A little of course but… Today we are cooking a whole venison roast with a slab of pork belly skewered on top. It is done and resting soaking some of the juice. 
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The rabbits ruined a bunch of my trees during the summer. They even dug down in the roots and ate them they are terrible.
I have few hanging around the house. I keep a large pile of branches that I have pruned from around our property for them to hopefully munch on. We just got 2 new Lab puppies that I hope will take care of the rabbit and squirrels. At least keep them away from our place. Oh and to scare off the 2 mallard ducks that try to call our pool home in the spring.
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While checking on my orchard yesterday I saw a trail of rabbit tracks followed by very large dog-like footprints. The ‘coyote’ prints had large claws too. (nice big paw prints). The rabbit tracks suddenly disappeared and the claws dove into the hedge. Two down, one to go.
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I’m creating more wildlife habitat each year, so there is more and more rabbits, they help keep my cats fat. I put spiral tree guards on my young trees and that keeps the rabbits, mice, voles from girdling them most of the time, then all I have to worry about is bigger vermin like deer that can turn the spiral tree guards to confetti with their antlers. The deer also have a hobby where they like to chew on the guards and pull them off the trees.
Sounds like you really need fencing. That would drive me crazy. I have black heavy plastic netting around my tree trunks then a circle of chicken wire. That didn’t stop a thing! So netting came out and it has worked very well so far this winter. Its horrible to see the trunks of your trees shredded!
Just a reminder if you have not got your rabbit guards on your trees get them on! I’ve already had nibbling and it’s only the first part of October!
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I noticed a little nibbling on one of my trees today. I also noticed a wad of bunny hair in by back yard. Owl possibly took care of the nibbling issue.
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Bill,
The rabbits are getting ready for winter and I’m getting ready for them! This is weekend 2 applying rabbit guards and my 2nd 100’ roll of 4" corrugated pipe.
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Looks good. I have added a few guards around my trees but I have a few more to go.
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What’s best to cut that corrugated stuff?
I just use pruners but a razor knife is fine as well. The trick is stick the blade in and then rotate the pipe around and you will not need to use much effort. Those 100’ rolls are $37 at home depot.
But you need to cut it lengthwise, too, no?
If it has lateral branches yes then it will be extra work. What I do is cut the black plastic off years later when the tree no longer needs it but in the first year I get a loose fitting pipe around that whip. My rabbits won’t miss the opportunity to feed on an apple tree if I miss one. When you cut the pipe off later save that for one that has lateral branches and you can just clip it on that new tree. Making those vertical slices is more work.
I used that type of corrugated pipe on my trees after I first planted them. I removed them after I put fencing around them. That let the air and sun get to where the tree goes into the ground, to keep it from getting too damp. The fence I use has 1x2in gaps, so that should keep out the wabbits.
But, I’m going to put the pipes back on before winter, to keep the rodents off the bark when it snows.
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How does that stuff hold up to string trimmers? I’m looking for a quick solution to bark damage from that source.
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No problems Alan as long as your not using the new metal blades on your weed whacker it will work fine.
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That is excellent!!! I use the black, tough netting that is hard to cut and the rabbits don’t get through it. They will surely not get though that black plastic duct. What a great idea!
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That stuff is bullet proof in terms of protecting from rabbits but what I don’t like about it is that you can’t easily see the critters like Grubbs that may be feasting on the truck of your trees.
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I was thinking that you’d put on the tube for the winter and take it in the spring, like with the spiral guards. Leaving those on in the growing season promotes disease.
So you’d need to make a cut up the length