Nuneaton & Bedworth Borough Council
Tel: 024 7637 6376
Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm

One Stop Shops:
Nuneaton Town Hall
Coton Road, Nuneaton,
Warwickshire, CV11 5AA

Bedworth Area Office
High Street, Bedworth,
Warwickshire, CV12 8NF

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Wild Rabbits

The Borough Council does not offer a service for the treatment of Rabbits. Details of pest control contractors can be obtained from the yellow pages or via the British Pest Control Association (BPCA) who can be contacted on 0870 609 2687 or visit their website at www.bpca.org.uk

Information on Rabbits

Found throughout Western Europe rabbits live communally with other rabbits in burrows known as warrens. They are often above ground during the day. Relevant damage occurs mainly to farmers’ crops, newly planted shrubs, bowling lawns and golf courses.

If rabbits are known to be a problem in the area, a strong wire mesh fence is a good first line of defence, ideally around the whole garden perimeter if possible. It should be 1 – 1.5 metres high and extend 30cm or so below ground level – and angled outwards – to stop them simply burrowing underneath. Suitable rolls of wire, with holes no bigger than 2.5cm, are often sold at very reasonable cost in agricultural suppliers specifically for this use.

Vulnerable plants or beds can be protected individually in much the same way and wire mesh or purpose made tree-guards will protect young saplings from having their bark stripped. In addition, some gardeners have found that growing garlic as a companion crop to plants that are particularly at risk has helped reduce damage.

Chemical repellents appear to offer some protection against rabbits, though their effectiveness appears to be lessened in wet weather. Various modern devices are also available which use motion detection to trigger a response to pests arriving in the garden, while the Contech Scarecrow – a motion-activated sprinkler – repels them with a short burst of water.

In the event that these measures fail, however, professional help is probably going to be required and the solution is likely to have to be – shooting, ferreting, cage trapping or gassing being typical methods, depending on the circumstances and numbers involved.