Managing Rabbit Damage

There is one familiar furry resident in your home landscape which does tremendous damage in the winter months, but it’s not the famous Phil from Punxsutawney. The groundhog is notorious for doing quite a bit of damage in the garden. Who hasn’t lost a tomato in its prime or noticed gnawed ornamentals in their yard? This time of year, in the dead of winter the groundhog is not to blame.  A fair amount of landscape injury comes from cottontail rabbit, and this creature can do extensive damage in winter around your home.
 
While rabbits live year-round in your garden, their behavior is more pronounced now. Protecting the trees, shrubs, and perennials from these varmints will help them cope with the seasonal struggles better. Rabbits chew off buds and stems of shrubs and other low-growing plants. Rabbits harm the bark of young trees, especially fruit trees. Damage is usually confined to 18 to 24 inches above ground or snow level. Stems are cut off cleanly, leaving a sharp 45-degree angle cut. Other tell-tale, or maybe bunny-tail, signs of a rabbit visit include elongated tracks in the snow and little piles of round brown droppings.

You can control rabbits by:

• Eliminating hiding places such as brush, tall grass, and weeds, and close up any openings in crawl spaces, under decks, and sheds.
• Protecting gardens with fencing. A chicken wire fence, with a one-inch or finer mesh at least two feet high, provides adequate protection. This time of year the fence cannot be buried, but when the ground is workable, extend the bottom of the fence at least six inches below the soil line.
• Using tree guards, wraps or hardware cloth around the trunks of young trees. The higher the snow, the higher the guards must be. Do the best you can with anticipating more snow.
• Using repellants. These are available at local garden supply stores. By law, all commercial repellents must be used according to instructions on the product label. This should be the last resort. Any kind of chemical control is a hazard to wildlife, humans, and pets.

If you would like more information on managing the damage done by these animals, The Penn State Master Gardeners in Lackawanna County have the free publication “Wildlife Control: Rabbits.”  Please contact us at 570-963-6842 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu for a free copy.

Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County