I dream of Jeannie / She's a light brown hare

(Warning: don't be fooled by the title. This is not a bunny-friendly post.) A full day digging in the garden under cloudless blue skies, with temperatures just cool enough to keep the biting bugs dormant just a bit longer (although my Pahss-i-FLOR-a kah-eh-ru-LEH-a was a bit, er, chapped at having to endure last night's frost). Life is good. Or mostly: I see that we've got bunny action on the annual lupins. Now, the rabbit repellent I've been using this season is not bad: its gimmick is to combine rotten fish extract and garlic to repel by smell while providing some foliar feeding. The problem? Not much staying power after a heavy rain, which means the buffet's open for pre-dawn foraging after an overnight downpour. Still, it seems to be working better than the long, sad list of trieds-and-faileds: hot-pepper-and-garlic; castor-oil-in-clay; composted sludge; and my all-time "favorite", livestock blood and vegetable oil. I tried that last one last year after hearing neighborhood gardener buzz about it. A few problems: you spray it and, well, your plants look blood-splattered (because they are), and the smell...eau de old-time meat counter. I can't pronounce the product's name, but I think it's Swedish for "Carrie's Prom Night". I would have stuck with it, explaining away the unique coloration effect as bronze foliage (all the rage these days, you know), but for the fact that it was more effective at repelling humans than rabbits, as the bare stumps of my three sidalcea mallows bore witness. So now the little lapin is after the lupin. Can you blame her? So fresh, so green, so filled with poisonous alkaloids. Surely the gardener can make a little sacrifice for her dining pleasure. So, as they say, bon appetit: from the French for knock yourself out.

Comments

[Robert the Llama Butcher]

I went so far last year as to purchase one of those owl decoys with the bobbly head and industriously moved it about from post to post along my garden fence. I figured that if it didn't stop the rabbits, it would at least infuriate the crows, providing some harmless entertainment. Alas, all of them - rabbits, crows, squirrels and even, I suspect, mice - administered the cut direct, utterly ignoring the thing. Ah well.

[Chan S.]

(Crossing owl decoys off my list...) I know the feeling of wanting to try anything, just anything, to rid these varmints. But I also try to maintain a little perspective: at least I don't have deer (light candles, cross fingers, knock wood).