Snow fences can work for you or against you and you might have made one without intending to Snow fence - Wikipedia. Rabbits use drifting snow to reach your small fruit trees if you allow that to happen. Your trees do need water so if you have snow whst better way to get your trees more water. I use obstacles that catch snow to retain more melt water. Those obstacles are setup in the right places and i typically make mine up out old brush.
Last winter rabbits destroyed seven young trees and some four year old trees due to drifting snow. I am prepared for this winter, and have extra fencing.
Last year with 3 ft of snow on the ground. It helped rabbits to easily reach most of scaffolds of my Harrow Sweet pear’ and ate them down to about 4" stubs. That’s really stunted the growth of the tree.
Yes it is. It made me lose years on three pears, apricots and apples. It was horrible. NOT THIS YEAR! I feel like Elmer Fudd!
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Rabbits can be tough to stop and I see their numbers are way up in Kansas. I drop them elm and other trees to give them something to eat during the snow. Hunters come out and help control them though even with that I still get some damage.
On the windy plains a snow barrier can add to soil water for sure. For many snow events nearly all the snow piles up in drifts and bare areas catch little or nothing.
I’d help with that rabbit problem if closer!!
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Fruitnut,
We have plenty of cottontail if your ever in the area and have some time on your hands. Thanks
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That was how I learned to hunt at about 10 yrs old. Cottontails in the snow. You could track them to their bed for the day. Not many escaped and they were good eating.
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