Rabbit Season

It is rabbit season once again in the wilds of my backyard and Sam and Amos are on high alert. It is not unusual for me to begin and end my day with a rabbit siting. My fearless rabbit greets me when I get the paper in the early morning--he sits on the driveway and watches me without so much as flinching. And usually two rabbits romp across the back yard while we eat dinner. Sitings at dusk are especially common.

According to a recent article in the Inquirer, even though the rabbits are busy munching on my grass and waiting patiently for me to plant my tomatoes, their presence is a good thing. "It's when you don't see them that out there that we begin to worry about what's going on," says Susan Littlefield, the National Gardening Association's horticulture editor.

Maybe, but if you do garden you know that it is a constant battle against those hungry nibblers. Littlefield suggests a two foot high fence--pushed about a foot into the ground--to try and deter them, but admits that often it is a losing proposition. Rabbits are great eaters, multipliers and escape artists. "Like any herbivore there are preferred foods and less preferred foods," she admits. If you can plant something they don't like and you do, well you've got half the battle conquered!

In the meantime, she also suggests that having a dog around isn't a bad idea.I can attest that mine are quick to pick up the scent, even quicker to chase it out of the yard but neither activity (usually accompanied by a lot of noise) seems to deter the cottontails from hopping back in each and every day.

It may help to adopt Littlefield's stance: "Basically, we've just come to the conclusion that we're all in this together," she says. "Maybe we can share a little better."