Keep Rascally Rabbits from Ruining Your Yard

With Easter behind us, we hope that you had a pleasant visit from the Easter Bunny and enjoyed celebrating the holiday with family and friends. Now, if that fuzzy lovable Easter Bunny brought some uninvited friends with him, you may be noticing some lawn damage that you didn't ask for. While rabbits are adorable and typically good-natured, wild rabbits do have a few bad habits that can cause chaos to your lawn. Take a look at some of the ways rabbits can damage your yard.


How Rabbits Can Ruin Your Yard
The damage they can create can lead to big problems for yards and even shrubs. They not only chew grass down to the root, but the concentration of urine frequently creates brown and dying areas, making it harder for the grass to recover. When grass is dormant in winter, there is no chance for a recovery – meaning the rabbits’ feeding and excretions can kill areas of the lawn. Once this damage starts it tends to progress because rabbits like to feed in the same areas, and will even lead their kittens through their scent to those same areas.

Rabbits are furry digging machines. Not only do they have very sturdy, sharp nails, but also extremely efficient front paws that allow them to scratch and scrabble at dirt for long periods of time. Most wild rabbits need a warren in order to hide from predators such as foxes and wolves. Rabbit warrens often have many different chambers inside of them, and lots of different entrances and exits. These structures can threaten the integrity of your lawn and even your home's foundation. 

Their ravenous appetites make rabbits disastrous for many types of vegetation, particularly close to the ground and in areas close to uncultivated lands, like those found near greenbelts, parks, and residential areas. These uncultivated areas provide places for rabbits to rest and hide near food sources like your lawn and garden. 

A rabbit problem can be reason for concerns because of other issues as well. Rabbits sometimes carry a disease called tularemia, or rabbit fever, but this disease is relatively rare in humans. It can be contracted by handling an infected rabbit with bare hands or consuming under cooked rabbit meat. As rabbits can also carry rabies, it’s generally recommended to avoid handling wild rabbits.


Eliminating the Problem 
Although getting rid of rabbits is difficult, it's not impossible. Rabbits will hide under shrubs and bushes, as well as in taller grass because it provides them with shelter. So, a simple way to get rabbits to leave is by eliminating areas they could hide. Trim shrubs and bushes, put chicken wire below porches so they can’t get underneath, and elevate any kind of decorative garden pieces that may be offering them refuge. 

Another way to get rid of them is to cut off their food supply. Rabbits aren’t picky eaters and will consume and destroy a wide variety of vegetation, including vegetables, fruit, herbs, and ornamental plants. Put fences around flower gardens, making sure that the openings of the fence are smaller than a rabbit’s head and dug 6 inches into the ground so they can’t sneak through underneath the fence. You can also spray different natural odors on your plants like pepper extract, castor oil, ammonium salts, or predator urine to prevent rabbits from feeding.

Live trapping is one of the most effective methods of rabbit control. It allows you to catch the rabbit and then release them somewhere else. This is the most humane way to relocate those fluffy unwanted pests without harming them. At Best Pest Control, we offer animal trapping services to help get rid of such nuisances. Our expert team is trained to properly trap, handle and safely remove pests in accordance with local animal control laws. If you've got an established rabbit family that you need to have relocated, give Best Pest Control a call!


Best Pest Control Can Help
These critters can not only damage your yard, but some of them can even take up residence under your home. So if the Easter Bunny invited his friends over this past weekend, and they decided to stick around, the best animal control company at the Lake of the Ozarks can help you get rid of them and help you protect your yard. Best Pest Control also offers lawn treatments, landscaping and yard clean up. We will get your lawn and garden in tip-top shape and make sure it's ready for the spring and summer season!

LAKE OF THE OZARKS MOST TRUSTED PEST CONTROL COMPANY 

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573-348-1600 in Lake Ozark
573-873-1118 in Camdenton

Comments

  1. Wow what a great blog, i really enjoyed reading this, good luck in your work. Pest Control Expert

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