Hmmm ,, what to plant in the squash bed???

[JustWood]

Went to plant squash in a raised bed I usually designate for squash/punkins and found this. We have some domestic rabbits roaming the area. They're relaxing to watch feed in the evenings. So much for squash this year. I'll enjoy watching these guys grow up through the summer more than watering squash anyway.

 

[rideau]

Do you plant your squash/pumpkins int he same bed year after year with no crop rotation, and not run into any problems?

Find it hard to grow vegetables , or do the rabbits leave them alone?

Cute picture.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Solution: call a rabbit rescue group. House Rabbit Network, or even a local shelter.

Why: domestic rabbits aren't as well fit as wild ones- and they will just keep breeding.
- a rescue service will give them a better life, the critters won't produce more of them, AND you get your planting bed back!

 

[JustWood]

The last 3 winters 2 neighbors and myself have fed them through the winter and they're under the birdfeeders eating spillage often. Farmland all around me so they get the best of the best all the time. They have refuge under a large false floor in an old mill building where they get a couple of alfalfa bales through the winter.
I can buy squash for $3/half bushel at the local produce auction in the fall so not growing squash for a summer will probably save me $.
They were born wild and they will stay wild. Don't need rescued .

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Lee, this reminds me of a place we pass sometimes on the way to the city. It used to be they had all black rabbits but this year we are seeing a mix of colors. I don't know how many they have but there are many and they just leave them run free. Right beside their lawn is a nice soy bean field and I doubt the farmer appreciates it but I saw 6 of the rabbits in the field a couple days ago. There were at least a dozen more I saw in the yard. We used to raise rabbits and I agree it can be nice watching them. Still, too many of them eating beans can decrease the yield a bit.

 

[fossil]

That's quite a litter. We have wild Cottontails and Jacks out here. The Jacks are real shy, but the Cottontails will shelter under my woodshed or my deck and help me keep my grass trimmed. I like watching them, and they don't spook so long as I just go about my business. I remember one time I looked out the kitchen window and counted 5 grazers on my lawn...some, I'm sure, the offspring of others. But...there are feral cats around, and there are Great Horned Owls around, so the rabbits are always in danger, especially at night. If the owls don't get them out in the open, the cats will find and kill the kits in the nest before they even have a chance to grow. At least the owls kill them as prey to eat and feed their young...the damn cats just kill them to kill them because they're rodents, and then leave them.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

That's quite a litter. We have wild Cottontails and Jacks out here. The Jacks are real shy, but the Cottontails will shelter under my woodshed or my deck and help me keep my grass trimmed. I like watching them, and they don't spook so long as I just go about my business. I remember one time I looked out the kitchen window and counted 5 grazers on my lawn...some, I'm sure, the offspring of others. But...there are feral cats around, and there are Great Horned Owls around, so the rabbits are always in danger, especially at night. If the owls don't get them out in the open, the cats will find and kill the kits in the nest before they even have a chance to grow. At least the owls kill them as prey to eat and feed their young...the damn cats just kill them to kill them because they're rodents, and then leave them.

They don't deal with predators nearly as well as local wildlife does