Rabbit infestation

[pitz]

My neighbourhood is infested with rabbits; if I go for a walk around the block at night, I see at least 7 or 8 of them, and sometimes its not unusual to see 2 or 3 of them in the backyard or even on the front lawn.

Any reason to be majorly concerned? They don't seem to be leaving droppings anywhere where its problematic, and they're not otherwise causing damage. But unlike in the past, there are few cats as pets in the neighbourhood, and my old cat used to do a very good job of doing his part towards controlling the population.

Advice plz. Thanks. And if they have to be 'controlled', what can I do other than get some cats?

[Dustbunny]

Not much you need to do probably until you find they've eaten everything in your garden (which is especially noticeable over the winter when they kill every bush within reach). Just cross your fingers and hope they don't reproduce or go away. They can be real pests if you have a garden but I don't think they are any threat in the way of spreading diseases or anything. I found my dog eating their poop one time and the vet said it was no biggie and not to worry about that (unlike some other pest poops that can be very dangerous to pets and us).

[pitz]

Well I'd love it if they ate everything back there; most of it is just unwanted grass or weeds anyways :).

Seriously, will they just keep reproducing till disease hits them or something?

[Ma_Jie]

My first-ever post in this forum. Yes, they'll keep breeding: they are rodents, after all; and the old saying, ****ing like rabbits surely exists for a reason.

I say snare/trap 'em and kill them. They may eat your garden, but they're quite tasty for dinner.

- Jie

[Q-Ball]

My dogs give them exercise. I do enjoy watching and having some wild life around. I'd rather have rabbits than skunks or racoons. Racoons were horrible for going through my garbage. Now I have lids that stay on and no more problems. The only problem now is flies and maggots.

And yes, I've seen my dog eat their droppings too. It's all natural so it wont hurt the dogs.

[kin0kin]

If you get a pet of a higher food chain, it probably can be controlled...naturally. Otherwise, snipe them during the night with a BB gun. Where are you located? I know that there are a lot of wild rabbits in White Point, NS. I'm not sure how the neighborhood controls them, though.

[mrsmagoo2001]

Like any other animal, they have a cycle where the population is greater than "normal". Next year you may see very few rabbits. We had an over-run 2 years ago and now I only see one or two in the neighbourhood.