So, I’ve recently been struck by the eighth biblical plague… Bunnies
I think because of how dry it’s been these wee dicks have been peeling off the bark to drink the juice, and it’s now killed a dozen of my plants.
I’m trying to figure out what to do about these, there’s probably dozens roaming around the property. They’re breeding… At an unprecedented rate. Almost enough to make some kind of folksy adage about it.
My strategies so far
chicken wire the base. They’re only pulling off the lower 1’ or so, so I’ve wrapped things in a 1’ diameter circle and 1’ high
trapping? I haven’t tried, I was thinking of even keeping some around for manure. Or maybe just killing them, but I’m a bit of a pussy and I don’t know if I could get the job done. (The neighbors dogs would certainly oblige though).
Blasting these fuckers into space. I’ve got a couple hundred grams of sketchy conversion oil sitting around. Was thinking about mixing it into some kind of plant safe solvent (any ideas?!), Perhaps acetone or even a terpene, however the stem is exposed and I was worried about putting stuff on there. But then spraying it on, and if they get a nibble they’ll see God. (Downside is if stoned ape theory holds merit and I create a race of cogniscent super bunnies).
fixing the chewed up stems. is there any kind of natural bittering agent and wrap I can put on there to save the plants and ward off the varmits?
Fence your property and get a few dogs. Works wonders (for all animals) our chickens are free range and we haven’t lost a single one to skunks or raccoons. My neighbor has lost probably over 30 in the last few year…dogs also keep those fucking deer away. Those things will decimate a crop.
So, I unfortunately don’t have the budget to fence in a couple acres right now. And my dogs run em down when they see them, but the sneaky bastards are coming in at night and my dogs are small, and far from the largest predators in the area. But I’ll keep at it lol.
Deer in NC used to get my crops all the fucking time till I moved indoor.
For rabbits they got killer noses try some spicy stuff near by. We used to purposely grow thorns at the edge of our property to keep out deer + rabbits. Strangley the rose garden we’d plant yearly would get eaten first and would be the warning to amp up security on the cannabis.
Google says spicy stuff too like crushed red pepper or talcum powder dusting them helps. Never tried that but having spicy plants as a barrier is what we did for the roses and cannabis when I was on mainland dealing with same problem.
edit - meant to reply to @tweedledew sorry pupparoo
Weed doesn’t taste that good, they are just hungry. I don’t know how dry your weather happens to be, but if it would sprout, I would throw out seed of clover and or whatever cover crop would grow. I have rabbits (and deer) all over but they have lots of grass to eat so they don’t bother anything.
If sounds like they are doing this out of desperation for water. Doesn’t sound like an optimal way to get your water. Have you tried supplying them with water in hopes they will leave your plants alone. Or as @Autumn_Ridge_Hemp said plant something for them to eat!
I put out a water bowl a few days ago. I’ll put a few more out. Then yeah maybe I’ll water a little area with some seed and Give em some clover.
Their manure doesn’t need composting, it’s up there with bats for usefulness and it isn’t too hot to put directly on without composting too; so maybe we can run it symbiotically.
Do some hot pepper and cannabis spray, and then some water and clover. A carrot and stick approach, so to speak.
Still working on the weapons-grade stuff, but I can say regular cayenne pepper from the store works wonders at keeping animals at bay. I used it for raccoon management on the property, but it should work the bunnies, too.