbits — like balloons, pinwheels, and owl decoys — may work, but not permanently, as the animals become habituated to them.

The most effective and humane way to keep rabbits from coming into your yard (or encourage them to leave) is by making it a place they don't want to live. Eliminate hiding places; trim your trees so the branches don't sit on the ground. Eliminate plants that make a thick, hidden area for them to hide. If you have a shed in the yard, seal off the bottom so rabbits can't burrow under. Many predators eat rabbits, and rabbits need to hide to be safe. Expose them and they will leave or risk being eaten. Fencing is the next best solution — take away their food source, and rabbits will hippity-hop down the bunny trail to eat. 

Another option is live trapping. Live traps, like the Havahart 1083 catch-and-release live animal trap, won't physically hurt a rabbit. Once the animal is caught, you can take it to a location where it won't be a garden menace. (Either a private residence with permission or public lands.) This is labor-intensive: setting the trap, checking it, and then driving to another place. But it works. Wear gloves when handling the trap and put it on a plastic barrier while in your car to avoid transferring disease or fleas.

Diligence will pay off and you will certainly reduce the number of rabbits raiding your yard by using the techniques above. But even with your best efforts, they will likely come back if you leave places for them to feel safe. Rabbit numbers are cyclical by nature, so you may still have migrators wander through when their population is high.