The Eastern Cottontail, the most common rabbit species across North America, is the primary culprit behind yard and garden damage. Rabbits are attracted to residential areas because the landscape provides an ideal combination of food, cover, and relative safety. Your yard often presents a rich buffet of tender garden plants, ornamental shrubs, and grasses. Suburbs naturally create the “edge” habitats that rabbits prefer, offering proximity to dense brush for quick escape from predators. To mitigate this problem humanely, a multi-faceted approach focusing on exclusion, habitat modification, and sensory discouragement is the most effective strategy.
Implementing Physical Barriers
The most reliable method for keeping rabbits away from specific plants or garden beds is exclusion through properly installed fencing. A physical barrier prevents access, which is more consistently effective than relying on repellents. For vegetable gardens or flower beds, the fence should be constructed of galvanized chicken wire or hardware cloth with a mesh size of one inch or less. This small opening ensures that even juvenile rabbits cannot squeeze through.
The fence needs to extend at least two feet above the ground, as rabbits can easily stand on their hind legs and stretch to reach low-hanging leaves or buds. The most crucial step is to prevent the animals from digging underneath. The bottom edge must be buried at least six inches deep, and it is recommended to bend the bottom six inches of the buried material outward in an L-shape. This horizontal flange beneath the soil deters burrowing, as the rabbit encounters the mesh when digging near the fence line.
For individual, highly vulnerable plants, such as young trees or newly planted shrubs, temporary wire cylinders offer targeted protection. Tree guards should be placed around the trunk, especially in winter when rabbits will gnaw on bark for sustenance. These smaller barriers must also be firmly secured to the ground to prevent them from being pushed aside.
Modifying the Yard Environment
A less direct but equally important deterrence method involves making the entire yard less appealing as a place to live and seek shelter. Rabbits are a prey species and require reliable cover to escape predators, rest, and raise their young. You can discourage their presence by eliminating these secure hiding spots and nesting locations.
Specific actions include removing dense brush piles, stacks of wood, and excessive debris where rabbits can conceal themselves. Areas underneath decks, porches, or sheds are highly favored nesting spots and should be secured with a wire mesh barrier that is also buried underground. Rabbits often utilize existing burrows dug by other animals, such as woodchucks, so filling in these abandoned holes can reduce available shelter.
Reducing the availability of easily accessible food sources will encourage rabbits to forage elsewhere. This involves maintaining a tidy yard by promptly cleaning up fallen fruit from trees and minimizing spilled bird seed. Keeping lawn grass cut short removes the dense cover rabbits use for surface nests, known as a form, and increases their exposure to predators. By creating an open, less secure environment, you effectively reduce the yard’s appeal as a permanent habitat.
Utilizing Repellents and Sensory Deterrents
Repellents and sensory tactics offer a mobile, non-structural layer of defense that targets the rabbit’s sense of taste, smell, or fear. Taste-based products often contain ingredients like putrescent egg solids, which impart an unpleasant flavor to the foliage, or capsaicin from chili peppers, which causes mild irritation when consumed. These products are sprayed directly onto the plants and act as a strong deterrent to feeding. They require regular reapplication, particularly after rain or watering, to maintain effectiveness on new growth.
When using any repellent, check the product label to ensure it is safe for use on edible plants. Smell-based deterrents, such as commercial formulas containing predator urine scent, can be applied to the ground or perimeter of an area to suggest a nearby threat. Planting strongly scented herbs, like marigolds or garlic, around vulnerable plants can create a localized, unpleasant odor barrier that rabbits tend to avoid.
Sensory deterrents exploit a rabbit’s natural skittishness to sudden movement or noise. Motion-activated sprinklers are highly effective, as the sudden spray of water and the accompanying noise startles the animal and conditions it to avoid the area. Predator decoys, such as plastic owls, can work temporarily, but they must be moved every few days to prevent the rabbits from realizing the threat is stationary and harmless, a process known as habituation. A combination of these sensory and chemical deterrents is necessary to provide continuous protection, especially where fencing is impractical.