You will notice their tracks as well as their scat, small pea-like, flat pellets.įeeding usually begins during the evening hours and continues throughout the night into the early morning. Their travels are habitually made on the same trails every day, producing noticeable paths through herbaceous vegetation. If their food source and area for shelter are separated, they will move between these areas in the morning and evening. If food and other necessary resources are available in one place, rabbits won’t move about too much. Rabbits generally feed no more than two feet above the ground or at snow level but in a year of significant amount of snow coverage, you may see damage to higher branches.ĭamage by rabbits is often concentrated in areas near escape cover. Gnawing can completely girdle, or remove a ring of outer and inner bark from, a tree. Rabbits also tend to gnaw the smooth, thin bark from young trees while the tough, thick bark of older trees is too difficult to chew through. Each branch or shoot is cut cleanly at a forty-five degree angle by their powerful incisors. Rabbit damage looks like someone was busy with the pruners. As the snow melts, the damage they have done to our favorite ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials becomes apparent with more to come once plants start sprouting new growth Plants often recover from rabbit foraging, however, if the damage is severe as is experienced after a cold, snowy winter, then it may be too late. Rabbit damage to landscape plants tends to be worse in years of colder winters with significant snow cover as many other food sources run out. In quick order, they can devastate a garden by mowing down shrubs and perennials, seemingly overnight. Cute to some, the rabbit, to a dedicated gardener is enemy #1.
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