Worldwide Beekeeping
Sustainable Living => Homestead => Topic started by: riverbee on June 22, 2016, 12:01:06 am
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this year seems to be the year for the rabbits to really get after our peas, beans, carrots, colrabi, etc..........! frustrating! it's a good year for vegetable gardening for us this year, but the rabbits are really prolific. we have all sorts of critters, but the two major culprits are always deer and bunnies, unless a bear and/or cubs decides to dine on whatever is growing, usually the melons. not too often.
my prince put up a plastic fence around a large portion of one garden.......the one with peas, beans, carrots, etc......it keeps the deer out, but i told him the bunnies would chew right through.........and so they have. many little holes through it........ :D i went out to the garden one evening last week when he was hollering "I GIVE"........... :D
i said i told you they would chew right through that, but......ya know........... :D
we have two very immensely large gardens, and it is not very cost effective or practical to construct fencing to keep all the critters out not to mention the labor involved. what fencing that works for one critter, does not work for another. we just try and protect the veggies that seem to get hit the hardest. i just said go back to the chicken wire........
he doesn't like chicken wire for some reason.......... :D well, maybe next year he will.
i came across this video. just goes to show how determined rabbits can be to get to the good stuff in a garden...........
https://youtu.be/pESX1GdpyQU
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What really irks me is when they take one bite out of everything! Why not make a meal out of one item! >:( :eusa_wall:
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I grow ghost peppers and Carolina Reaper peppers and make my own hot sauce. Not only does it sell well, but it make EXCELLENT rabbit and deer repellent. I use about 8 ounces in a hose end sprayer and spray everything they are trying to eat. Anything with fur takes one bite, and runs away. After about a week of this, they don't come back.
Don't worry, the hot sauce washes off the veggies. So my wife and son can eat them! Yea, I have to reapply after a rain, but it is cheap and easy for me to apply.
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Mark,
I like that idea-think I'll try it. Thanks :)
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hehe, I have learned that the MAIN reason I plant a garden is to lure in the critters I want to GRILL :yes:
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hehe, I have learned that the MAIN reason I plant a garden is to lure in the critters I want to GRILL :yes:
You would force that on a rabbit, making it sit there under a bright light while you interrogated it?
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"I grow ghost peppers and Carolina Reaper peppers and make my own hot sauce. Not only does it sell well, but it make EXCELLENT rabbit and deer repellent. I use about 8 ounces in a hose end sprayer and spray everything they are trying to eat. Anything with fur takes one bite, and runs away. After about a week of this, they don't come back.
Don't worry, the hot sauce washes off the veggies. So my wife and son can eat them! Yea, I have to reapply after a rain, but it is cheap and easy for me to apply."
thanks mark, we have used this concoction in the past,
get an empty milk jug.
mix up 1 gallon of water with below in the water, then pour into the milk jug:
1. 5 or 6 good sized mashed cloves of fresh garlic.
2. a generous teaspoon of crushed red peppers, could probably substitute hot sauce! never thought of this! hotter the better!
3. 1 tablespoon of dish soap, smellier the better.
pour the mixture into the gallon jug, shake it up. let it sit for a day or two, and shake it up whenever during that time.
put in a hand sprayer or a garden pump sprayer, have at it. spray the plants the bunnies are after. once the plants are established the bunnies don't bother them so much. might have to repeat, and respray if it rains. it does work.
next year, we are going back to better fencing to keep them out.
oh and ps.............i don't grill rabbits......either by interrogation or charcoal........... :D :D :D
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Mrs River.. they are VERY good! Also healthy and lean! Sauteed onions, real butter, a dash or three of garlic salt... ;D
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Hey Squirt, put the fence on the out side of the post next time,so bigger varmints (coons, ect) can't push through. 8) For some reason the rabbit population has exploded around here? they're not afraid of you like when i was growing up? I've had them run out from under hives about 10 ft. and set and watch me work bees or hop around eating clover like i wasn't there? I've seen as many as 3 in our garden, but they haven't ate anything, not even the green beans? I have seen deer in the buckwheat, but they haven't bothered the sweet corn or green beans. you can't walk anywhere in the fields without jumping 3 or 4 rabbits ??? Maybe i need to slack off on shooting Coyotes? Jack
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scott, when i was younger/growing up........don't find the need now. ;D
jack, we are going to re-work fencing for next year to keep the dang bunnies out..... they are the ones that get the peas,beans, carrots, etc, all the tender tasty veggies....... this year seems more challenging. deer get these too, but the high plastic fence has kept them out. but gee, doesn't keep the little squat chewing squirts with big ears out....... :D
the only thing one can use is chicken wire to keep these buggers out. and now it is being sold in a purty plastic coated green..... :D
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Sweet Wife builds hoops over every bed with PVC pipe and covers with chicken wire. Seems to work well.
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"Sweet Wife builds hoops over every bed with PVC pipe and covers with chicken wire. Seems to work well."
neil, you have a pic? btw, thanks, didn't think to build the chicken wire over the hoops, just other chicken wire configurations........... :D
some of our garden endeavors has included the use of tulle fabric and hoops. only thing is bunnies will dig under, and we have experienced them digging under what they can't get through or chew through.
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Those stinkers can get through anything if determined. Fortunately our little Lizzie loves to chase them and in the process, I have seen them squeeze through a chain link fence. Could not believe my eyes!
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Les,
If the head squeezes through the body will follow. :)
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what neil said!.............. :D :D :D
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One thing I can say for sure is if you have a rabbit problem you don't have a coyote problem.
Buttermilk Fried Rabbit
Prep Time: 4 hours, not including brining time
Cook Time: 25 minutes
•2 to 4 cottontails, cut into serving pieces
•2 cups buttermilk
•2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, or mix together 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme and 1 tablespoon dried parsley
•1 tablespoon paprika
•1 tablespoon garlic powder
•2 teaspoons cayenne, or to taste
•1 1/2 cups flour
•1 heaping teaspoon salt
•About 2 cups vegetable oil
1.Mix the buttermilk with the all the spices except the teaspoon of salt and the flour. Coat the rabbit with the mixture and set in a covered container overnight, or at least 8 hours.
2.When you are ready to fry, pour the oil into a large pan — a big cast iron frying pan is ideal — to a depth of about an inch. The general idea is you want the oil to come halfway up the side of the rabbit. Set the heat to medium-high.
3.Meanwhile, take the rabbit out of the buttermilk and let it drain in a colander. Don’t shake off the buttermilk or anything, just leave it there.
4.Let the oil heat until it is about 325°F; this is the point where a sprinkle of flour will immediately sizzle. When the oil is hot, pour the flour and salt into a plastic bag and shake to combine. Put a few pieces of rabbit into the bag and shake to get it coated in flour.
5.Set the coated rabbit pieces in one layer in the hot oil so they don’t touch. Fry for about 8 to 12 minutes. Fry gently — you want a steady sizzle, but nothing raging, and you definitely don’t want the rabbit to just sit in oil. You might need to adjust the heat. Turn the rabbit pieces and fry for another 10 minutes or so, until they are golden brown. The forelegs will come out first, followed by the loin, and the hind legs will come out last. You will probably need to fry in batches, so just leave the uncooked rabbit pieces in the colander until you are ready to flour them up and fry them. Don’t let the floured pieces sit.
6.When the rabbit is good and fried, let them rest on a rack set over a paper towel to drain away any excess oil. If you are cooking in batches, set this in a warm oven.
Rabbit Pot Pie
1 rabbit, cut into serving pieces
~ water
~ vinegar
~ salt and pepper
~ flour
~ 2 medium onions, chopped
~ 2 carrots, diced
~ 3 potatoes, diced
~ pie crust or biscuits
Soak rabbit in equal parts of water and vinegar overnight.
Remove rabbit from water/vinegar mixture and dry. Season with salt and pepper to taste and roll in flour.
In a stew pot, large skillet or dutch oven, heat a little oil and brown the rabbit quickly on both sides.
Add enough water to cover the rabbit. Cover and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Add the onions, carrots and potatoes. Cover and simmer until carrots are tender.
Thicken the broth with flour. Use 2 tablespoons of flour for each cup of broth.
Pour into a greased baking dish and top with the pie crust or with biscuits.
Cook at 375 degrees until the crust is golden brown.
;D Al
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Deer were easy for me to keep out of the veggies, I had a heart TO heart talk with them and told them I would not put them in a favorite recipe if they left the veggies to eat. Seems to have worked along with the electric fence just under waist high.
Never the less I like the taste of venison summer sausage and other things.
Herb-Crusted Venison Filets with Horseradish Sauce
Ingredients
3 – 5 lbs Broken Arrow Ranch Boneless Leg Filets or Boneless Loin (Axis, South Texas Antelope or Elk)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt, Kosher, to taste
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp cracked black peppercorns
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
Sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Rub filets with olive oil. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over filets. Rub filets with mustard. Mix pepper, rosemary and thyme then season meat with the herb mixture. Cover or wrap the meat with plastic and allow to sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Alternatively, meat can be seasoned in advance and placed in the refrigerator – just pull meat from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.
Heat oven to 425°F or prepare a medium-hot grill. Roast/grill venison filets to rare or medium-rare. For rare pull meat when internal temperature is 115°-120°F, about 15-20 minutes total cooking time. For medium-rare pull meat when internal temperature is 120°-125°F, about 20-25 minutes total cooking time. Slice filets across the grain into 1/4 inch medallions and serve with the horseradish sauce.
Sauce:
Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, horseradish, and mustard to create the sauce. Chill until ready to serve.
Serves 6-8
Smell Up The Place Deer & Onions
deer loin or roast
~ 3 - 5 lbs yellow onions
~ 1 stick butter, maybe more
~ salt
~ pepper
~ garlic powder
Slice the meat as thin as you can get it. Best done while still partially frozen.
Slice the onions into thin slices and then in half.
Melt the butter in an iron skillet. Turn on the exhaust fan!
Place 1 - 2 inches of onions in the hot butter. Place the meat on top of the onions. Do not mix together.
Season to taste with the salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Cook over medium to medium-low heat until the meat starts to change color.
Flip the meat only and season again with the seasonings.
Cook until the meat changes colors again and then mix the meat and onions together.
Serve with hunks of bread and your favorite sides.
After a while you will have taught tasty animals to leave your property or get eaten.
;D Al
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uhhh, thanks al, but i am not looking for recipes, just looking to keep the bunnies out of my garden........... :D :D :D
and btw, we do have coyotes, but we have those who hunt them and some hunt them with dogs, and those of course who like to trespass on property to do so....... seems population of coyotes are down, and the bunny population this year is way up......hmmm, balance?.........
also i don't like italian seasoning, oregano, rosemary or thyme......... :D
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also i don't like italian seasoning, oregano, rosemary or thyme......... :D
Or italian queens!!!
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The recipes were a scuttle way to say shoot the varmints and eat them. Same with the deer.
Our law is can protect crops and live stock from varmints any time. But you sure would have a fight on your hands if you shot one of the states garden raiding deer here in Michigan.
;D Al
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@Al:
You seem to be an accomplished cook. I may try your rabbit recipes nest winter, and the deer over onions looks intriguing. I love to cook with onions, and I love to cook in an iron skillet. Another thing in your attitude is that I believe shoot and eat rids the crime scene of evidence. We have mild winters, and when I cook with lots of onions or cook cabbage I use the gas burner on my outside barbecue grill.
Thanks again, and it was a fun read.
lazy
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"Or italian queens!!! "
............ :D very true apis! they just don't make it here!
"The recipes were a scuttle way to say shoot the varmints and eat them. Same with the deer.
Our law is can protect crops and live stock from varmints any time. But you sure would have a fight on your hands if you shot one of the states garden raiding deer here in Michigan."
al, ya mean SUBTLE?.......... :D , i did get your 'subtle hint' on the recipes and it was quite funny! your recipes probably are very good. we enjoy venison, that's it. i grew up with all sorts of things on the table........ :D i do have some awesome venny recipes.
my husband actually asked me to take the pistols out for the woodchucks and bunnies. (i am the annie oakley....lol) i can't do it. just can't do it. just a softy i guess.......well, i am. it's senseless. yeah so what they eat up my garden they do every year. much better table fare out there than bunnies and woodchucks. :)
thanks al!
ps lazy, this isn't a shoot and eat topic, it's about keeping bunnies out of the garden............ ;D
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"ps lazy, this isn't a shoot and eat topic, it's about keeping bunnies out of the garden"
:laugh: and eating them is the best way, Might as well eat them now and veggies later as no veggies later and have to resort to rabbit.
I know my way around the kitchen and like to cook stuff for Kare. Of course I have to be careful with the spice selection if I want her to eat things again.
OK so I can't always spell the word I want, but Ya'll got the idea never the less.
;D Al
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RB, Heres a couple pics.
(https://s31.postimg.cc/6wmju35nb/hoop_raised_beds.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/6wmju35nb/)
(https://s32.postimg.cc/dlp1qxxa9/side_view_hoops.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/dlp1qxxa9/)
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thank you very much for pix neill!
i think we pretty much lost our beans, peas, and maybe the cukes this year. dang little critters.
neil are those 2 by 8's ?
and do you have problems with the bunnies trying to dig under?
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RB,
They are 2x10s. She used short pieces of re-bar driven into the ground to support the pipe. Not had any dig unders yet. Fingers crossed!
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If i had a rabbit that smart? i would hang a steel trap up side down over the hole on the inside of the tunnel or one of the old time mole traps, they work 24/7. :yes: Jack
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If i had a rabbit that smart? i would hang a steel trap up side down over the hole on the inside of the tunnel or one of the old time mole traps, they work 24/7. :yes: Jack
:agree:
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scott, when i was younger/growing up........don't find the need now. ;D
It isnt so much about the NEED to eat them, as it is about the NEED to protect your garden, and the NEED to enjoy a VERY FINE meal at little expense!! So in effect, you kill two birds with one stone.. protection, and food.. no money spent on fancy repellents, fences, chargers, etc... OH! And it also keeps you in tip top shooting shape so you will be prepared for the ZOMBIE invasion!!!!
:laugh:
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hehe, I have learned that the MAIN reason I plant a garden is to lure in the critters I want to GRILL :yes:
I like your solution
I am wondering if white wing doves the size of pigeons are on the dove season ok to hunt list? because I hear they are rather tasty and they are chasing all my pretty birds off.
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i still don't find the need scott.........critters are smart......i hear what you are saying. hard for me.
if a gun works for you, fine, a gun doesn't work for me unless absolutely necessary. i don't kill and grill critters/birds.
part of the challenge of keeping a garden is trying to outsmart them....sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. we keep it simple i guess. we would be shooting critters all day and all night everyday. not going to do that.
and btw, still in top shooting shape, beat them boys at the local rod and gun last thursday on skeet.............. :D :D :D
garden is doing great! great harvest of mators, peppers.....good tator crop, pumpkins, pie pumpkins, squash. just miss the stuff the bunnies ate early in the season........ :D
what i can't figure out is, last weekend we picked off a few green peppers off of 5 green pepper plants producing well. we had to leave for a few days, came back and those plants were totally stripped of peppers............NOTHING LEFT......
want to talk about critters? ain't no critters stripping off my peppers. like to give the two legged critter an arse full of buckshot for taking my peppers.
i couldn't believe it!
anyone else had this problem? folks stealing from your garden?
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For some reason the rabbit population has boomed at our farm? They even hop out from some of my hives when i start working them and set and watch me about 5 ft. away? When i go to the next hive they just watch me, and if i walk toward them they just keep a 5ft, distance between us. They just don't fear us like they did when i was growing up ??? I watched them hop around the garden but they never ate anything like the green bean plants, cabbage, ect. , they and never gave a problem? They hop around the yard with the barn cats watching them but are not afraid. My old bird dog is to old to chase them now but tries to point them and sometimes falls over :D I should put him down but don't have the heart to,when he gets worse i'll take him to the vet. I won't let an animal suffer. Still can't figure these rabbits out. :no: Jack
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I think the increase in rabbits around here is due to the loss of my red tailed hawks. A pair used to nest around here. Rat poison manufacturers switched ingredients in the baits, now if a predator catches a rat that has ingested some, it kills the predator. I do still have coyotes. I consider that a Plus.
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Checks and balances.
Jack says:
"For some reason the rabbit population has boomed at our farm?"
With the boom in population, you may see an abundance of coyotes, fox, hawks or such in the next couple of years.
I have seen hawks try to pick up squirrels, but without much success. Squirrels, now that's a critter that needs a predator.
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I could probably build a fence that would keep rabbits out of my raised bed gardens, but I don't think a raccoon can be stopped. A friend of mine says, to build a goat proof fence, "Build the fence and throw a bucket of water on it. If any of the water passes through the fence, it will not contain goats." The same could be said for "coons."
Coons are very good with their front feet, they are smart and diligent and they don't have anything else to do. On the ranch, only a steel building keeps them at bay.
lazy
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Lazy, a baking pan and sweet potatoes keep them at bay just fine. ;D
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Haven't seen or heard any Coyotes on the farm for the past two years? I use to kill them when a snow was on, i can see a long ways from the house and have shot many from my back porch. I also use to track them in the snow and jump shoot them, got to lazy (or old) to do that anymore. :-X. As for Red Tail hawks, when i run my brush cutter over the pastures ( July to Sept.) young hawks set in close by trees and watch for a meal. They will swoop down and attack mice, Boles,snakes, Rabbits, ect. they just set there and dine on what ever as i make my next round and look at me like there saying Thank You. :D I even see several Rabbits in my out yards that use to be a rarity? Another odd think, we have been seeing dead opossums laying around that don't have signs that they were killed by anything? i don't leave poison out where animals could get in it? Jack
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Lazy, a baking pan and sweet potatoes keep them at bay just fine. ;D
Yes... i agree so VERY VERY good....
I just lost some fruit trees and about 3 grand worth of grapes to deer... The DNR says the numbers are WAY down this year and they will limit tags... Why is it when they say numbers are down I see more deer than I ever have in my life?
Old Knitro the bee dog seems to be keeping the rabbits at bay... I am PROUD of him! Popping one every so often and giving it to him seems to keep him slinking through the fields and on the hunt... Deer, are another issue... i tied up Knitro down by the grapes... Woke up at 2:10 AM to his insistent barking... walked out there, and there are 9 deer eating my grapes 15 feet from him...
4 of them will never eat a grape again...
if you can avoid killing natures critters, I applaud you, send me some money to replace my losses, and i will stop killing them too.