Dancing with the “predator”
I have a rabbit problem. Now I do love bunnies like to rest of you, but these rabbits were a different story.
I had had the inspiration to create a raised garden with succulent plants outside my bedroom window. It took some doing. First, I had soil brought in to create a wabi sabi shaped roughly 8 feet x 5 feet mound. Then my partner and I dragged the hugest boulders we could find from our property and strategically placed them in different areas of the soil heap. The bed was ready for the plants! I went to several out of the way shops to identify the rare succulents that could thrive as perennials in zone 4 and below. In our region, temperatures during winter can drop as low as -20 F (-29C). Once I got this prized selection together, it was time to plant which was not a simple matter. We were in mosquito season and our mosquitoes are vicious. They bite through single layers of clothing and gloves, which meant that during 85 F (29C) weather, I wore 2 layers of clothing, socks, gloves and a bee suit!
Finally the plants were in and I relished the beauty of my toil.
My joy was short-lived. I saw several bunnies munching away at my delosperma! I run outside brandishing a broomstick. Of course they run away to the periphery only to return 10 minutes later in their numbers. Our long-haired German Shepherd Gunter helped with alerting me about the bunnies and chasing them away when I opened the slider, but even Gunter got tired of being the rabbit patrol officer. He enjoyed sprawling on the ground next to the evaporative cooler during the heat spell we were having. I was in the grips of frustration, bewilderment and a roaring sense of determination. This wouldn’t and shouldn’t stand!
I sometimes wonder if the Beings of Light - God and the Evolved Souls on the other side- if they don’t just scratch their heads with wonder at how little things antagonize us. How we so easily get our knickers in a twist.
I’m all for not sweating the small stuff, but this matter was of serious urgency! Hundreds of dollars were being devoured by the minute by this prey turned predator. I researched the matter of Rabbit repellers. I bought off amazon two solar-powered mole repellers and set them up in ground on the perimeter of my garden. These had 2 settings. The first setting let out ultrasonic pulses to scare away the pests. The second setting included a shrill alarm sound which came on whenever anyone/anything walked in front of it. The second setting would not work for us because it was outside our bedroom and kept us up all night. The first setting didn’t work.
I went to Plan B. I purchased 100 clip on Garlic Oil repellants which reportedly is loathed by rabbits and deer. This did not work. Plan C comprised the use of bamboo skewers. One of gravel delivery guys had mentioned a client placed these among the plants, skewer end upwards. The rabbits got poked in the eye when they tried to eat the plants. I wasn’t very comfortable with this option, but I was desperate. I didn’t want to hurt the bunnies, but I didn’t want to see my expensive plants decimated. This was only partially effective. They were able to work around the skewers and still get decent bites into the plants.
I was beginning to wonder what had happened to the rabbits’ natural predator. The coyotes in our region at dusk typically let out several howling shrieks which sent the rabbits hiding. Our home had created a haven for these rabbits since the coyotes seldom came too close. I researched rabbits feeding patterns. They are crepuscular which means they predominantly come out at dusk and dawn to feed. I would see 5-6 bunnies playing tag and jumping over each other near our house. They hid in our horses stables among the hay and I imagined that they coyotes were having a harder time tracking them down. I was beginning to sink to my lower urges for the nuclear option. I felt guilty with this thought. I’m all for the prey and not the predator.
Reluctantly, I went to the option which perhaps was obvious from the start. A fence! This was not my first choice because it took away quite a bit of the beauty of the garden. The first fence was ineffective because they just waded between the spokes. I tried chicken wire fencing. It is hideous but effective. I did something else that made me feel good about myself. I noticed that the rabbits also went for a naturally occurring plant which was on our land but in short supply. I started giving those on our land supplemental water. The rabbits were no longer circling my garden, trying to come up with schemes to evade the fence. They diverted their attention to the natural plant and left my garden in peace.
As I reflected on this rabbit-gone-predator journey, I understood how easily it is to get ‘lock and loaded’ without considering all the factors at play. It is also easy to miss that one man’s/animals prey can be another’s predator. We are all locked in this dance of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ and lose sight of the fact that we are all in this together. How do we live and let live?
In my medical training, medical students take the Hippocratic Oath which includes the important 'priming non nocere “- first, do no harm. This isn’t always cut and dried as may occur when the diagnosis is not clear, or when the doctor may have to guide the patient in the choice of several cancer treatment options all of which may have harmful side effects. Nonetheless, as humans, our spiritual path calls us to listen to our inner conscience and do the best we can to support the co-existence of non-threatening fellow living creatures.