You may have seen many articles and blog posts about beautiful backyards filled with gorgeous shrubbery, gardens, etc. As an animal lover, you may consider mirroring these backyards and adding a hospitable environment for some wildlife.
To be more specific, wild rabbits may be what you are after. Yes, some consider them pests, but others enjoy watching them create a home within the confines of their yards.
You could travel to a local park to see wild rabbits, but why not bring them to your backyard?
How nice would it be to look out your window and see these cute creatures creating a home? Of course, these friends don’t just show up randomly.
There are a few things you need to do to lure them. With these essentials in place, wild rabbits will come freely into your yard and create a home.
Here are a few ways to convert your backyard into a safe environment for wild rabbits.
Reasons why wild rabbits may show up in your yard
The basics for rabbits to live in your yard are shelter, food, and water. These are necessary needs for any animal. Providing a safe habitat for wild rabbits is the way to attract and retain them.
To these furry friends, this is what is needed for survival. When providing these necessities, you will start to see more of these creatures in your yard.
You can’t just plant free shrubs and hope they will flock to your yard. There are certain items, such as plants, to provide these needs.
Shelter
This is one of the most essential needs to attract wild rabbits. As we build more houses, rabbits start to lose their habitat. With the loss of habitat, rabbits are more prone to becoming a predator’s next meal.
We all want to use our backyards as rent-free safe environments for these furry creatures. Rabbits don’t need much when it comes to shelter.
You can keep a nice, well-organized backyard that won’t creep in on your garden, patio sitting area, etc. With different shrubbery and brush piles, we can provide a safe environment for rabbits while reaping the benefits of watching wildlife.
Food
Just like any other animal, rabbits need to eat. Food is vital for survival, but it could be challenging for wild rabbits to find the right nutrition due to the lack of environment due to human development.
As we creep on important food for animals, our job is to provide an overall necessary diet for wild rabbits. I know, usually, we are chasing these pests out of our gardens daily.
But you should create an exclusive garden just for them. It will keep them visiting for long periods.
Water
Of course, rabbits need water, as do any animal. When providing fresh water for your wild rabbits with consistent food, you’ll have all kinds of friends visiting your backyard.
There are different ways to provide fresh and clean water. There are shallow bowls that you can use, or you can make a human-made water source.
These sources need to be cleaned and replenished regularly. Wild rabbits won’t stay if they are sensing that their area is unkempt. When creating water sources, you are providing consistent hydration.
How to provide shelter for wild rabbits
Shelter is essential to rabbits. A safe, secure place to live helps rabbits feel safe and less stressed.
Stressful wild rabbits could lead to erratic behaviors. They could have inadequate nutrition and become incredibly weak and unable to protect themselves from a bigger animal. They need an overall sense of safety to survive.
Why do rabbits need shelter?
Because of the loss of habitat, there is a lack of protection for these animals in many urban and suburban areas. We need to help these little friends out. Creating a sanctuary for these animals better protects them.
It helps with the stress and anxiety of being found by a predator. When a rabbit is overly stressed, it can affect other aspects of its behavior and health.
But no matter how adequate your shelter is, wild rabbits will not stay unless you provide water and food. This is an essential item needed for retaining wild rabbits in your yard.
What plants to use to provide shelter
Planting bushes and evergreen trees along the edge of your yard or adding brush piles will allow the rabbits to hide in them. How to build a brush pile is to assemble sticks on the ground.
Start by using small sticks and twigs. Pile them up on each other and top them off with leaves. Your furry friends will be attracted to these man-made hideaways and use the shelter when predators get too close.
Rabbits are attracted to weedy areas, such as tall grass; it’s best to allow one area of your yard to overgrow and refrain from mowing it.
If you don’t want to use your fence to create an area for the rabbits, you can use the fence line. This provides a place to allow you to plant shrubbery that rabbits can hide in.
It provides protection, as well. Within the lines, you want to deliver tall grass, bushes, water, and food. This helps provide escape routes and allows them to run to safety.
You could also use the fence line to provide food and food storage for the winter months.
You want to be sure that these areas are flat surfaces that won’t collect water and flood. You want to ensure proper drainage if a flat surface is unavailable. Flooding can lead to wild rabbit babies’ death.
How to provide food for wild rabbits?
Building the right shelter will help bring wild rabbits to your yard, but food will keep them. Providing consistent food will keep bringing these little friends back to visit.
Because of the lack of habitat for wild rabbits, you’re helping fill in the nutrition they are missing due to more homes and businesses going up.
What to plant to provide food for wild rabbits
You want to provide a selection of food for your friends, such as green plants that can grow in flower beds. Or you can create a vegetable garden.
You want to plant their favorites, which are clover, lettuce, and carrots. Refrain from growing food that rabbits don’t enjoy consuming, such as potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
You can plant berry bushes, such as blackberries and raspberries. Rabbits feed off of the dark bark of woody vegetation during the winter.
This includes oak, sumac, and dogwood. Rabbits eat the buds, bark, and twigs off young woody plants because they are smooth and easy to get due to the wood being thin. This is their source of food during the winter.
Planting tough bark will not attract rabbits. They can’t chew through the older plants.
Will planting vegetables bring wild rabbits to my yard?
Creating a vegetable garden just for rabbits will bring more of them flocking to your yard. When building their area of food, they are less to wreak havoc on your plants and garden.
You want to plant their favorites, which are clover, lettuce, and carrots. Refrain from growing food that rabbits don’t enjoy consuming, such as potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
You can plant berry bushes, such as blackberries and raspberries.
How to provide water for wild rabbits
Fresh, clean water is a given for any living animal, but it is a reason to stick to an area for shelter for wild rabbits. When providing a water source for these animals will allow them to nest and take refuge in your backyard so you can watch the wildlife from the safety of your home.
How to provide consistent water for wild rabbits
You want to set out a shallow dish of water to provide water. It is also possible to dig a shallow hole in the ground near brush or weeded areas.
Be sure that water is available when there is a lack of rain to replenish. You want to ensure there is water available year-round and replace it regularly to provide fresh water.
Be sure that you keep your water sources from freezing over during the winter.
Conclusion
The wildlife in your backyard is just as important as wildlife in wooded, protected areas. Because of communities’ constant build-up, animals like wild rabbits lose areas to nest, find food and have a consistent water source.
When turning your backyard into these oases,’ there are several ways to ensure that these furry friends are getting the right needs. Be sure to fill your yards with consistent food or vegetables that these rabbits love, create a constant water source of fresh and clean water, and create sheltered areas for your rabbits to feel safe and can duck for safety from a predator. Enjoy your new wildlife-watching area.