I've been known to do some crazy things for critters in my life. Like stick my arms through a sewer grate for two hours to save a dangling kitten. Or to take a sick hamster to a vet. Twice. Or to pluck a lost duckling off the sidewalk around DC's reflection pool and put him into the water to help find his mama.The latest crazy installment involves bunnies.
You see, our yard has always been home to rabbits. Used to be they'd build warrens in the yard, but they wised up and finally moved under our shed. Year after year new families would move in, have babies, move on. And year after year my garden would get decimated. My flowers nibbled to the ground, my liriope never even growing full leaves. It was disheartening at the least, because as much as I love wildlife, I love my garden too.
So one night when I was chopping carrots for dinner, I was about to throw away the ends when I realized these scraps may just help me. I put them out on a rock in the garden. It took three days, but they disappeared. I put more carrots out--they vanished. And my garden started growing again.
This year we've been proactive. In early spring we started feeding the wild rabbits a carrot a night. Every night my husband either chops the carrots into pieces or breaks the carrot in chunks (we like to keep those bunnies guessing) and places them on the patio. Then we wait.
More often than not the rabbit will drag the carrot into the garden and eat it there (must feel safer) and sometimes there is more than one rabbit vying for the carrots.
Crazy, right? Maybe not. After all, this is the first time my daisies have bloomed in years...
16 comments:
What a great idea, Heather! Feed the birds. . .uh, bunnies. I'm with you. I love the wildlife, but I also love, love, love my summer flowers.
If only that would work with our HUGE woodchuck...he's not as cute as your bunny and he eats all our lettuce :(
LOL! Genius!
I remember the way you put the duckling back in the water in D.C. And how we stopped ever few feet to watch how he did. If I remember correctly, he got right out again... Must have been a teenage duck.
Maggie, it works for bunnies. Not sure it would work for deer, or more invasive wildlife (like neighbors!)!
Deb, you should try to find something he'll eat. Carrots are way cheap--maybe throw one or two out there, see what happens!
LOL, Laura. Definitely a teenager!
I'm definitely trying this. I've cried too many tears over the loss of my bean crops that I've nurtured to the point of climbing, only to come out one morning and find them bitten to the quick.
LOL Under my shed has been home to various wildlife for many years as well. This year's occupant, as before, is a groundhog, but I've also had bunnies.
A couple years ago I started a pumpkin plant inside. The day after I transferred it outside it was a homicide victim.
Heather, I can't help but think of this as some kind of Bunny Mafia, organized bunny crime threatening to decimate your garden unless you pay them protection carrots.
I don't suppose that would make a pleasant children's book...
Gayle
http://gaylecarline.blogspot.com
This makes me smile and remember when my son (who is now almost eleven) would go crazy every time he saw a rabbit. He made us stop our bike ride many times just so that he could watch the wild bunnies. He tries to act like now he does not need to watch them, but when we got to the pet shop he still manages to find his way to the rabbits!
Our daughter (who just turned four) LOVES ducks! It is very comical to watch the two!
What a great idea! We are having problems with our garden disappearing (I'm pretty sure it's bunnies...) Right now, I'm ready to try anything.
Lorna, I hope it works. After all that work, you deserve to be the one eating those beans!
Melissa, LOL--I don't even want to know what else might be living under there. And that poor pumpkin!
LOLOL, Gayle. Soon, I'll have them at my backdoor demanding all kinds of veggies. I can totally see that as a kid's book!
The beaufort mixon's, the bunnies are a lot of fun to watch. And I could watch ducks for hours, too. My inlaws just had 10 baby ducks hatch in their yard. The pictures are too cute.
Lynn, give it a try--can't hurt. Carrots are so cheap. I can buy five or six for less than a dollar. Let me know how it goes!
You should get your husband to spring for the MLB package. Much more entertaining than watching a bunch of diseased rabbits...
Heather, I just love your posts...so real and down to earth! I have to say that I had wild bunnies that lived just outside my first apt in NY (LI). Being that I thought they were cute and I didn't have a garden to protect, I would throw out things for them to eat mainly so I could watch them. I found pizza crust to be a favorite snack of theirs. Of course, maybe since we were in NY they weren't true "country" bunnies but would take any kind of handout. But I bet they would eat a lot of things if you should be in the mood to experiment. Good luck!
My sister was crazy enough to feed a whole family of raccoons. Yes, they are cute with their little bandit faces, but they can be mean. Still, she would set food out for them in the early evening, the whole raccoon family would eat (like about 6 of them) and then they would leave. If she didn't get the food out in time, they would actually use their little hands and knock on her sliding door. She would hear the knock, and then they would stand back as she put food out, and when she was back inside they would then eat. She sold that house. I wish I would have been a fly on the wall the first time the people who bought the house heard knocking and looked to see a bunch of raccoons waiting at the back door.
I brake for turtles. I've ever pulled to the shoulder of a highway to rescue one - and he peed all over me! I am totally as crazy as you are Heather! :)
Theo, I think he's caving.
Vicki, I've been wondering about the heels on bread (hate those!). Maybe I'll give it a try. Though, I think the bunnies might have to fight off the grackles for the bread! Those birds are vicious.
LOLOL, Linda! That's like the bunny mafia Gayle was talking about. Raccoons are relentless when it comes to food. Back in Massachusetts we went to great lengths to keep them out of the trash cans. Never considered feeding them--just wanted them to go away!
JB, I'm glad I'm not the only one! I've never done the turtle rescue, but I wouldn't put it past me. I do hope when (if) I do, he keeps his pee to himself! The gratitude! LOL.
We have a bunny who comes into the backyard twice a day to eat the grass and weeds - in the morning and again in the afternoon. If we have to go to the car, we come out, speak to the bunny and continue out the gate. He "freezes" and thinks he's hidden and then goes back to eating! We look forward to his being there. We think it's the same one, because there's only the one and he's there everyday.
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