Natural Rabbit Repellents

Patio gardeners typically never deal with rabbit issues, but for ground level gardeners, it's a completely different story! These furry little vegetable enthusiasts infiltrate gardens with cunning abilities and quickly devour large swaths of precious crops. Seedlings and young plants are usually the first to go, quickly followed by the foliage of larger crops. If left undeterred, rabbits can leave a gardener empty handed! While a rabbit infestation can be a big annoyance, there are several proven methods of keeping them away from the garden. In this short guide, we'll discover three of these natural rabbit repellents. All of them keep rabbits away without causing harm to your garden or the animal itself.

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Rabbits are known to eat leafy greens, peas, beans, broccoli, eggplant, an assortment of flowers, and just about any seedling they can sniff out. To keep these plants safe, consider using one of the following repellents.

• Cat Hair - Ever wondered when your house cat was going to start paying their share of the rent? Well, now they can. As it turns out, rabbits are quite fearful of the common house cat, and will not venture where they can pick up the scent. Since cats are constantly grooming themselves, their hair is a great rabbit repelling resource. Simply brush your cat, and place the collected hair in and around your garden beds.

• Rabbit Cage - Out of all the options available, this one is the most reliable. Unfortunately, it is also the least aesthetically pleasing. The key for a successful rabbit cage is to completely surround the crops you wish to protect. As rabbits are both excellent diggers and jumpers, the cage will need to be dug six inches into the ground, with a couple feet standing above ground. Using one inch chicken wire as the cage will also prevent them from squeezing through.

• Garlic & Onions - There are many different plant varieties that can be grown as a rabbit deterrent, but they seem to dislike garlic and onions the most. Plant these members of the allium family as a garden barrier, surrounding plants that rabbits enjoy. Another way to utilize the powers of garlic is to crush up a head and let it sit in a glass of water overnight. Strain off the garlic and use a spray bottle to lightly mist the foliage of rabbit prone plants with the garlic water.

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Fox Urine is a well known and commercially available deterrent of rabbits. For those who live in areas where foxes are naturally present and abundant, this method of deterrent works wonders. Since the rabbits already associate foxes as a natural predator, they won't stick around when they pick up the urine scent. However, if you live in an area where foxes are uncommon, the commercially available urine deterrent may be completely useless. The rabbits will simply keep on coming back because they do not recognize the scent as a predator.

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Utilizing these natural repellents, you'll keep rabbits out and keep your green garden growing! Thanks for reading this guide on natural rabbit repellents. If there's a method that has worked for you that's not on the list, please feel free to share!