Tips for Installing Rabbit Fencing
If you live anywhere in the country or on the edges of a city, you probably see lots of rabbits around. Even within cities these animals find places to dwell. And they manage to thrive because they’re using your lawn and garden as an all you can eat buffet. The only way to keep them out is by installing rabbit fencing.
Unquestionably adorable, rabbits can nevertheless eat patches in your lawn right down to the bare earth. They also enjoy several varieties of flowers, and will chew the stalks right down to the ground. Luckily, however, with just a bit of expense and effort, you can put up rabbit fencing that will keep them out.
There are two important things to keeping in mind when constructing rabbit fencing to protect your lawn and garden. It’s not anything like your typical residential fence. First of all, rabbits can dig. Secondly, they are able to squeeze through openings that look as if they’re narrower than their bodies.
Rabbits are frequently seen above the ground. However, they also dig tunnels and caves in the ground to live in. So your rabbit fencing needs to do more than put up a surface level barrier to keep these critters away. This means that building a fence isn’t a simple effort. Sinking the posts is hard enough, but you also have to sink all of the slats or chain link panels a foot beneath the ground. But if rabbits are plaguing your property, this just might be your only option.
Before you start constructing your rabbit fencing, you need to decide on the height you want it to be. This will depend on what kind of look you’re going for, zoning restrictions, and the price of materials. Just remember to add an extra foot to the height of your materials, not just the posts but also the slats, so they can be sunk sufficiently deep.
The second consideration when constructing rabbit fencing is just as important. Full grown rabbits can squeeze their bodies through an opening that’s only inches across, and the smaller ones need even less of an opening. So you’ll need to space the slats very close together to keep these animals out.
Once again, your decision on how tightly to position the slats will depend on the amount of effort needed, the cost of materials, and the design. If you’re using chain link, it’s a standard size that they can’t squeeze through, but it is generally more expensive.
One way to get around the higher costs and added labor is to position the slats any way you please, but add an additional barrier on only the bottom two or three feet of the rabbit fencing. This can be made of chain link or mesh. Rabbits can hop quite some distance, but they can only jump about a foot. Mesh can provide an attractive appearance for relatively little cost. But don’t forget that rabbits can easily gnaw through cloth and plastic. So your barrier material needs to be sturdy, most likely metal.
To keep your costs down, another option is to just use this extra barrier in your flower beds and gardens. That will reduce the amount and height of chain link or slats required for your rabbit fencing.
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