We are in desperate need of rabbit control on our backwoods property, but it’s going to be a huge job. We have a small cabin in the middle of the woods about a three-hour drive from our home. It’s been our haven, our little getaway, to take us out of the hustle and bustle of our jobs and all the errands and work we have to do around our home. Since it’s not too far, we can easily go there for the weekend, and just enjoy the solitude and quiet of the mountains. We’ve also used it as a base when we go hunting, but as we’ve gotten older, we go there with all the intentions of hunting, and end up spending more hours with a fishing line in the nearby lake or just sitting on the porch with a half-forgotten book on our laps as we talk or sit silently listening to the birds.
Even when we’ve gone through some difficult financial times, we clung to our private backwoods property. Of course, having a cabin in the woods means we have also had our share of dealing with wild animals, mostly raccoons or skunks. And, we’ve taken care of those situations as they came up. Lately, though, we have noticed a serious need for rabbit control in the area. This year, the rabbit population pretty much exploded, and the woods are teeming with wild bunnies. It was cute, at first, because we’d go to the cabin on the weekend and watch rabbits bounding happily through the undergrowth just beyond our porch. Some would even venture up onto the wooden steps, noses twitching at our sandwiches.
Soon, though, we started planning in a couple of extra hours into our weekend trips. It was necessary, because we had to do some rabbit control as soon as we arrived before we could start relaxing. Inevitably, we’d have to chase some rabbits out of the cabin, sweep out rabbit droppings, and take extra precautions to rabbit-proof the area, including our truck. It was starting to get annoying.
Then, we noticed the damage to the trees around the area. Young juniper trees were stripped of their bark, all the way around the trunk. That was opening the trees up to disease, which meant we could have more dead trees than usual surrounding our cabin. Dead trees can fall on a roof, which means a lot of repair. It was starting to get dangerous.
One weekend, we arrived, and found a spot of animal blood on the porch, some matted rabbit fur, and, a little distance off, some scat that looked like it might have been dropped by a bobcat. We realized that our little spot of heaven, with all of its wild rabbits, was attracting some very unwanted animals. It was starting to get really dangerous.
So, now we’re looking into hiring real trappers for some rabbit control in the area. It’s the only thing we can think of to make sure we can continue relaxing at our weekend haven instead of worrying about stepping on rabbit droppings, falling trees, or hungry predators.
