Go to the 'deer resistance' forum they have 2-3 discussions going.

Nothing I tried worked for me with Rabbits. Since you say that harming them is not an option, I won't share my secret with you. Lets just say that the population is now under control. Fishing line doesn't work for deer though. I tried it and they went right through it.

You can use a BB gun on the groundhogs without harming them since they have such thick hide. It sure does make them jump up and run away though. BBs will kill rabbits though.

hi, BBgun is out of the question but it is very inticing. As far as the 4ft fishing line not working, well I think it will becuase i'm going to attach some streamers on to it and that way the deer will be able to tell its there but still won't want to jump it.

I was really hoping someone would at least be able to tell me that the methodes I was going to try would make the critters perfer the clover but I guess nothing tastes as good as a homegrown veggie. The trouble is that I I'm not going to eat the clover so there could bea problem.

Sorry Daylily, unless you are willing to:

a) Fence them out

b) "Eliminate" them or

c) Plant enough for them and you

You are going to have troubles with them. Sure there are certain deterrents, but almost none of them are truly effective, and generally they find ways around them after a time.

Sorry to be a downer, but if you want 100% assurance, you need to do one of those 3 things.

We don't have a problem with rabbits but the groundhogs had made a feast of the garden for several years until we finally invested in an electric fence. It was just a couple of inches off the ground so the low-slung waddling critters had to touch it if they wanted in the garden. It was the only thing that actually worked. We had tried a number of repellants and other ideas and they just ignored them.

If you can put up a fishing line fence, you can put up an electric fence. It will not harm your precious little bunnies, just give them an unpleasant experience. You can do it for under $100.

I love your confidence that the streamers will work. Let us know how it's going in June/July.

Oh how difficult it is teach those who believe everything they read in those commercial adds.

Reflective spinners and long shining twirly things did absolutely nothing to keep anything from my garden last year. I have a small herd of deer that live on my place and too many rabbits to even think of. This year the elderly man that I share my garden with told me he was going to use snow fencing to keep the deer out. Ha, ha! I have enough horse fencing to enclose it, but will be putting it up higher and use my chicken wire at the lower area to keep out the bunnies, opposums and whatever. You could try some nylon net from the fabric store and make some hoops just tall enough to keep it off the plants. I did that to protect newly planted corn from the birds one year and it worked. Its cheap, can be super wide and if you use green, it blends right in with your garden.

In an area with moderate rabbit and woodchuck pressure I watered around plants with dilute fresh, human urine, approximately 1:10 dilution. The treated plants were eaten much less than the untreated. Not sure what would have happened if all were treated. Don't apply when the sun is intense and don't let the stuff age. And don't tell people who might think this is awful. Purchased predator urine is fine with some, but not human?....Doesn't make sense to me.

LISTEN to Steelshepard!!! If he had not posted I would have said the same thing and I promise you fishing line will not work!!!! I have been zapped many times when I was a kid and forgot where the line had been moved but never forgot where it was after that...at least until the next time my father moved the line and forgot to tell me, yes it stings but only for a brief second and no harm done, one or two stings and they will not bother you again...ever!

And a trick for the electric fence is to put some attractant on it so they will actually put their nose on it to smell/taste. That way they will definitely get a jolt before they try to jump it and will stay away.

Ditto's on electric fence. I use an elctric fence. We also have a cat. The cat has not been harmed by the fence. He puts his nose near the wire to determine when the fence is operating. On one occasion, when unbeknownst to me the fence was grounded out by weed contact, the raccoons raided my corn crop. So I suspect raccons (and rabbits, squirrels, and oppossums) use the same tactic to determine if/when the fence is active.

hi thanks for all your suggestions. electric fencing doesn't work for me unfortanetly becuase one I have no power source two i really really don't want to get jolted. I came up with a plan That I think will work better. the fence will be 4 ft high and have a fishing line strand every foot. the bottom foot will be chicken wire with anuall red poppies planted outside the fence to disguise the chicken wire. the next foot will have fishing line every 6" and the top two feet will have flags on it so the deer will be able to tell that somthing is there and they won't want to jump it since they can't see the fishing line. finally I will have my motion activated ultra-sonic device to scare away any animals that might get in to the garden. I will also apply my mint repelent as well as blood meal to help make my garden the least attractive feeding spot.

do you think this will work?

I know some of you said that fishing line won't work but our county extension service uses it with great effect to keep deer out of there demanstration gardens.

I alo know that electric fence would work well but since I wouldn't be able to put it together myself I'd have to get a kit of some kind and that would be out of my buget since I'm trying to build this fence for under $20. (I have the fishing line poles and some of the chicken wire already.

here is a rough sketch of what the fence might look like.

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Steelshepherd & gardener Sandy are correct.I have used the small animal electric fence in the past and it reAlly worked.1 wire 5" off ground & 2nd 10" higher--Approx. Even did good job for deer if put up early-before plants were large enough to eat.Deer wire approx. 3 1/2ft.high.You need to train them early.Raccoons 1 wire 6" high has worked.Peanut butter on wire helps.

FWIW, we have plenty of deer, rabbits and squirrels. I went to Petco and asked the groomer for a bag of dog hair. It does seem to help keep the smaller rodents away although my garden looks like it's infested with hampsters. I hung windchimes from the trellis where my pole beans grow. The beans grow over them, but then they ring if you pull on the vines. I don't know if it worked, but the deer didn't eat them last year with the chimes like they did the year before without them. I'm surprised no one has suggested you get one of the motion activated sprinklers that spray a rodent if they get in the garden. I've never tried them, so maybe they don't work?

Here is a link that might be useful: motion activated sprinkler

One warning about the bloodmeal - it attracts dogs. I have two dogs, and one of them dug up my raspberry plants when I used bloodmeal around them to scare off the rabbits. There is a product called Liquid Fence that works fairly well on rabbits. You have to reapply it after it rains and it won't work if they're really hungry, but it works better than any other non-fence option that I've tried.

The chicken wire should work. Make sure it is secure on the bottom as the rabbits can squeeze through some incredibly small spaces. If you can bury part of it that will be best. You might need to make it taller than a foot though as the rabbits can jump fairly high. The combination of Liquid Fence plus the chicken wire might be enough to deter them though especially if they have other food elsewhere that is easier to get to.

Could anyone who has installed a low electric fence put up some pics? I'm interested in how far down you needed to sink the uprights in order for the cord not to sag into the ground.

Thanks!

Deer will walk through the fishing line, after a while, they will jump the electric frnce, they will jump a snow fence, bunnies will find anyspot large enough to get into your garden. Reduce the population, reduce the threat. Plant enough for both. Those are all I know. I have a 7' chain link fence around my yard, and the deer still jump it when greens and beans are ripe. Timo

Rootdoctor,

You've piqued my curiosity as to your rabbit remedy. I'm ready to do anything short of atomic bombs to eliminate the rabbit menace in my neighborhood. Over the past five years, 167 have fallen to the bb gun, but I'm no where near to eradicating them.

Thanks,

Brook

Cherylco, I posted a picture in the thread below showing the posts holding the electric fencing wire. The poles are about 6 to 10 inches deep. The black flowerbed border material is to keep the squirrels from walking under the lower wire. My setup is not permanent. I use a hand-held extension cord spool to roll up the wire and put it back down. I have different spools with various lengths which allow me to fence the full garden or portions of the garden.

If you search a bit you may find other electric fence pictures posted on this site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Prior Thread

It sounds like you have ruled out electric fence for a number of reasons, however I wanted to let you know we installed one using a solar panel for the power source since we didn't have electric in the area where we have the fence.

I have also had success using "Repels All", you CAN NOT put it directly on your veggies, but I have used it around my garden (prior to the fence) and had some success with it.