Bunnies

[Axeman]

I have not seen bunnies....in over a year...during the winter, I'll have 3 or 4 visiting my feeders in the early evenings and early mornings....sometimes at random points in the day....I haven't found tracks in the snow or rabbit inukshuks (pile of their droppings) either.....and now that it's spring / summer, I would expect to find a small group eating the dandelions growing on my septic bed....but they aren't.

A few people in town (about 20 km south of me) have remarked that there are no rabbits and they blame foxes....but I don't think it's predator pressure....

Anyone else notice that rabbits have disappeared?

[Dr. John]

We were just remarking that we hadn't seen any on all our walks in the Toronto parks/ravines this year.  Normally they are out at dusk.

[Napper]

You want Bunnies come to Milton and collect a few. They are a pain when it comes to retaining a vegetable garden.

Last evening at work "Downsview" after lunch at 8:30 pm, two very large, very healthy looking Bunnies inside the security fence on a patch of grass.

Napper:)

[Axeman]

So Napper....when these giant healthy bunnies appear to you......ummm.....

Well I'm glad to hear that they're around somewhere...b/c we haven't seen a sign in a couple of years which is weird....as for the garden, for some reason rabbits (when they were around) and deer have NEVER disturbed our veg garden....our veg garden is right beside our apple orchard which we maintain pretty much for the pleasure of the deer.

[Dr. John]

I take back what I said about not seeing them in Toronto ravines.  We saw them on the past two evening walks in the Don Valley, near Riverdale Park.

[Axeman]

I take back what I said about not seeing them in Toronto ravines.  We saw them on the past two evening walks in the Don Valley, near Riverdale Park.

No Take Backs.....

They have to be around but I definitely think the population is in the downswing....luckily they breed like...well....rabbits.

[KP]

I think predator predation is the reason.  Cottontail Rabbits go through roughly a 10 year population cycle.  When Cottontail Rabbits are abundant, the predators will do well because they have a lot to eat.  When Cottontail Rabbit populations crash, the predators will not do as well.  The populations of Canada Lynx and Snowshoe Hare coincide with one another as well.

[Shortsighted]

Well, that settles it then. This was outlined in a Nature of Things episode.

[Axeman]

The relationship between lynx and snowshoe hares is well settled...but I'm talking about our cute little cottontails....although we've had a pair of foxes denning on our property for the past few years...and just yesterday 2 kits played around in our front yard...they'd have to be really effective predators if this pair is the reason for no bunnies around my place...anyway I miss them....the bunnies....but I wouldn't trade the foxes.

Anyone else finding it a really bad year for mosquitoes? (Yes....that's a segue...it's a lost art.)

[KP]

Northeastern Coyotes, Great Horned Owls, and various species of Hawks are probably also contributing to the decline of Eastern Cottontail Rabbits, along with the Red Foxes.  I am wondering if Bobcats and Eastern Cougars are also in your area that could be factoring in the decline of Eastern Cottontail Rabbits.

[Napper]

Well, two mornings ago my wife approached me with a very stern look on her face. Me still bleary eyed with "the sleep still in my eyes" as I am working afternoon shifts. A Rabbit has eaten all the tops of my freshly planted "Peas" and "Beans".  :twisted:

A tiny little bunny had thwarted her "Bunny" defence system.

Thursday she set the live trap baited with a few Carrot ends.

This morning my wife approached me with a sad look on her face. :cry:  Me still bleary eyed with "the sleep still in my eyes" Etc.. I have good news and bad news There is "Bunny" in the trap.

So, I just returned from releasing it at Park across the creek and Hwy 25. Cute little thing it was.

Napper :roll:

I apologize in advance for spelling and Grammar

[Dinusaur]

I have two cottontail bunnies, sitting on my lawn and chomping away - I hope they take care of the lawn well so that I don't have to mow it myself.

[Howieh]

I have two cottontail bunnies, sitting on my lawn and chomping away - I hope they take care of the lawn well so that I don't have to mow it myself.

Wishful thinking Dinu! My bunnies eat one blade of grass at a time so they probably breed faster than they eat (vegetable gardens excluded!). Btw, have you seen the way they eat dandelions? They break the stem near the ground and ingest it from the bottom up so the flower disappears last - good photo-op for someone with lots of patience!

[Napper]

Got back from Tiny Beaches around 7 pm. It was very quiet there in terms of birds.
Trip home was uneventful but I am disappointed that the GoPro did not record the entire trip.  because it was beauty..

Just before 9 pm my wife decides to water her garden and I let the dog out... our BC immediately heads for the back corner and sniffs out a bunny. "Roll some Benny Hill music". Tiny little thing scampers long the back fence then  Makes a 90 and heads under the deck.

The grass is so tall it struggled, meanwhile the dog is still sniffin in the corner and My wife said where? as the bunny ran behind her back foot.

Trap is back in the yard :!:  

Two years ago the little beggars ate 4 Jalapeno pepper plants, of course they waited until the peppers were almost ready to harvest. :roll:

[Axeman]

Well I'm guessing my lack of bunnies is due to the fox family that has taken up residence at our place for the past couple of years..I miss teethe bunnies ut I wouldn't trade the foxes for the bunnies....I've been enjoying watching the kits...on a side note I let a friend plant 4 weed plants around the path the foxes use to come up onto the lawn...the area gets a lot of sun AND...I've noticed that whenever the adult foxes are around, the deer stop and watch and will scamper if the foxes wander too near...weird b/c I'd be truly surprised if foxes took newborn fawns let alone adult deer...anyway I figure the deer will stay away from the weed....and yes it's a friend's weed....he lives in town and last year when he grew 4 plants, someone stole the plants when they were ready for harvest.

On another side note, when we moved into our home 16 years ago, we had a neapolitan mastiff...he was just a pup when we moved in...he was curious about the bunnies feeding over the septic bed and one day wandered a little too close to a large buck...the buck learned that day that Domi could be bullied and he chased Domi up on the deck....when Domi reached maturity he was 30 inches at the shoulder and 225 lbs....massive wrinkled head...if you've never seen one, google an image....imagine a dog like this being chased by bunnies...Domi (and the buck I might add) has long since passed but that's one of the memories that makes me chuckle. Best dog I ever had. New guy -- Crosby, a dogue de bordeaux -- can't fill those paw prints...he's a bit of a princess.

Jalapeño plants? Well they eat meat apparently so I guess I shouldn't be surprised at jalapeño plants...Water the pepper plants less...they'll be too spicy for the rabbits then.

GoPro? Fun...hope you catch something on it like a cougar running across the road...or bigfoot....and not just bad scary drivers like my mother and my wife. (Don't tell my wife.)