The presence of wild rabbits in residential areas is common across North America, largely due to the adaptability of species like the Eastern Cottontail. A suburban yard, with its manicured lawn and ornamental plantings, represents a concentrated source of resources that these animals find highly appealing. Well-kept gardens and dense landscaping offer a buffet of easily accessible food paired with ample shelter from predators and the elements.
Primary Reasons for Their Presence
The primary draw for rabbits is the dependable availability of high-value forage. Tender lawn grass, clover, and low-growing weeds provide a steady supply of preferred herbaceous vegetation throughout warmer seasons. Rabbits are also attracted to vulnerable garden plants, readily consuming vegetables and the first shoots of ornamental flowers such as tulips.
During cold months, when green growth is scarce, rabbits shift their diet to woody plants. They strip the bark from young trees and shrubs to access the soft, nutrient-rich cambium layer underneath. This explains why damage to landscaping and fruit trees often becomes noticeable in late autumn and winter. Water, typically found as morning dew or irrigation runoff, is a secondary benefit.
Understanding Rabbit Shelter and Hiding Spots
Rabbits constantly seek secure locations to hide from predators such as coyotes, foxes, and raptors. Your yard offers numerous opportunities for safety and rest, often close to their feeding areas. Dense, low-lying shrubbery provides a quick escape route and cover, while brush piles and woodpiles create impenetrable fortresses.
They frequently seek refuge beneath man-made structures, utilizing the protected, dark spaces under decks, porches, and sheds. Rabbits do not typically construct deep, complex burrow systems known as warrens. Instead, they often rely on shallow depressions in the grass called “forms” for resting, which offer concealment within tall grasses or thick ground cover.
Common Signs of Rabbit Activity
Confirming a rabbit’s presence often comes down to observing the specific evidence they leave behind. One telling sign is the nature of their feeding damage on plant stems, which appears as a clean, angled cut. This precision is distinct from the jagged, torn appearance left by animals like deer, who lack lower incisors.
The rabbits’ small, dark, round fecal pellets are a reliable indicator, often found in concentrated clusters near feeding or resting spots. Look for damage on woody plants, particularly during winter, where bark may be gnawed or completely stripped away in a ring around the trunk, a process called girdling. Lastly, shallow, bowl-shaped depressions in the lawn, often lined with fur, confirm the location of their daytime resting forms.
Effective Ways to Encourage Them to Leave
Encouraging rabbits to leave involves modifying their habitat and physically excluding them from desirable areas. Exclusion fencing is highly effective but must be properly installed to account for their ability to dig and squeeze through small spaces. The fence should be at least two feet high and constructed with mesh no larger than one inch in diameter.
To prevent rabbits from digging underneath, the bottom of the fence should be buried at least six inches deep, ideally bent outward in an “L” shape. You can also make your yard less appealing by removing brush piles and sealing off the spaces beneath sheds and decks with hardware cloth. This eliminates the safe cover they depend on.
Commercial taste or scent-based repellents can be applied directly to vulnerable plants, making the vegetation less palatable or signaling the presence of a predator. Repellents containing ingredients like putrefied egg solids or capsaicin create an aversion, but they require consistent reapplication, especially after rain or heavy watering. A combination of physical barriers and habitat alteration offers the best long-term solution for encouraging rabbits to relocate.