Aye, the thumpers are a getting to you aye, Elmer?

My dog chased, caught and killed a squirrel yesterday - they have no place in my garden either.

How does your garden grow, Reg?

I planted Jeff's Mystery Pink Oxheart the other day... Looking good too... Gotta thank you for that one. I'll keep you posted!

Take care, Reg.

Let's look at it another way...you have elected to place your garden where they live, not the other way around. Put up something to keep them OUT as opposed to blaming them for getting IN. It's not their fault...it's yours!!! An old rule of thumb is to plant twice what you need...half for you and half for the critters. If you're serious about killing them because they bother your stuff then you don't deserve a garden anyway.

Reg,

I feel for ya man. Unfortunately animals just don't pick up on hints like leaving a dead one out there to deter the others. :-) I admire you for humanely trapping and relocating them. However, I suspect you're going to have to have quite a fondness for doing that because they breed like, well uh, like rabbits. :-)

Anyhow, I knew that I had deer, rabbits, ground hogs, etc. so I put up a fence. I'm a lot less frustrated and stressed. These days, I hardly ever get the urge to go get the 20 gauge and shoot something. :-)

Good luck.

Randy

Have to agree with Randy completely and bing only half heartedly.
After years of lamenting the sharing our food source with the animals, I found the only two ways to a solution short of eliminating the threat, was fence or abundance.
Realizing that humans are at the TOP of the food chain, one has to accept that animals are just that, animals.
We were put here in dominion over them not the other way around. We also , I humbly believe, are charged to use the abundance of nature in a wise and prudent manner.
Seeing that sportsman are the NUMBER 1 contributor to the conservation and protection of wildlife and natural resources, rabbits are tasty to some folks prepared correctly.
I would challenge the kooky notion that animals decimating a food plot are to be tolerated because they were "there first" consider this:

Would you let a black bear carry off your first born into the woods and eat him or her?
Or perhaps you would let two dozen racoons eat your food supply for the winter. Get real.
This also is the primary flaw in the far left "enviornmental movement."
When it comes to tomatoes for the family or thinning out the squirrel , rabbit or chipmunk population guess who will win out due to the natural order of things?

Next one I trap I will kill. And give it to my dog to eat. And he can puke up its fur and guts. No more Mr Nice Guy.

Regurgitated rabbit remains may be something good to put into garden patch.

Reg

"I would challenge the kooky notion that animals decimating a food plot are to be tolerated because they were "there first".

I take exception to the "kooky" comment. Also, I'm not part of the "environmental movement"!

I come on the site because I enjoy most of the posts and learn a lot of things so I'm not interested into getting into a "pissing contest" here. However, if you want to have a garden that is for you, and not the animals, then fence the DAMN thing in...it's that simple! I have an 80 acre farm and planted 38 fruit trees a couple years back. The deer have ruined them with their rubbing and eating the buds. Their fault or mine??? It's mine. If I was so worried about the deer then it's up to me to protect the trees, not shoot the deer.

Won't continue this argument any longer...you sound like a couple of jerk-offs to me...especially good ole Reg!

We have a rabbit problem in our neighborhood too. They don't go in my backyard because I have three dogs. But they try to eat my flowers up front. I have planted rabbit resistant flowers there as a solution. I fought for a while, spraying the liquid fence thing which smells horrid and you have to keep up with it after raining, watering etc. It seemed to work, but using other methods suggested here didnt i.e. scattering dog hair, thorny rose bush trimmings, moth balls etc.

I didn't want a fence around my flower bed so I just opted to plant flowers they won't eat.

Now tomatoes, well...if you can't find another spot for them that the rabbits won't approach, put up a fence. They are sweet docile creatures and don't deserve to be murdered because they are trying to eat to survive-they don't have a clue that the yard is YOURS. To them it is up for grabs. It's not like a mountain lion is rummaging through your yard, preying on your pets and kids. Be nice! Just put up a fence around your veggie garden.

This forum is for the discussion of tomato growing, including plant selection, care and maintenance, as well as harvesting.

My apologies to the readers and reg and his post for my straying off topic.

Deterring in any form needed to protect human life and property (tomatoes) on private property is paramount to our survival.

I know of no evidence rabbit carcass repelling pests of any kind. Perhaps a quick reference to the pests forum will help you with the rabbit problem.

Tom

During the years I've been on this forum there have been many, many posts about tomato plant damage. The posts involved a wide range of culprits from wind damage, to animals, to humans. Therefore, IMHO it is an appropriate topic and no apologies are needed.

I live in the country. I grow tomatoes and other veggies. I'm a nature lover and enjoy the abundant wildlife in my area. I needed to find a way for these things to coexist. My solution was fencing. It works for me.

However, I am not so presumptuous to think that my solution is for everybody. Perhaps fencing doesn't work for Reg for whatever reason(s). He tried trapping and that didn't work. If shooting the rabbits works for him then that's what he should do and I support his decision (assuming of course that he isn't violating any regulations that are in effect in his area, and that he does it safely etc.).

So, Reg do what you have to do to protect your food.

Oh there's one other thing you could try and that's talking to them. I did that with the deer, but it didn't work. :-) BTW, my main garden plot is about 15 feet behind me in the pic.

Randy

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1333832}}

If you're serious about killing them because they bother your stuff then you don't deserve a garden anyway.I assume that you are a vegetarian and a non-hunter. If not, you are a hypocrit.
Rabbits and voles and crows and starlings and sparrows and termites are pests in an environment wherein human beings live and grow foodstuffs.

Reg

Randy,
ROFL
Please dear doe: Don't eat my maters!
If this approach works you will be a world hero! You can use your technique in the war on terror. (Tom slapping his forehead for straying again). Uhhh I mean the critter war on maters. At one point I was considering claymores, but they are soo loud.

Seriously, since the deer are there anyway, if that bucket has grain in it , if you fed them away from the crop maybe they would leave the maters alone.

Reg you could plant carrots all around outside the garden perimeter??

Deterring in any form needed to protect human life and property (tomatoes) on private property is paramount to our survival.

----------------------------
If we were all tribe members living off the land or something, sure...but do we really need to sit around and shoot rabbits all day? Believe me if there's one, there's plenty more...who has the time to do that? Surely there are other means to grow a successful garden?

That statement was pretty dramatic IMO.-- As if we are going to starve to death because the rabbits are eating our tomatoes...and for the record, any farmer who DOESN'T have some sort of barrier to protect his livelihood needs to get one. I am not a hippie, not a vegetarian, but I am also not going to sit around all day with a gun and wait for bunnies to enter my yard so I can shoot them....

i use blood meal to keep rabbits away. put it at the base of each plant. seems to work.

if you're going to let your dog eat rabbits, check her/him for tapeworm every once in a while. rabbits are intermediate hosts.

reg, man your in the wrong forum! You need to be in the "Garden Kill Forum". There's a thread entitled "100 Ways to kill those varmits and feed them to your dog" or "Varmits regurgitated as a pest deterrent".

I hear you bingster.

Here is an alternative for pest control.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Pro-Tec

Reg, I sympathize with you. We also live in rabbit central zone...no city laws on them but BB guns are illegal to be used in town. I shared many years with the critters winning more often than not. Tmoatoes, peppers, herbs, leafy veggies, they wanted them all.

Amazingly now we have 3 small dogs ( American Eskimo, Pom and Pom cross) but that seems to do the trick. Rabbits were around plenty in early spring but the dogs go out in the yard several times a day. Guess thumpers decided 3 noisy dogs were not worth it. These are the same rabbits who sat right beyond the dog's chain length this winter and dared her to get them. Maybe my garden is safe for a change. Now if the weather would cooperate. Good luck with rabbit control.

Amazingly now we have 3 small dogs ( American Eskimo, Pom and Pom cross) but that seems to do the trick... Most of the thumpers here seem to be nocturnal feeders. So dogs set out during the day would not deter their night grazing very much. They got after my tomatoes for the first time in 2007 season. Of course, they chewed my carrot and beet tops to shreds. Ruined almost all of them. The 3' chicken wire fence I erected was not tall enough... they just jumped it.

Seems to me, that once garden predators find what they consider to be a high-value product, they are able to remember its location and the timing of its production in subsequent seasons... and pass this info along to their offspring. Given that premise, I fear that the rabbits will get after my tomatoes this year in a big way. That is a primary reason for which I bought the trap.

For instance (on the recurrance premise), once the English sparrows (decidedly a pest... I would have no qualms at eradicating them all) discovered snap peas here, I was unable to grow any (I could net them... but too much a pain). At year one, the sparrows did nothing. At year 2, they ruined 50%. At year 3, 75% were destroyed. At year 4, I got no production at all. After that, I gave up on the peas.

So you should be able to understand why I have little sympathy for garden predators. I do not grow a garden in order to provide food or entertainment to wildlife... there is plenty of other food available for them, especially during the garden-growing season.

Reg

"plant pro-tec"

there is another product (i forget the name) sold in small cotton pouches. i checked the MSDS listing for it. it contains meat meal and hot pepper. fairly expensive.

you'd be able to do the same thing with blood meal and hot pepper powder. you could probably add a little garlic powder, also.

when i was young and energetic, i used to make a homemade garden spray with garlic, hot peppers, water, and a couple of drops of detergent. whirred it in the blender, strained it, and sprayed it on. it seemed to work well enough.

Reg,

You may want to check with the dept. of natural resources about hunting regulations before shooting rabbits.

Over the years, I've found rabbits prefer certain tomato plants over others. Here, they seem to like dwarf plants for which, luckily, I have plenty of seeds. I just put out a dozen or so placed here and there among the other tomatoes, and let them chew 'til their hearts are content.

When your regular tomato plants get tall enough that you can prune all the lower leaves, the rabbits seem to find other stuff to munch on ... like the Swiss Chard and Brenda's oriental lillies and impatiens ... hahahahahaha.

Now, when they start on her flowers ... THAT's a capital offense. Out comes Betsy Bangbang. Hahahahahaha. Really though, she orders some sort of "liquid fence" that seems to work pretty good. It should ... it smells like rotten eggs and a garlic burp!

Bill

The rabbits that visit our yard have left the veggies alone so far. Instead they go nuts for the dandelions, which we have in abundance. Neighborhood cats also help keep small critters away. There are several birds nesting in our trees, and the other day I saw a robin dive-bomb a rabbit, which darted away under the fence. So I guess that's my recipe for keeping rabbits out of the vegetables: dandelions, cats and nesting birds.

MA

Reg
Really, I've tried it all (except the claymore mines).
If you want to keep the critters out and let the weather in, you will probably have to fence if it is feasible.
We are able to relax and watch the show now that I have built a fairly inexpensive barrier, completly surrounding and covering a 20x 20 garden. Bamboo, welded wire, some poultry netting, bird netting and steel posts. Under a 100 bucks. I think the only way to be PC is to take raptor lessons, (another passion revealed:))
Pics soon

Tom