Early this morning, as I drove round the corner of a country lane, I was horrified to be confronted by three young wild rabbits hopping towards me in the middle of the road.
Luckily, I was able to slow down and, realising the danger, they hopped on to the grass verge and disappeared through a hedge. I was relieved.
I don’t like harming wildlife, although I realise that one person’s fluffy bunny can be a destructive pest to someone else.
When I’m gardening, I don’t like using pesticides, although I do want to keep slugs and snails off my seedlings. If I let them go ahead and gorge themselves, we wouldn’t have any runner beans, broad beans, tomatoes or other produce. Ultimately, we all have to eat.
At the moment, I’m using an organic slug repellent, although I do think the best solution is a natural predator. That way the pest disappears and the predator gets a free meal. We used to have a small pond in our old garden to attract frogs and toads, and this has got me thinking that maybe I should dig a small toad hole in our garden now.
I know that life is tough, but I do like everything to have a fair chance.
Great picture and loved the thoughts. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you
My husband tries to garden organically (we do as far as pesticides, but we do use some inorganic fertilizing materials). For slugs, I have used beer, and I also have hand picked (ugh) and used my foot. I will not harm wildlife, but I’ve had struggles with groundhogs, and also with squirrels who like at times, to disrupt my potted plants. For rabbits, we’ve tried to use row covers, with some success, but, as you say, it is a struggle.
That’s our problem too Robeey, the bunnies like our vegetables as much as we do. We only have a small raised bed about 8′ square and ended up putting chicken wire around it. I don’t like to use pesticides either .
Rabbits are little devils, cute but a pain when you’re growing food to eat.
We currently have Japanese beetles attacking some of our plants. It’s very frustrating.
Our runner bean plants were eaten a few years ago. I understand your frustration.
Enjoyed the story Robz. Don’t you have cats or a dog to keep the rabbits away?
We have a dog, but he doesn’t keep the cats away.
I agree with you.
Thank you