This year was the year of the sheep according to the Chinese Zodiac and for sure it was. However, it was also the year of the rabbit for us.
If you've been following my blog, you'll already know we have rabbits, are colony raising and have not raised colony or caged rabbits previously. All our adventures have been trial and error since July 2014. In the first colony, Bunny Land-Stump Town, we had ZERO... you read that right, ZERO predator problems. Currently, we still have not lost a bun to predators in that pen even though its only protection is fencing. However, the buns were over grazing thier pen and needed another paddock or a bigger pen. We built another, larger colony in the mini orchard and used one bay of the woodshed as their "barn".
Immediately, we had predator problems. Cat, raccoon, owl and weasel, you name it, they were picking off our kits daily. The first thing that went up was the hot wire around the fence. That stopped the 4 leg critters in thier tracks and we haven't had a problem with them since.
Next was to put up fish netting to deter the owls. They were perching out back in the forested area of Bunny Garden and picking off little kits. The netting worked back there but that just forced the owls to hunt out front. We couldn't/wouldn't/didn't want to net the fruit tree area.
I learned that flashing Christmas lights would deter birds of prey. The flashing lights interfere with their depth perception and they won't even try to hunt near them. I don't know if that's true or false but I was willing to give it a try. So far, its working. However, spring brings the owls in droves and I will need to expand my flashy lighting set up. I'm waiting for post holiday light sales in hopes to grab up a solar light set. My neighbors are going to think I've gone bonkers.
One added chore of having netting is it gets crapped up with debris.
Occasionally in the fall I have to spend a few minutes cleaning off the netting. It gives me the opportunity for extra fence checking at the same time. This activity alerted me to some minor digging from the outside of the fence and indicates I may have to add hot wire to the base of the fence too.
The shortage of greenery to snack on forces the buns to do a little yoga to get available leaves. Jessica Rabbit is picking off the few blackberry leaves within reach.
Eddie Rabbit snacks on some ferns.
Jessica and Eddie relax in natures netting, the skeletal remains of blackberry stalks.
I confess there were times this year I wanted to give up. With each fix a new predator issue would arise and the loss of kits continued. The mass amount of time I put into Bunny Garden changed my attitude. I've spent too much time, energy and injury to throw in the towel. Besides, I always hear me friends voice echoing in my head, "Kathy, why would quit? Just fix the problem!"
