Rabbit Damage

The rabbits thought my JM was a buffet this past winter and really did some damage. Will this fill in eventually? It was so pretty last year.

Here is another pic of a larger branch they chewed. Should I cut that down flush with the trunk or leave it alone?

Just how tall are the rabbits in that part of Wisconsin? Wow! In your pics I already see some adventitious buds starting to break as a reaction to the cottontail pruning. I wouldn't cut or prune anything at all until mid to late June. Give the tree some time to mount it's own recovery with new growth. It's already beginning. Which JM is this? It must be a hardy variety to withstand Wisonsin winters. This next winter surround it with a bunny proof chicken wire or hardware cloth cage. I have to do that here. Blasted rabbits will completely girdle a young tree by gnawing the bark off. I lost a young magnolia that way.

Thanks snapple. It's a bloodgood. The snow was piled pretty high around this tree so the rabbits got a lift. My husband did put some chicken wire around it but had it too close to the tree. (I told him so!) Next year we will be putting a bigger cage around it.

Rabbits are waskely as Elmer would say .. they just get bored IMHO. I have never seen one actually eat a branch just bite it off at the very distinctive slant ... and leave it on the ground kind of like marking it's territory or telling you they are the boss.... In reality they seldom kill the tree and just prune it saving you the time .. but I hate 'em and Elmer would be my hero if he was smart enough to shoot one ... Bugs B. excluded he is too important to the cartoon world!! David(san)

Yes, waskely wabbits indeed. They did chew off the branches and I found them laying around the base of the tree! Grrrrrrr!

Isn't it amazing how they, rabbits, always seem to find your prized plants.
I lost two JM to them last year and a kousa dogwood. The first time I saw
the branches cut like that I was sure they were cut with a knife. Now I know
better. The good thing is that they don't don't seem to care for older branchers :)

This is one of the maples that survived but you can see it did lose a branch.

Yup, I have a small tree near by that I am going to cut down but those rabbits left that one alone! Sorry to hear that you lost your trees due to them. At least they didn't kill this one. It is actually coming in pretty good now too. I'm gonna really bundle that thing up next winter.

Me too and all the new ones I planted this season. I learned my lesson.

staceysmom - I'm glad to hear the tree is putting out good new growth. You'll know in three or four weeks if there are any bunny bitten dead branch stubs to prune off. It's next to impossible to figure out in advance where a damaged tree might decide to bud out from adventitious buds. You just have to be patient and wait and see.

snapple, it is putting out lots of new growth. I am so pleased. Thanks for the great advice about waiting.... I was ready to lop off the stubs... now I know.

:)