Moth Balls To Repel Rabbits

[Jeffery]

There are two types of moth balls, Naphthalene and Dichlorobenzine.

Do both work to repel rabbits from the garden?
.

[shin]

I picked up a couple boxes of moth balls the dichloro stuff, at the local dollar store when I found I first had rabbit issues. Perhaps it did something, but I really couldn't tell. It certainly wasn't enough to make them leave their dens, so when the mothballs melted back they came if they ever avoided the areas I put them down in the first place.

I still have some left, and the rabbits are quite prolific, I suppose I could throw some more out and keep an eye on whether they avoid the areas with them or not. Don't have much use for them otherwise.

The rabbit fencing I put up however, a little bit ago, seems to be effective. 100 feet, for $26 dollars, some cheap hefty metal garden stakes, some wire clippers and a rubber hammer to hammer the stakes down and it all has worked out so far. Some old rebar I threw down also helps keep the edges down as I don't have any garden staples handy.

[shin]

Still.. the way they design that rabbit fencing with the bigger gaps the higher it gets.. it seems to me a rabbit worth his salt and really hankering for what's in the garden bed could leap through it. Still the rabbits around here are pretty fat, so there is that...

[shin]

Threw out a box around the garden a few hours ago, looked out the window a few minutes ago, saw a groundhog rolling around, and a cottontail happily chewing the grass not far from the garden bed I'd sprinkled them around. So there you have it.

[oxankle]

A couple of questions: First, is it still possible to buy dichlorobenzene moth balls? I've not seen any in a long time.

Second; Are we talking cottontails here? Cottontails don't "den" as do tame rabbits---the closest they come is to make a small grass "form" or nest for their young, hardly larger than a robin's nest of grass and fur. I've found them at the base of old stumps, in clumps of weeds, but never underground.

I HAVE seen a cottontail, when pursued, dive into an armadillo hole or a den dug by some other animal, and old piece of oil field pipe, a pile of brush, etc.

Left to themselves our tame "rabbits" will dig extensive underground dens with several entrances. 

[shin]

Local dollar store had 'em not long ago, in the aisle with the laundry supplies, says so right on the back of the box. Let's see.. they're 'Enoz Brand' and the advertisement claims 'Enoz is the only brand of Moth Preventives still made in the USA!' looks like they're for sale at a lot of places.

Bright white tail, cottontails, can't mistake them! Groundhogs probably dug the original holes I'd guess, I don't know much about rabbits despite seeing them here everyday -- I rarely ever see the groundhogs, just the rabbits, which retreat to the holes when folks come too close. Though they retreat pretty slowly, as they're mighty fat from eating the produce supplied here. . .

[oxankle]

Shin, that looks like some mighty good table fare. Hard to beat fried cottontail.

[shin]

For what little it's worth, Jeffery, that Enoz brand advertises deer/rabbit repellent too, but they use Naptha for it.

I was wondering, oxankle, if the little depressions throughout my lawn were all done by the squirrels who like to carry their nuts over here, I'm guessing now it's some of those rabbits too digging their forms out.

[Jeffery]

Jul 3, 2016 19:44:51 GMT oxankle said:

A couple of questions: First, is it still possible to buy dichlorobenzene moth balls? I've not seen any in a long time.

My Dollar Tree has the Dichlorobenzine ones, but I think Napthalene moth balls work better against rabbits.

[oxankle]

Shin; The old rabbit will only use one form for her nest of young, and that will be in thick cover. The holes in open ground are more than likely either squirrels or an armadillo, both of which will leave little holes all over the place. The blasted squirrels here ven dig up beans before they can get above ground, and then the rabbits nip them off.

I've had a trap set now for three days with both pork roast and marshmallows for bait, but the blasted coon prefers my sweet corn.

[Deleted]

I'd eat a rabbit if bumped off during the late fall or winter, but not so sure about mid summer bunny burgers. If I didn't have an abundance of predators around to take care of garden rabbits though, I think I'd just shoot them. The time and effort to makes a decent garden successful is more than just cause To ERadicate THOSE **&^$##*&^ RABBITS!!!!!

(sorry, I get emotional when thinking about rabbits in my garden)

[oxankle]

Deerjohn; agreed, let them fatten until the first hard frost, though when I was a boy I hunted them all year long, and ate them.

[paquebot]

Rabbits in the summer are often infested with bot flies. That's the main excuse for not hunting them until cold weather. By fall, the larvae are gone and the sores healed.

Martin

[oxankle]

Martin: Oddly enough, that may be a regional thing. I dressed lots of rabbits in my youth and never saw a bot--while in the same location I've picked a dozen off the back of a neighbor's milk cow, leaving those pits you mentioned. Since it is a matter of discussion I will shoot one of the locals and see if they are bot-ridden.

I suspect that it would be a good idea these days to wear gloves while dressing any game. Is it more dangerous now, or were we simply ignorant in the old days?