Waskally wabbits

[Feazelle-n-it]

So I've got a rodent problem in my yard. Some rabbits have taken up shop in my yard and are making a mess of it. Normally I would just shoot em and have dinner, but I live in the city now and the cops frown on gun fire in city limits. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the problem?

 

[J Soshae]

You need a good outside cat. Mine would be all over that. Sometimes he leaves us rabbit & chipmunk parts on the front porch.

 

[Feazelle-n-it]

Had one of those but she died. My two dogs are useless and my two remaining cats are indoor cats (less than useless).

 

[monbla256]

Get a small feral colony of kittehs in your yard and feed 'em regurly and the wabbits will go away !! They also keep rodents and snakes down as well !! :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Dutch]

Get medieval on em'!

 

[Ocelot55]

You mean the box propped up with a stick attached to a string won't work?

 

[Stick]

...air rifle with a scope. Its quite quiet and is effective. Go for head shots as it's not good to cause unnecessary suffering.

 

[Hermit]

...air rifle with a scope.  Its quite quiet and is effective.  Go for head shots as it's not good to cause unnecessary suffering.

http://www.gamousa.com/product.aspx?productID=289

 

[Briar Spirit]

Crossbow with telescopic sights, cheap enough to purchase, pretty much silent and instant kill with a head shot, an air rifle is cruel as very few air rifles result in an instant kill even with a head shot. To get a truly silent air rifle you will need to spend some big $$'s, be mindful of the bolts with the crossbow though, don't go getting a 180lb version and risk the bolt missing the target, those damn things travel a looooooong way!!

 

[juanmedusa]

A fellow Virginian! That is all I'd like to add.

 

[Fr_Tom]

I had a spring pellet rifle - a cheap one with open sights. A head shot leaves a rabbit or squirrel flopping on the ground in my experience. Sometimes they are only stunned and have to be dispatched, but I am pretty sure every one of them went down hard with a head shot.

 

[MichaelM]

We have a lot of rabbits in my area, but they dont really seem to do much damage. I have 2 coon hounds, and a beagle and lab before them. I guess the dogs have taught the wabbits some manners. Now the darn squirrels on the other hand are an absolute nusiance.
Mike.

 

[stapf]

I don't know if this will work, but you might want to get fox scent or another appropriate preditor scent and put it around your yard.

 

[Richard Burley]

The hill behind my house that I recently sold was riddled with woodchucks. Cute fellows, but complete pains in the butt. I warned the young lady who bought the house about them, and told her not to step in any holes. It's frustrating having guns and not being able to use them for their intended purpose. And it didn't help that I had names for each of the bastards, so knew them personally, in a way.

Anyhow, I could never decide how to get rid of them. I heard that air rifles are just as loud as a .22. Poison seems unsporting. Not much good with a bow. I dithered for years. They eventually even undermined the garage, which sort of perched on the hill. I wonder what she did? Good luck, lady! Not my problem now.  :lol:   :twisted:

 

[J Soshae]

It is possible to quiet the .22 rifles if you use a low velocity ammo.

silencer shop

The Ruger 10/22 is a perfect gun for this.

 

[Feazelle-n-it]

Dutch, I like your thinking. Might have to borrow my sister's bow as I don't have one myself.

Juan, always good to "see" a fellow Virginian.

Stapf, I've tried Fox, Coyote, and Wolf urine. None of it phased them.

Richard, with the poison idea, the bastards never just die peacefully in their warren. They die out in the open for any other animal to get a hold of (my dogs). So the poison route is out.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!! I might just have to call animal control. That's what they are there for I guess? After I try my hand at the bow... :affraid: :lol!: :twisted:

 

[Stick]

... I'm not talking spring powered here chaps, I'm talking the gas charged jobbers. Oddly the .177 often proves more effective. In my experience, with a clean shot this is a humane way to dispatch bugs.

 

[DireWolf]

A .22 CB can be quieter than a pellet, but I have heard that Gamo Whispers (and similar) have a muzzlebreak/silencer thing that is effective.

Tell your neighbors what you are doing (assuming they won't have a problem) and let them know you are being safe about it.

Also - blocking all but one warren entrance, then connecting a flex pipe from your exhaust pipe into the main hole can be effective.

A trap/axe/bb gun/? at the exit can increase effectiveness if any escape.

 

[Fumus]

I'm with Stick on this one.  Air guns have come a long way and a head shot is a quick and clean lights out.  Cheaper alternative would be a wrist rocket with ball bearings.  Might take you a little practice to get proficient, but they are fairly quiet and at close range they are very effective for small game.  Used to carry one of the folding models with me while elk hunting so I wouldn't have to pass up the occasional grouse or rabbit that crossed my path.

Also, was thinking that with a bow if you miss the head shot and wind up with a body shot instead, it could be rather loud and dramatic/unsettling for neighbors to hear Bugs screaming his last as he's pinned to the ground with an arrow.... Of course his dying screams might serve as a warning to the other bunnies an convince em to leave.  Your house could go down in rabbit lore as the house later generations of rabbits tell their offspring about in order to scare them into being good.  "You better behave Thumper or we'll send you to the Feazelle house."  
  "NO NOT THE FEAZELLE HOUSE!!! ANYTHING BUT THAT"  :affraid:  

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[Dutch]

Ok, I am going to relate this story because it happened by accident about 12 years ago. I should have known better, but I wasn't thinking as I sometimes don't.

I had been feeding birds in my backyard for some time, when all of a sudden, several large rats started showing up and eating the bird seed that had made it's way to the ground. Knowing that where there are rats, there are going to be snakes, I quickly devised a plan. Went to Walmart and bought some D-Con rat pellets and sprinkled them all along the edge of the house where the rats were coming into the backyard.

Well, about 3 days pass, and I am coming home one afternoon, and I catch 3 rabbits sunning themselves in the middle of the street right in front of my house. Prior to that day, we had a lot of rabbits in the neighborhood. After that day, it was like they all moved away.

Moral of the story is, don't put any rat poison on the ground, unless all you want in your backyard are songbirds.