[andrewsloan]

Last autumn half a dozen of my newly arrived plants from Olivier Filippi were eaten by rabbits within days of planting them and the hungry/thirsty bunch that live on my land also attacked some of my aloes that I had in pots, experimenting with where to put them, including a variety Aloe grandidentata which I would have thought to be inedible for wild rabbits. This was in October just before the 1st rains in a number of months so they were obviously desperate.
I have put up some "rabbit proof" fences where possible but something that seems to be working quite well in keeping them at bay in other areas is human hair. My local hairdresser kindly kept the swept up hair for a month in a large rubbish bag and I have transferred this into some of Margarita's old stockings, tied up the ends with a knot and fixed the stockings in place with a rock or U shaped piece of wire (to stop them being blown away in the wind) in strategic parts of the garden. I did this in August and to-date no new rabbit attacks! The poor things must think there is an army of humans out there with all the different hair present. I don't know how long this will stay effective but I am pleased it is working so well.

[Umbrian]

Pleased to read that your use of human hair is deterring the rabbits for now - I employed the same method against marauding porcupines here several years ago and it worked for a short time until, I suppose ,the procupines either got used to the hair or it lost its
potency. My hairdresser thought it was hilarious when I asked for the floor sweepings but it certainly helped to break the ice and gave us something to talk about.  I also used to send my husband out to relieve himself around vunerable plants but he wasn't too keen on that in the winter . Keep us posted

[Alice]

We had a rabbit problem some years ago until a combination of cats and the accidental digging up of their warren for soil replacement seems to have got rid of them, for the time being at least. They were very destructive and we lost many seedlings, an Aloe vera and worst of all some trees, as they gnawed off the bark at the base of the trunk. We had to resort to protecting everything we planted with plastic netting. I can well imagine you were not too pleased, Andrew, to lose your precious Filippi plants.
It is good to have another weapon in our armamentarium against these cute but voracious creatures. It would indeed be very useful to know how long the hair treatment remains effective.

[John]

I had a similar surprise when either voles or mice ate a large portion of the leaves on Fascicularia bicolour. It is quite well protected with razor sharp teeth along the margins but a small creature can obviously ignore these.

[ritamax]

I read, that smelly shoes or sweaty clothes would do the thing and the rabbits would stay away!

[John]

But where would you find them?

[ritamax]

That is the question! Somebody would have to do an effort.