Rabbit Damage – Humane Wildlife Removal

What kind of damage do rabbits cause?

The rabbit is just as much of a pest as many of the other animals that can pass through your garden. They’re seen as fluffy pets to most, but to avid gardeners and pest control experts alike, the rabbit is a foe just like any other. With some strong teeth and a can-do attitude, rabbits can set up a home in anyone’s garden. What damage can rabbit cause, you ask? Well, here’s a set of pointers to recognize a rabbit from the rest.

Checking In

Damage that rabbit cause can become expensive if you let them take over the yard. The very first step is to look at the evidence they leave around the garden. One very reliable sign that rabbits are ruling and roaming, is when some patchy areas are covered in small, coarse, and round pellets. Fecal pellets, the rabbit’s very own poop.

Depending on the species of the rabbit you have, it would be from ¼ inch to ½ inch balls in size. Also though, if you have shrubbery, you can check for rabbit hair and fur caught on tree branches, brush, or bushes. On top of this, look around dirt patches in your garden. If you see long thin back-paw tracks pressed into the dirt, you have a good recognizable pointer for rabbits. This really isn’t damage, but every other sign of having rabbits IS the damage they cause, explained below.

Dinner Time

Rabbits can eat just about any plant they see fit if it’s a tender one. They won’t shy away from feasting on sprouting grass and clover patches in the spring and in winter/fall, they will survive on any bark and seedlings they can come across. For gardeners though, rabbits have a good time. A rabbit’s preferred food is produce found in vegetable gardens and fruit bushes. If you grow carrots, lettuce, broccoli, and so on, rabbits will favor your patches over the lack of options in the wild. Many rabbits are also very fond of ornamental flowers, shrubbery, leaves, and trees.

Teeth Management

There is no tree that is free from the choice of a rabbit. However, younger, softer, and smoother tree bark is a favorite among them. The gnawing of tree bark can be very damaging, especially if the rabbit targets a significant branch, and gnaws the bark clean off. This is because they can expose the tree to the outside, so it can become infected or begin to wither.

Rabbits also gnaw on other things than plants, like hose-pipes, cloth, and even wires. It’s about keeping their teeth active half the time and eating the other half. Of course, other animals love to gnaw on many things but combined with all of the other signs, you can be confident in knowing who the culprit is. So now that you know a little bit about how rabbits behave, you can hopefully be able to recognize if they are the pests you are dealing with. From this, you can adequately go about a plan on how to limit the rabbits in your garden, and prevent the considerable damage they may have caused to your yard in the future. Good luck!

Related Articles
All About Rabbits (appearance, diet, habitat, behaviour) - Humane Wildlife Removal
How to keep rabbits out of your yard - Humane Wildlife Removal
Tips to get rid of rabbits - Humane Wildlife Removal

What kind of damage do rabbits cause?

Checking In

Dinner Time

Teeth Management

Select Your Animal

Raccoons

Squirrel

Opossum

Skunks

Rats

Mouse

Bat

Bird

Snake

Beaver

Mole

Vole

Gopher

Rabbit

Woodchuck

Flying Squirrel

Chipmunk

Coyote

Fox

Wild Hog

Dead Animal