How to get rid of Rabbits...

[Pembo]

I went out to clean up after the dogs now that all our snow is melted. I think for every pile of dog doo there is an equal pile of rabbit pellets. I'm sure it's rabbits, I actually googled rabbit poo and they look the same.

So does anyone know anything about rabbits? Why are the pooping all over my yard? Especially right near where my dogs go? How do I get rid of them without harming the dogs?

I havent's seen any rabbits since last fall. We have two big golden retrievers so you would think that would keep them away. Now I'm wondering where they are living in my backyard. Their droppings were all over the yard...as were my dog's.

It's bad enough to clean up after the dogs...but rabbits?!

 

[cheshireqt]

That is strange. Our neighborhood is full of rabbits but our dog keeps them well away. Is it possible it is deer, coming through in the wee hours of the morning?
Not sure if this will help? I know for deer you can get dried blood and it will keep them away. No idea it that works for bunnies. If you are positive it is bunnies, and it sounds like you are, you could you put a strip of chicken wire around the base of your fence (assuming you have a fenced back yard of course). If the pellets still appear you know they are actually living in your backyard and not just visiting. At that point you may have to trap them and relocate them to some nearby woods.

 

[rapriebe]

I was just out in my yard cleaning up rabbit poo also. My dogs have a small yard that they go out on a daily basis and it is free from rabbits. However the rest of the yard is fenced with chain link and the rabbits get into it. When we let the dogs out to run in the big yard they immediately start looking for the rabbit poo and start munching, yuck. So I'm out there constantly cleaning it up before the dogs get it. I would love to find a way to keep those dang rabbits out.

 

[kacaju]

I went out to clean up after the dogs now that all our snow is melted. I think for every pile of dog doo there is an equal pile of rabbit pellets. I'm sure it's rabbits, I actually googled rabbit poo and they look the same.

So does anyone know anything about rabbits? Why are the pooping all over my yard? Especially right near where my dogs go? How do I get rid of them without harming the dogs?

I havent's seen any rabbits since last fall. We have two big golden retrievers so you would think that would keep them away. Now I'm wondering where they are living in my backyard. Their droppings were all over the yard...as were my dog's.

It's bad enough to clean up after the dogs...but rabbits?!

did you google deer poop? It looks a lot like rabbit poop. We have a fenced in yard and even with 3-4 dogs here I still get those dumb bunnies who come into the yard. Is your yard fenced? If not I bet due to the amount you are talking about it may be deer poop. My parents had deer in their yard it it was really bad trying to walk out there!!

 

[Pembo]

We are completely fenced so it can't be deer.

 

[tiggger1]

it could be squirrels because they look like rabbit scat too.. I know because I they have been leaving presents for me in the barn...

 

[SookieStackhouse]

Outdoor cats will thin down the rabbit population... although the mess the cats create with rabbit parts may be worse than the original problem.

 

[Pigeon]

You could get a basset hound. We have a mutt who is part basset, and any time a bunny gets into our fenced back yard, it never ends well for the bunny.

Of course, then you have a different disposal problem to deal with.

 

[elizke]

I'd love to know too. We have a huge rabbit problem! And we have dogs too. There's no question it's rabbits. We see them all the time all over the neighborhood and they are quite prolific with their poop. And they love to snack on baby landscaping, which is the main reason we'd like to find something that works.

 

[goofyernmost]

Stew comes to mind!

 

[meliss8599]

We are completely fenced so it can't be deer.

I'm pretty sure I've read deer can jump a 6ft-8ft fence easily.

 

[minkydog]

I'm really surprised the rabbits are hanging around since you have dogs. Our 11yo Minkydog is creaky, but he manages to terrorize the squirrel and rabbit population at our house.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Rabbits aren't deterred by the presence of dogs, sadly.

Every year at bunny season, I have a heck of a time trying to keep the peace between the bunnies and my 3 dogs. I'm an animal lover and really don't want any bunnies paying for their presence with their life but Lucy, my schnauzer, kills several every year (can't usually outrun the adult rabbits). And, every year, we get several bunny nests in our yard where the dogs can reach them.

They don't seem to have a good radar for the presence of predators when setting up housing

I have no idea how to get rid of them. I'm not sure there is...

 

[bellebud]

I went out to clean up after the dogs now that all our snow is melted. I think for every pile of dog doo there is an equal pile of rabbit pellets. I'm sure it's rabbits, I actually googled rabbit poo and they look the same.

So does anyone know anything about rabbits? Why are the pooping all over my yard? Especially right near where my dogs go? How do I get rid of them without harming the dogs?

I havent's seen any rabbits since last fall. We have two big golden retrievers so you would think that would keep them away. Now I'm wondering where they are living in my backyard. Their droppings were all over the yard...as were my dog's.

It's bad enough to clean up after the dogs...but rabbits?!

WOW! I could have posted this almost exactly!! (except I have a german shephard and a goldendoodle). The past week I've really noticed it all over our fenced in backyard. And like another poster said, it's near the dog poop most of the time too. Sooooo weird!! We have woods behind our property, so I don't know why they bother to come into our property in the first place (we're fenced w/ a horse fence w/ chicken wire - but in many spots it doesn't come exactly to the ground).

AND we've had groundhogs dig under the fence to come in and set up house too. WHY on earth would they want to do that w/ 2 big dogs always out there, barking their heads off??

Someone told me to put the dog poop in all the dig-holes under my fence, and now I've started to put the dog poop under all our pine trees, since this is where I see many holes (so I'm assuming that's where the bunnies live). I'm hoping to deter them, but so far, nothing's working. And the squirrels just tease the heck out of the dogs. So I guess it's squirrel poop and rabbit poop.

UGH!!!!

 

[rapriebe]

We live in the woods and the deer are everywhere; we even feed them 2 times a day. However, they never jump our 5foot chain link fence. The deer poop is definitely a much larger pile than the rabbit's and the poop itself is also larger than a rabbits. We also have squirrels everywhere and have never seen any of their poop but I would imagine it would be much smaller than the rabbits.

Ew-w-w, what a gross descriptive thread this has turned into.

 

[klacey1]

You could get a basset hound. We have a mutt who is part basset, and any time a bunny gets into our fenced back yard, it never ends well for the bunny.

Of course, then you have a different disposal problem to deal with.

We had a basset for 13 years and I could never imagine her doing that! I think the largest animal she snapped at was a bee.

 

[cglaura]

Have you ever had them in your yard before? If you've never had them in spring and summer, be careful to watch for nests when mowing. I didn't know what a rabbit nest looked like (kind of like dirt with some weeds bunched up...they nest underground). I thought the dog was digging.

The vibration or sound must have spooked them and the all ran up out of the nest. I let go of the bar as soon as I saw one, but 1 didn't make it. That was enough, I cried for days and couldn't get that image out of my head. Now I mow waaaaayyyy around any dirt patch in my yard. They were tiny too, about the size of a Twinkie.

So if you can't get rid of them, just be mindful. Do you have any bushes, brush or thatch/vine areas? They like to nest in that in the winter.

 

[bellebud]

Have you ever had them in your yard before? If you've never had them in spring and summer, be careful to watch for nests when mowing. I didn't know what a rabbit nest looked like (kind of like dirt with some weeds bunched up...they nest underground). I thought the dog was digging.

The vibration or sound must have spooked them and the all ran up out of the nest. I let go of the bar as soon as I saw one, but 1 didn't make it. That was enough, I cried for days and couldn't get that image out of my head. Now I mow waaaaayyyy around any dirt patch in my yard. They were tiny too, about the size of a Twinkie.

So if you can't get rid of them, just be mindful. Do you have any bushes, brush or thatch/vine areas? They like to nest in that in the winter.

So glad you posted this. I'll be sure to keep a look-out! Little twinkies running around - I'm so sorry you hit one. That must have been terrible!

I think mine mostly burrow in the mulch under the pine trees.

I wonder about moth balls?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We have Red Tailed Hawks and thus have no bunnies, squirrels and they keep the mice and snakes in check.

I have lived here 3yrs now and have seen 1 bunny in my yard. Never have seen a squirrel.

My two dogs would dig to China to eat any intruders in their yard. I thank goodness we don't have any.

 

[bellebud]

we do have a lot of hawks around - I'm guessing they won't swoop into our yard because of my dogs.