lillies and rabbits

UGH! Last year I had to put plastic cups around the stems to keep them from eating. Imagine a garden full of red cups ducktaped around lilies.......this year they are feasting on the new shoots. I moved most of the lillies last fall to the side of th house when I know they never go. I left the Casa Blanca because they didn't seem to bother it. This year they are all over any new growth. I need to get more blood meal as it seems to be the only thing that helps. Any other ideas besides tacky plastic cups??

I am thinking an outdoor cat

I rely heavily on blood meal. No cats except on local feral.

The trick with the blood meal is to keep reapplying it to the new growth.

When it comes to rabbits I'm all for outdoor cats, BB guns, bear traps... you name it. What I really wish I had is a .22 with a scope, night vision and a silencer.

So far, the best products on the market are Plantskydd and Repels-All. In the mean time, I'd try putting up a barrier such as chicken-wire or some other fencing. It only needs to be about 12" tall.

Those little devils can really S T R E T C H. I'd give a guess at 24 to 36" for the stretching and nibbling they do.

They can bend a plant to suit them.
I wonder about aposable thumbs too.

Good Lord! What kind of rabbits do you two have up there??

Tall, stretchy ones! I do love seeing the mothers feeding the babies. Don't shoot me!

You better lay low Pirl. Them's fighten words.

I know!

Oh, I don't deny that they're adorable little things, especially the babies. If they would just stick to nibbling the clover then I wouldn't mind them at all.

I have "chicken" wire pre-cut and ready to circle around plants that get bothered. I also have wire stakes I made out of some old square tomato cages I wanted to get rid of, I just circle the wire around the plant(s) and throw a stake in the ground to hold it in place. I have small gardens so this is do-able. So far I have just had to circle one group of daylilies....dang wabbits. It does the trick for me.

A message for Moby...

Oh pirl, you do believe in living in the fast lane... lol.

Moby, your my kind of ?? guy?? lol. I am hoping that the mice will back off this summer. I assumed I had summer to come up with a plan to eradicate the little monsters.

I bought a big roll of chicken wire and made cylinders about 5" in diameter, 12" tall out of it. I put one over each lily bulb (pre-marked last fall with a tongue depressor) to nip those bad bunny behaviors in the bud, ha-ha. There must be about 90 of them in my backyard - cylinders, not bunnies - but being green, you can hardly see them. We'll see if they discourage those wascally wabbits!

I agree-Moby is on target as far as I'm concerned (pun intended). Got the 22 w/silencer...no night vision though.
Seeing bunny tracks, but they are still in their winter white and we've still got too much snow to see them. Trying to follow the tracks to their living quarters, but have been unsuccessful. Told DH, they gotta be outta here!!! He's been on a mission...(Though I'm a good shot w/the 22)...LOL

Plantskyyd is the best--for moose and bunnies. Haven't needed to try the Repel yet.

I wonder if I sprayed my back yard in the fall - like the WHOLE backyard - with Plantskyyd if it would repel the mice. Works on the front yard for moose. Did you say it worked on rabbits Chocolate? I don't have any, but would love to repel (irradicate) the mice. They are too darn small to shot with a 22. Damien uses that on moose that don't take the hint. Just an air gun with pellets but they sting none the less. We live in town and we can't legally do anything else. Even though people get stomped every so often. The TH'rs say that the moose were here first and we should let them have free rein. But it brings the down out of the hills also. And they are even less cute than the moose when you are nose to nose on the bike trail.

I've had good luck using the pre-mixed liquid Plantsyyd, but they've also come out with granules in a box, specifically designed for small animals...

I know what you mean 'bout the moose. I love watching them in the yard in the winter, but come April 1, they need to visit elsewhere....We had as situation a few years ago with one we couldn't get rid of (pre-Plantskyyd) and I was so ballistic I threatened to strangle it w/my bare hands...Guess it finally got tired of the screaming crazy woman in robe and slippers stomping on the deck, clapping her hands and throwing small stones...

You go gal !!!

ROTFLMAO.....sorry, there was simply no other response possible..... :)

I have been known to chase him off with bamboo stakes he seems to like the early morning so I am usually in my bathrobe too, unfortunately.

Thanks for forwarding the greetings, Pirl. :)

Moby, I shared your sentiments about the rabbits with my husband and he just grinned and made a 'thumbs up' gesture. lol

Good man. If I thought I could catch them, I'd chase them with my chain saw too. Oh ~ BTW, I'm a gal. ;) Hubby appreciates the fact that he can gift-shop for me at hardware and home improvement stores.

I just looked up Repels-All and it is supposed to work on shrews amongst many other critters. http://www.cleanairgardening.com/animal-repellent.html

Bookreader451--I've found the only really proof way to keep rabbits out is to instal a harmless pet electric fence around a (lily) garden. These are available at local agricultural supply stores and some larger pet shops. Around here we have Farm Fleet and Fleet Farm (Google them) and you should have something similar in NY. They'll have everything you need--the soft aluminum wire, the little plastic insulators and even the green plastic stakes in various heights. For rabbits I run this wire about 6 inches high. This really works and it won't harm/kill any of the animals. And, believe me, they DO LEARN in a hurry!. They still come around, but they won't go near the little fence! It also stopped my neighbors cat from doing her morning 'job' in the nice soft lily garden soil. I have both a 110 volt version and solar versions for my more remote gardens. For deer, I just use taller stakes and run a second line about 24-30 inches high--and, believe me, they learn too! Before this, I was using HAV-A-HART live traps, chicken wire, dried blood, and every repellant you can think of! One of the best gardening investments I ever made!

Yeah Moby. Heard we share a name. When I was young, 12-13, my dad set me up with a lead block and a pile of used rusty nails. he was building out home and we were rather short of funds. My job was to straighten out the used nails. I also, when I was older, used the drill and bit (total length about 24") to drill the logs where he was building our garage, so he could pound wooden dowels to hold them in place. I loved my dad, he was my hero. And I was very much a hands on builder -- most of my life. Spring brought our special time. -- digging burn barrels out of the ice and snow, loading them on the trailer and then off to the dump. We won't mention the reroofing the cesspool, or the 5 gal honeybucket. lol. You're my kind of people.

Reroofing the cesspool... wow, now there's a job that'll put hair on your chest whether you want it or not!

Gee! I'm a roofer's daughter and I've never even heard of a roof for a cesspool!

Hi all
I was just out in the yard and my dog got a baby bunny, only about 6" long. I watched her get it, thought it was a mouse. Then I thought she just had a squeaky toy from the noise it made crying. I don't like the damage they do, and would prefer they stay out of the yard, but it was sad to see that happen.

I might enjoy seeing a moose too, but I bet they can do a lot of damage!

Too bad about the rabbit.I'm not going to waste time crying over it.
We have a hunting cat that has drivin off most of the rebbits here.
Neighbor gardener is pleased.

There's a reason those squeaky toys sound the way they do... mimics an injured animal. Kinda gross, but brilliant.

edited for spelling

This message was edited Apr 17, 2011 4:08 PM

Moby I actually said eewww out loud.

I was surprised how much it sounded like her squeaky toy! I'm not crying over it, just would rather not have seen it or had to dispose of it!

Not sure if I should say "sorry" or "LOL". >:)

I vote "LOL"

I am such a sucker. I have trouble thinning seedlings let alone dealing with squealing bunny babies.

There's nothing wrong with being tender-hearted. I hate to thin seedlings too!

I always wonder which of the tossed ones would have made it when I see those left in the ground sometimes are losses by 30%

I am always afraid that I am throwing away all of one color and I don't have one left in the garden.

So much angst in the garden. I moved blooming lilies last year.It's chancy I know .I believe they are slow to peek or,I killed 'em/

Lilies seem to be slow this year. I put about a dozen in the front and only see two so far. I can't believe that The Lily Garden woulds send me that many bad bulbs. If it would get above 50 we might have some luck.