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Stray rabbit.

casu consulto

Mama Doe
I need tips on how to catch a stray rabbit that is not contained and has free range of six or seven relatively long gardens, and it can slip out into trees/field at one end.

There's a young dutch rabbit that has been apparently pushed through the gate of this row of gardens and has been living there for about a week. My mum saw it a few days ago, and when I went to look the next day I did not see it and assumed it belonged to one of the houses and had been returned to its hutch, or taken by a predator (there are a lot of foxes in said park, not to mention dogs walked on and off lead alongside the gardens daily). We just saw it again and a man opened the gate at the end (the gardens are gated) and allowed us to try and get near it, but he only had a few minutes.

The rabbit is young, and will let me get relatively close, but not close enough to throw anything over it. It listens and responds to me if I talk to it, so I'm considering taking carrot or something to tempt it nearer. I have no idea how people catch stray bunnies...! You people must be amazingly lucky, possess the speed and reflexes of a ninja, or possess a whole range of bunny knowledge I want to learn...! :lol: Tips?


... the universe is cackling at me. :oops: Dutch bunnies are my major weakness.
 
Food is always the best idea. If it's been living wild the thought of a tasty carrot... :mrgreen:
Personally I don't like the idea of throwing something over it. The reason for this is the rabbit could just push out of a towel, or if the wind blows it it might completely miss and then the rabbit will be scared of you and you'll have no chance.
Take a crate or box with you and try and get it close enough to quickly scoop it up and put it in the box. I don't like picking rabbits up by their scruff but if you have to do that.

Where abouts in Manchester are you? Maybe I could get my brother to help you. He's very rabbit savvy. :)
 
If you could get your hands on a live trap this would be useful, leave some food in it and then check back every few hours. You can use ones designed for cats, your local RSPCA office might be able to help.
 
That's the problem. :( I can't get close to it. The gardens have no fence between them, just hedges - it can slip through them easily, but I have to run back up the path, up steps, along a small walk way, down steps and along a path again before I'm even within sight of it...!

I'm wondering if I took litter from my own rabbit hutches down there, might it get curious by their scent? It's sooo frustrating because it's curious, and not exactly frightened. I WANT to sit still and let it come to me, but the space is too large and these are peoples back gardens, so I feel like I'm being a pest.
 
Shame your not closer to me, I am netoriously good at catching stray rabbits, cats and dogs!

My advice would be this:

If you want to CATCH the bun, you will need two or three people, a carrier and something tempting. I would also take a towel in case they are scratchy. You may want someone to ONLY be in charge of the carrier (Ie, to run to the person who has pinned the bun)

You could try another way.... provide a carrier/box etc in your garden for it to hide in, place it by a wall as most buns are worried about going into the open.... put hay and nommy things in the box. Check the box each day to see if the bun has visited it.... next time you see the bun in your garden if it uses the box, it may run to the box for safety ;)

You can also buy humane rabbit cages on ebay. You could always resell when you've caught the bun.

Good luck x
 
well done on trying to catch it...

When Oreo escaped I had a carrier and a wire cage which in the end i got close enough to put on top of him..

banana usually works well, maybe leave lots of treats in your garden - pellets, herbs, banana - so hopefully it will keep coming back to yours and eventually he will get to know you enough to trust you to get close enough?
 
I had my mum with me, but she could have played a more active role...! :lol: She stood asking the man who let us in about it, whilst I slipped along wet paths trying to get near it. I shall take carrot tomorrow...!

The gardens in question are not near to my own, and a gate has to be un-padlocked and I need permission from residents before I can even spend five minutes in there. So leaving a box or trap of any kind would be tricky, and checking either every few hours might well be impossible.
 
Tempted to do that...! They might have more luck than me... or at least more experience in catching bunnies. :roll: I adopted Amber from one of the RSPCA places near here, and she'd taken them two weeks to catch. I can well understand why now.
 
Eeeee!
I just went down to the gardens where little stray bunny is - leaving my mum practically having kittens at me 'going off to ramble in the half-light' (her words!) - and found him/her immediately. I took an apple with me and cut bits off to throw gently in it's direction, and it came binkying towards me. :love: Not close enough to make a grab for it through the metal railings (which I can't even fit my head through, grrr!) but enough to get a good look at it. I'm going back tomorrow with more tasty treats, and hopefully will be able to build some trust up. If anyone's around, I'm going to politely ask if they might let me in to try and help the stray bunny. If not, I'll drag my mum down there this weekend so both she and I can go plead entry and make an attempt at bunny rescue!
 
Awww bless - good luck in catching this little one.

We caught our Amber in my sister in law's garden by leaving a trail of pellets to a pet carrier. When she went in for them, I managed - after about 20 attempts to shut her in :)

She'd been chucked out my my SIL's neighbour who had just bought a Rottie :(:evil:

Will keep everything crossed you manage to catch them xxx
 
I've been plotting a plan involving a pet carrier and a trail of food...! :lol:

It's such a frustrating situation! The rabbit is not contained in any way. He or she can get out of these gardens on three sides and slip through the railins, and it DOES occasionally skip out, but if anyone approaches it darts back through to 'safety'. The gardens are so long and separated by hedges, which it can pass through easily but I cannot. It's an odd set out, even, because these gardens extend down into the park, and at one end have a large metal gate all the residents in the row of houses possess a key to open for when they wish to put their bins out. The rabbit - luckily - favours the garden on the end, and so is not impossible to find or feed. But in another way, it is SO frustrating having it literally just out of reach.

People will open the gate if asked, but it's an awkward situation because knocking on and asking constantly to be let in seems very rude. :oops:
 
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