Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-31-2020, 12:03 PM   #81
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Brat's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 7,107
Some squirrles in the Teton National Park are known to carry rabbies.

In my part of Portland squirrels are known to tease dogs, or maybe best described to develop play relationships with some dogs. One would cherp at my brother's kitchen window to ask the dog to come out and play, then it would run on the fence as the dog chased it arround the back yard.
__________________
Duck bjorn.
Brat is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 07-31-2020, 01:44 PM   #82
Moderator
sengsational's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 10,622
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom56 View Post
I have not seen rats nor mice anywhere on our property. We have two great horned owls living in the tree behind us that are pretty efficient hunters. We also live at 2000 feet elevation and the area is swarming with raptors. The hill sides that surround our area are loaded with mice and other rodents that these raptors hunt.
We've got quite a few ringtail hawks here, and saw one with a small rabbit the other day. But I'm not sure they catch the bigger rabbits very often. Certainly not effective enough, as I saw three rabbits within 10 feet of each other happily munching clover the other evening.
sengsational is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2020, 01:53 PM   #83
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: High Plains Non-Drifter
Posts: 314
Maybe we are encroaching on rabbit habitat.

Why the urge to kill them?

For a really thoughtful overview of the impact that homo sapiens have had on other life forms here on planet Earth, see Harari, Y. "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind." We've wiped out a lot of other species already. For food purposes, we have domesticated a handful of others, with the result that those poor animals lead horrific lives.

And for a totally unrelated but really cool and recent write up about nature, see the recent story in the New York Times about swifts, the birds that never land: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/m...r-flights.html.

I think us humans can learn a lot from life around us, and be humbled by it, instead of viewing it as a pestilence to be obliterated because that other creature our ancestors domesticated a few thousand years ago (dog) is now out in the yard interacting with it.
WyomingLife is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2020, 02:14 PM   #84
gone traveling
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: DFW
Posts: 7,586
I am going to try trapping and relocation first and see how that goes. I am not really into shooting or trying to kill the rabbits, and if it had not been for my daughters dog coming to live with us, they would not bother me in the least. The other option if that doesn't put a stop to the rabbit droppings problem will be to install artificial turf since the backyard is pretty small, maybe 20'x60'.

That said, I do like those air rifles that were mentioned, bet it would be fun for some indoor shooting practice.

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts.
eytonxav is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2020, 02:55 PM   #85
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: South central PA
Posts: 3,466
Quote:
Originally Posted by WyomingLife View Post
Maybe we are encroaching on rabbit habitat.

Why the urge to kill them?

For a really thoughtful overview of the impact that homo sapiens have had on other life forms here on planet Earth, see Harari, Y. "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind." We've wiped out a lot of other species already. For food purposes, we have domesticated a handful of others, with the result that those poor animals lead horrific lives.

And for a totally unrelated but really cool and recent write up about nature, see the recent story in the New York Times about swifts, the birds that never land: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/m...r-flights.html.

I think us humans can learn a lot from life around us, and be humbled by it, instead of viewing it as a pestilence to be obliterated because that other creature our ancestors domesticated a few thousand years ago (dog) is now out in the yard interacting with it.
Thank you for this post.

This year I decided to leave my extremely small veggie garden unfenced. Also, this year we had only one bunny, a cute runt of the litter with a slightly lame foot. The bunny mostly ate the abundance of invasive grass that overgrows landscaping in unwanted areas, but I fenced my garden for a bit, after s/he started on the onion tops. I'm quite sure bunny has gone to the stomach of some predator (coyote or owl most likely), since there has been no bunny for about 3 weeks. Bunny was unafraid of us, and I left out water when it was really dry.

Several years ago, we had many more bunnies, but less predators. Several bunny nest holes in the yard, about two a year. Last year, I had to clean up bunny innards as a great horned owl cleared our yard of bunnies.

We have had voles which tend to hide out of the way, and chipmunks. Chipmunks decimated my strawberries, so I gave up on that. I have an inground pool, and we leave a floating shelf and ramp on the edge. For the first time, we have had no rodent drownings, which is nice.

One year, a pair of ducks thought our yard an pool would be a great place to raise their babies, instead of the creek 1/4 mile away. We chased them off repeatedly. They left. Later, I discovered a nest of 12 abandoned eggs under a bush (wow!)

It all seems to go in cycles. Abundance of predators, abundance of prey. Abundance of one kind of insect, then a shortage. I'm growing squash and tomatoes, as well as herbs this year. Some years I have more rodent and bug issues, others not. If my crop doesn't turn out, it doesn't matter. Rodents seem to ignore most herbs, BTW. Unless you need every bit of produce in your yard, why not figure out how to live with the wildlife, or make their lives unpleasant enough they go elsewhere?

Another solution is to plant plants that the rodents don't like.
EastWest Gal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-31-2020, 04:17 PM   #86
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 18,085
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom56 View Post
I have not seen rats nor mice anywhere on our property. We have two great horned owls living in the tree behind us that are pretty efficient hunters. We also live at 2000 feet elevation and the area is swarming with raptors. The hill sides that surround our area are loaded with mice and other rodents that theses raptors hunt.
We have 3 high prey drive dogs, coyotes, owls, raptors, foxes, etc. Doesn't make a dent.
__________________
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

- George Orwell

Ezekiel 23:20
brewer12345 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2020, 06:05 PM   #87
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 1,463
Quote:
Originally Posted by 6miths View Post
I was going to mention this option too. With the way things are going might not be a bad idea to brush up on your marksmanship. And organic, free-range, grass fed rabbit is pretty good. And one gets tons of good luck to boot!
My suggestion is Hossenfeffer
old medic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-02-2020, 07:29 PM   #88
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 8,968
I have 3 reasons to kill;

1) It's trying to kill me
2) I'm going to eat it
3) It's destroying my property

The third is where the line is eh? But I didn't buy and clear acreage and build on it. I bought an existing K&B tract house. Gophers and rabbits beware. I'll shoot you with the pellet gun and toss your carcass in the garbage.
RobbieB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2020, 05:55 PM   #89
Moderator
Walt34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,290
Quote:
Originally Posted by 6miths View Post
And organic, free-range, grass fed rabbit is pretty good. And one gets tons of good luck to boot!
I've always wondered how it came to be that a rabbit's foot was considered to bring good luck. It didn't do the rabbit any good, and he had four of 'em!
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
Walt34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2020, 06:22 PM   #90
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Markola's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Twin Cities
Posts: 3,927
I patched every hole and gap in the fence, so we never have rabbits now.
Markola is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-03-2020, 08:50 PM   #91
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
street's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 9,373
Quote:
Originally Posted by RetiredAtThirty-eight View Post
Check your local ordinances. I'll bet it's legal to shoot air guns as long as it's done responsibly and safely.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this should be your preferred method, simply that it's probably not prohibited as you assume because air guns don't qualify as "firearms" in most jurisdictions.
Most likely true. I just feel it is not the safest thing to do and my wife would appreciate a flopping rabbits in the yard if I shot one. Lol
street is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2020, 04:02 PM   #92
Dryer sheet wannabe
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 16
You could just let them live! I love to see bunnies. It makes me so happy. They are sweet little creatures. The issue becomes when people shoot their predators!
veganbetty is offline   Reply With Quote
They are
Old 08-04-2020, 04:16 PM   #93
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Crossville
Posts: 420
They are

Quote:
Originally Posted by OldShooter View Post
I've shot a few rabbits with my woodchuck gun, a .22 air rifle. I think the more common .177 caliber air rifles would be entirely adequate.
I have had no problem killing all the rabbits I actually can see on our property with a .177 Crosman air rifle. My best shot was at about 70 yards; I was surprised it killed him instantly. The air rifle may not have the sights or the hitting power that my Ruger 10/22 has but it has done the job without having to resort to the .22.
ychuck46 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2020, 04:25 PM   #94
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
Posts: 897
We had lived in our current house for about 10 years before we saw a chipmunk. We didn't feed them, but thought they were kinda cute and enjoyed watching them dart around the yard.
Then they started sneaking into our garage and building a nest inside the soffit. Followed by getting into a fully-closed Toyota and destroying a bag of dog food left overnight. Etc.

Similar experience with squirrels, they didn't go into the garage but would gather in groups of up to 5-6 on our deck and scratch/chew on the glass door, trying to get into our kitchen. Freaked out my wife, they really looked nasty.

The solution in both cases was big glue traps in the garage; and a Havahart trap (different sizes for different critters) and a laundry tub big/deep enough to hold the trap.
Glub Glub, and Mr Rodent sleeps with the fishes. Before sleeping in the trash can.

The Havahart traps come out as soon as we see the first rodents in the Spring. We eliminate about a half-dozen of each species early in the season, and usually don't have any more than an occasional single after that, which we leave alone unless he/she starts attracting friends.
Gearhead Jim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2020, 05:10 PM   #95
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Joppa
Posts: 82
Quote:
Originally Posted by stepford View Post
Get some cats? When they were younger my wife's two cats were the scourge of the local rabbit (and squirrel and rat and lizard and bird) population. As they've gotten older they tend to lie around on their fat kitty asses watching the rabbits eat our plants, so go with younger cats for best pest control.
We used to have rabbits, though nnot in disturbing numbers. Since I have been feeding the local fox every now and then, no more bunnies in my yard. I actually miss them. All my neighbors have dogs as well, so that could be part of the reason.
Vinnygret is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-04-2020, 05:32 PM   #96
Moderator Emeritus
aja8888's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,593
Our Golden Retriever killed anything that moved in our backyard. That included squirrels, rabbits, possums, even got a few crows. Truly a master hunter.

I did the cleanup work for him. He's gone now and we miss him to this day. The best dog we ever had, bar none.
__________________
*********Go Astros!*********
aja8888 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2020, 08:41 AM   #97
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,195
After rabbits ate all $200 worth of bulbs my wife planted, she handed our son a pellet rifle and offered a $1 bounty for every rabbit he killed.

2nd best method is to have a den of coyotes in the area. But then you have a coyote problem.

Now let's talk about deer. They eat everything except weeds and bamboo.
rayvt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2020, 09:27 AM   #98
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
OldShooter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: City
Posts: 10,308
Quote:
Originally Posted by ychuck46 View Post
I have had no problem killing all the rabbits I actually can see on our property with a .177 Crosman air rifle. My best shot was at about 70 yards; I was surprised it killed him instantly. The air rifle may not have the sights or the hitting power that my Ruger 10/22 has but it has done the job without having to resort to the .22.
Yes. My .22 air rifle is set up as a higher power woodchuck gun. When I shoot a rabbit or a 3/4" pine board the pellet goes straight through and out the other side. Overkill. Literally.
OldShooter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2020, 10:27 AM   #99
Recycles dryer sheets
sgstaley's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Pontiac
Posts: 101
I guess that I would shoot them with the 22, skin them, and fry them in a pan.

I do think that rabbits run in somewhat of a cycle. One year, many, the next year not so many.
__________________
Happily retired since Spring 2018!
sgstaley is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-05-2020, 05:34 PM   #100
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Joppa
Posts: 82
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
We have coyotes right in town. Some people still let their cats outside. We call them coyote cookies. People post on Nextdoor for lost cats and the main advice is to keep them inside.
My opinion has always been that an outside cat is eventually a dead cat. Mine is a 12 pound coward and has NO desire to go outside other than our back porch. Cars or critters, something will get the rovers.
Vinnygret is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Old bunny rabbits. Nords Other topics 95 04-13-2011 04:17 PM
Getting rid of that SUV Arif Other topics 5 06-11-2006 09:31 AM
whole new meaning to @#$@ like rabbits gtmeouttahere Other topics 17 05-29-2006 11:37 AM
Getting Rid Of (Good) Stuff yakers Life after FIRE 62 07-05-2005 05:14 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:22 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.