Love-Hate Relationship
We have plenty of wildlife in our area aside from birds. There are Whitetail deer, Raccoon, Skunk, Squirrel, chipmunk, Fox, Groundhog and……Rabbits. The rabbits do not just come and go like the other animals, they reside in our garden, a couple of them every year. We had a brave little guy last year that dug his burrow under the pool deck.
We don’t mind having them hanging out in the yard because of their taste for broadleaf weeds like Dandelion and Plantain or even our tall grass when Bill doesn’t get around to mowing the lawn. Yes, when we let the lawn grow, not on purpose, it becomes ‘rabbit heaven.’ We know the lawn is past due when all we can see are the ears sticking up. We nicknamed them the “Hairy Lawnmowers”. We love it when they reduce the weed population in the lawn for us. Having wild rabbits hop around, stretching, and sleeping in the garden also soothes me. But love turns to irritation when they cross the line and munch on the flowers.
This spring I’ve seen two of them, so far. I think they are youngsters, with a noticeable white bindi on the forehead as of last winter. Rabbit stew crossed my mind today when I found they had leveled half the Woodland Phlox (Phlox divaricata). I don’t really know what to do with them. As much as I would like to chase them off our property, my inner self wants to see them stretch their fuzzy little selves on the lawn on a hot afternoon and doze off. Ahhhhh. Their calmness rubs off.
I think this is the one that damaged the Woodland Phlox. We frequently catch him red-pawed near where the phlox is planted. Our suspicion was raised when he tried too hard to look innocent then played the ‘cute’ card.
Petals and Wings 
We have lots of “waskily wabbits” around down here in FL. I just want to know
what makes their nose move so fast and why?? Muscles obviously, but is it
some olfactory system construct for nosing Woodland Phlox from a distance?
We have a bobcat family in the area this spring cleaning out the slow rabbits.
Even had a black panther near our home a few weeks ago we saw at midnite
lounging on a front yard. My bicycle has a high piercing horn on it to deflect
wildlife crossing the road in my path. Averting an encounter before it can happen as we also have regular FL panther in the neighborhood. Recently I saw a large rabbit cross a yard and sit on top of a Gopher tortoise, then move on. Such antics are always entertaining.
Looks like you have a class “A” security system with a black panther in the front yard, no one would dare cross it. Have you seen a Burmese python yet? We heard that they’ve become a problem for the eco’ system in FL. Since they don’t have any natural enemies, they reproduce like crazy and eat everything in sight, including alligators and Florida panthers. The wildlife service down there has been saying that the Burmese Python is having an effect in hastening extinction of some species in the everglades. But they don’t know how to clear it up.
Good tip: The skin makes a great bag and the meat tastes just like chicken.
Looks like the rabbits have to have a little talking to!
We’ve already told them they would end up in a stew pot if they don’t curb their behavior. Didn’t work.