# Now, don't laugh!



## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

I have a question.

What do wild rabbits eat? Or, what could I feed them?

I know that I'm a darn fool but I feel sorry for them! They are around my front yard mostly and there aren't a lot of them because my cats....well, you know.


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## wofarm (Nov 30, 2009)

They eat my Wigelia, blackberries, Jap maples, Eunymous and just about anything else that doesnt get put inside the wire. They eat lead when seen at opportune times.


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## wofarm (Nov 30, 2009)

We put out feeders with regular ol rabbit pellets down on the Beagle club grounds. The feeders were 55 gallon drums with a small hole in each end in case the rabbit was in there and a varmint enerterd to git him! We used to feed 200 pounds a month.


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## BackfourtyMI. (Sep 3, 2007)

rose2005 said:


> Ardie....think of your future vegetable garden plans and go back indoors!
> 
> Rose




I agree with Rose! 
We do have wild rabbits eat under my birdfeeders though, they also eat my roses in the winter if I don't spray them 1st.


Wofarm has a good idea too. Buy a bag of inexspensive rabbit pellets & spred them someplace that you'd like them to eat at.


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## nzw tom (Oct 7, 2009)

Feed them corn from the feed store. It can be on the cob or shelled. Also put out a loaf or two of hay. The green colored hay will attract them froma ways. May also have deer show up for a free meal. They also love apples.

Tom


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

feeding wild rabbits? Sure, I feed them to my dog when ever I can.

DH just got one under the bird feeder, but I noticed a lot of tracks this morning in the fresh snow when I went to get the car out of the shop. I leave them alone if htey are out in the tree line, but if they are up near the house they are taken out. Unfortunaly it does not seem to make a dent in the wild rabbit population.

Another reason I don't like them living up near the buildings is that they attract other wildlife (hawks, owls, fox, coyotes) that also think rabbit is fine dining. Since I have both domestic rabbits and chickens, I'd rather the wildlife not consider my yard a good place to find things to eat.

But to serioulsy answer the question, I find the wild rabbits chow on the round bales and eat the bark off the tree limbs - they love the tender willow. They don't normally go after the older growth so at least they aren't killing everything. It is a problem when we have 2 -3 feet of snow as they can get farther up the younger trees and then they often do eat enough to kill the tree.

Cathy


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## wofarm (Nov 30, 2009)

Dont feed them corn. Corn is NOT good rabbit feed if you are wanting to help them. .


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## trinityoaks (Sep 17, 2008)

nzw tom said:


> Feed them corn from the feed store.


No! Corn is NOT good for rabbits! They can tolerate a little bit in their feed IF it's cracked first, but whole corn will block them up.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

You guys are confusing the Eastern Cottontail with domestic rabbit which is a totaly different species in a different genera.

Corn is an ideal feed for wild rabbits, and they will have no problem with it at all.

As far as that goes, there is little evidence that whole corn is detrimental to domestic rabbits, except for house rabbits.


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## nzw tom (Oct 7, 2009)

Corn and hay for WILD rabbits. Walk any corn field in winter and you will find signs of rabbits.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Cottontail around here eat anything that will give them starch and carbs in the winter. I know I've read the research saying that corn skin isn't digested well by the European rabbit (our domestic rabbits) but I suspect the cottontail is quite a bit different with the starch/carbs. They've had to develop pretty tough systems. 

put out a squash, whole, and it will disappear quickly. potatoes, too. Cornfields...like tom said...in the winter you can see rabbit tracks going through the edges where the combine didn't catch, or the deer fields. 

One thing abuot the wild rabbits...if they can't eat it, they won't...so it's not going to hurt them. hay, alfalfa in particular up here, they'll love, Ardie. And if the cottontails won't eat the corn, you may find yourself with a flock of wild turkeys  or a couple of deer in your back yard


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

All I know is that my domestic buns all but knock me down when I bring them corn husks and silks. They don't last but a second. Bunny tug of war!


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

chickenista said:


> All I know is that my domestic buns all but knock me down when I bring them corn husks and silks. They don't last but a second. Bunny tug of war!


 but your guys are borderline carnivores.....

just sayin'


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## wofarm (Nov 30, 2009)

I dont think small amounts of corn are bad, I feed small amounts. And its probably correct to say SOME corn tossed for wild rabbits wont do them in. Unless it carries aflatoxins or other corn prwevelent toxins. large animals can withstand a bit more than small animals like a cottontail. Several states had a severe probl;em with bad corn this year. Roasted it is okay. Oats would be a better item to put out. I havent discovered a big difference between the cottontail and the european rabbit in regards to intestinal parts? but I am willing to look at something Ive missed. Those little buggers do eat about anything when the chips are down. As humans, some of us have proven we eat anything, look down the market aisles..


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

This is from an Alabama publication, written by a wildlife scientist from Auburn University:


> *Food. *Cottontails feed almost entirely on plants. Animal matter, much of which is ingested incidentally while feeding on plants, makes up less than 1 percent of their total diet.
> When available, leaves, buds, and stems of recently sprouted weeds and grasses are their preferred food items year-round. Bark, buds, and stems of woody plants are important food items during winter. Foliage and seeds of agricultural crops, particularly corn, soybeans, and wheat, are used during the entire year where available.


Just one of many I've found.


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## nzw tom (Oct 7, 2009)

I know I'm getting off topic, but when I was 10-11 years old, I used to snare cottontails and take them home to my grandma. She would make rabbit stew and make a fuss over my brother and I for being such great hunters/ trappers. The postings just reminded me of this.


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## wofarm (Nov 30, 2009)

I dont think Ive eaten wild rabbit more than one time, at a friends. We have had our own since I was about 4-5, nearly 60 years. What I know about the cottontail is mostly from game biologists who come to the beagle club to advise us on how to best manage them on the 120 acre running grounds; and years of observing them on the farm. The entire thing is fenced with special wire and we sometimes trap from towns to import to the grounds. we use cider spray as bait.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

wofarm said:


> I dont think Ive eaten wild rabbit more than one time, at a friends. We have had our own since I was about 4-5, nearly 60 years. What I know about the cottontail is mostly from game biologists who come to the beagle club to advise us on how to best manage them on the 120 acre running grounds; and years of observing them on the farm. The entire thing is fenced with special wire and we sometimes trap from towns to import to the grounds. we use cider spray as bait.


Heh, I used to trap them for studies in the wildlife research department at the university.........We used shelled corn for bait. We would re-catch them month after month (year after year if they lived that long) and record weights, etc.

I love wild rabbit, which tastes completely different than domesticated rabbit. The meat is different, too. It is more of a red color.


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## General Brown (Jan 10, 2008)

When I had my free range domesticated rabbits, they would eat the scratch grain with the chickens. At night the wild rabbits would show up and they always seemed to eat the corn as much or more than they did the other grains.


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## wofarm (Nov 30, 2009)

Its settled then !! Go git some corn !! Shows how much I understand about all I know about it eh !

I did soak some in anti freeze and set out last year, found 2 dead, told ya corn kills em!


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## General Brown (Jan 10, 2008)

wofarm said:


> Its settled then !! Go git some corn !! Shows how much I understand about all I know about it eh !
> 
> I did soak some in anti freeze and set out last year, found 2 dead, told ya corn kills em!



The corn did not kill them, the anti freeze did.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

You can come "rescue" my wild rabbits- they have killed my favorite trees...demolished my expensive antique roses and chowed down on my blackberry bushes. I wanted a .22 for xmas so i could dispatch them...but no one bought me one  Also asked for a good boning knife and no one got me one of those either. Looks like when I recover from xmas shock I will be going shopping.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

I wouldnt worry about it thats why its called nature. (mind you not trying to be insensitive or rude with any of this, I get sensitive over animals too both wild and domestic.)

they would not be around if there where no food, they know where to find it.
they have survived all over the place with out mans help, except for maybe us replaceing the preds that we wiped out. 

might get flamed but if you want to help put a couple in the pot that will leave more food for the remaining ones.


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## tamsam (May 12, 2006)

They like all kinds of vegies and bread. We raised a few and they went for the bread over the pellets. Sam


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

When the snow is really deep I put hay out for the wild ones. Keeps them from eating the bark off my trees.

Fenced the garden in good. As long as dh doesn't touch it again I shouldn't have any bunnies eating my peas.


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## Lilandra (Oct 21, 2004)

one of the best thing a person can do for wild animals is to give them clean fresh water, if you feed them you disrupt their natural instincts and diet. critters can do without feed for quite some time but die quickly when there is no water available.


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