JoAnne Skelly: Cottontails aren’t so cute after all

Rabbits are overrunning our property. Initially, it was cute to see tiny bunnies. While cottontails only live 12 to 15 months, they can have two to six litters per year, each with five to six young.

They only have a 28- to 29-day gestation period, and females breed again within hours of giving birth. Rabbits concentrate in favorable areas (such as our yard) and can live their entire lives on 10 acres or less.

They do not dig their own burrows; instead, they reuse the burrows of other animals or live in brush or rock piles. They eat flowers and vegetables in spring and summer and the bark off trees and shrubs in winter.

While they eat most veggies, they seem to avoid corn, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and some peppers. Their winter gnawing/girdling on tree and shrub trunks is very destructive, especially when trunks are buried in snow.

Any method of management must include exclusion with woven wire fences with mesh smaller than 1½ inches and 30-36 inches high.

The fencing has to be buried at the bottom six inches deep or bent at the bottom six inches out for the area to be protected. Tall tree guards made of hardware cloth cylinders will protect trunks in the winter. Exclusion also includes getting rid of brush and rock piles, weeds, and similar hiding places.

Because of quick breeding, lethal methods of control work for only a short period of time. Repellants, some of which are poisonous, have to be used at the first sign of damage and repeated often.

Taste-based repellants work better than odor-based repellants. Most repellants can’t be used on any vegetative parts aimed for human consumption. Dried blood meal is sometimes used as a repellant, but it doesn’t weather well.

Mothballs are not only ineffective, the naphthalene and its vapor are toxic to humans. There are no toxicants or fumigants registered for rabbit control. Poisoning is not recommended. Dogs, and sometimes cats, definitely can help drive them out or kill them. Motion activated scare devices are available but are not reliable.

Supposedly strong-smelling plants such as lavender, rosemary, thyme and others may deter rabbit feeding. Natural enemies include hawks, owls, eagles, coyotes, bobcats, foxes and weasels. Live trapping is not recommended.

Gimmicks like pieces of hose to look like snakes, water-filled glass jars to frighten with reflections or inflatable owls are not effective. Rabbits are a protected species requiring a hunting license to shoot them during hunting season, if discharge of firearms is even allowed in your neighborhood.

For detailed information go to https://agri.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/agrinvgov/Content/Protection/Resource_Protection/CottontailRabbits.pdf

JoAnne Skelly is Associate Professor & Extension Educator Emerita at University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. Email skellyj@unr.edu