Birds of Prey Advice

So the rabbits were free ranging in the garden, and I noticed they suddenly bolted. When I looked up in the sky there was the biggest bird I've ever seen, it was high up so I couldn't identify it but the wingspan was enormous. I've brought them straight in.

Would a bird of prey try take a 2kg bright ginger rabbit?

Would it be safe to let them out if i provide lots of tunnels and hiding places? At the moment they just have a little wooden hut thing but it's attached to a run so they wouldn't be able to get in there quickly

I don't know what to do, they absolutely love playing in the garden. I know you're supposed to supervise them but even still if a bird of prey was going to attack i doubt i could get to them in time

EDIT: Also our garden is fairly small, there's a run in the middle and a bush so there's not a large open space for a bird to swoop down in to

DemiS said:

So the rabbits were free ranging in the garden, and I noticed they suddenly bolted. When I looked up in the sky there was the biggest bird I've ever seen, it was high up so I couldn't identify it but the wingspan was enormous. I've brought them straight in.

Would a bird of prey try take a 2kg bright ginger rabbit?

Would it be safe to let them out if i provide lots of tunnels and hiding places? At the moment they just have a little wooden hut thing but it's attached to a run so they wouldn't be able to get in there quickly

I don't know what to do, they absolutely love playing in the garden. I know you're supposed to supervise them but even still if a bird of prey was going to attack i doubt i could get to them in time

EDIT: Also our garden is fairly small, there's a run in the middle and a bush so there's not a large open space for a bird to swoop down in to

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Sadly yes. Personally I would looking at constructing a large secure run with a fixed roof x

Jack's-Jane said:

Sadly yes. Personally I would looking at constructing a large secure run with a fixed roof x

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Oh dear We do have a run but its not the same as them racing round the whole garden, the garden is rented plus it's on different levels so a bigger run wouldn't work

DemiS said:

Oh dear We do have a run but its not the same as them racing round the whole garden, the garden is rented plus it's on different levels so a bigger run wouldn't work

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It is just a risk I wouldn't take but others may well disagree

Jack's-Jane said:

It is just a risk I wouldn't take but others may well disagree

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Would also not take the risk. Personally I think all predators come back if they know something they can eat is available. If you do let them out I'd be very wary and keep a very close eye on them and the sky :? Adding hides will help deter a bird of prey as they don't see a 'space' to swoop and grab/land but it can still happen. Hopefully it was just passing by and you won't see it again!

I take the risk.
We have birds of prey circle the garden, we also have cats that watch the garden.

I personally feel quality over quantity - no matter what age.

I stay outside with them and keep an eye, do what I can to prevent cats and watch for birds of prey.
My girls have two runs they can bolt into (one fully covered so it's like a den) and I'm planting more shrubs for them to be able to hide under.

Eta: generally a bird of prey will come down and take bun even if you are there. I've seen it happen before as has my dad. Generally they'll only do it if they can swoop in and out quickly.

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daphnephoebe said:

I take the risk.
We have birds of prey circle the garden, we also have cats that watch the garden.

I personally feel quality over quantity - no matter what age.

I stay outside with them and keep an eye, do what I can to prevent cats and watch for birds of prey.
My girls have two runs they can bolt into (one fully covered so it's like a den) and I'm planting more shrubs for them to be able to hide under.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

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I used to take the risk too when I had Louie.

Yes, a large enough raptor would easily carry off a 2kg bunny providing the bird could get in/out of the garden easily enough. Sounds like he's spotted your bunnies and is scoping the area to see if he/she can do just that.

I know that it is nice to have the rabbits free range but it's bad enough them being carted off by a fox or killed by a cat, but at least they're killed fairly quickly by those. A raptor wouldn't do that. Perish the though how long it would take for a rabbit to die once it had been carried off by a huge bird. Doesn't bear thinking about to be honest. It's bad enough when the Sparrowhawk catches a little songbird and carts that off, I can still hear it squealing.

Protect your bunnies; it's not worth the risk.

I don't know if the bird would attack if you were in the garden at the same time, I guess it depends on how big your garden is (ours is only small, suitable only for Sparrowhawks which are of no threat to our girls). When our girls are free-ranging, the shed door is always open for them, plus they have other areas they can bolt to where a bird would find it very difficult to get to them; I call them my pot corners - literally corners of the garden where I have pot plants.

daphnephoebe said:

I take the risk.
We have birds of prey circle the garden, we also have cats that watch the garden.

I personally feel quality over quantity - no matter what age.

I stay outside with them and keep an eye, do what I can to prevent cats and watch for birds of prey.
My girls have two runs they can bolt into (one fully covered so it's like a den) and I'm planting more shrubs for them to be able to hide under.

Eta: generally a bird of prey will come down and take bun even if you are there. I've seen it happen before as has my dad. Generally they'll only do it if they can swoop in and out quickly.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

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This was always my take on things too. I always took the risk, preferring the bunnies to have a more natural free-range time. Horses for courses really. Around here, we have buzzards and red kites. Kites are scavengers as are buzzards in the main, although they may attempt to take a small rabbit if the opportunity presented itself. Smaller birds of prey wouldn't be able to take a rabbit. Foxes are the bigger concern though - and 'friendly' neighbourhood cats.

Thanks for everyone's input. I think as the garden is quite small, I will add a lot more hiding places so there's physically no room for a large bird to swoop down. I realised as well that looking out in to the garden in my line of sight it is fairly open, but from above the neighbours both have two big trees that cover our garden from the top

I know there's still a risk but it's absolutely incredible seeing how fast the bunnies can run and how high they can jump in the garden, they'll do the biggest binky's and laps of the garden, something they can't do in a run or in our house due to the laminate floor. Might add some shiny things too aparently they can deter birds of prey. The one I saw today was very high up so I don't think it had attempted to swoop down

It's probably the buzzard(s?) I've seen lately: it's been coursing the cinema/bowling park looking for carrion (leftovers/waste) but it's not averse to circling Uni Park either. They usually circle the area around this time of year because of the baby bunnies in the Science Park, Uni Park and in the fields beyond the golf course (other side of Boots, and Boots itself for that matter). It wouldn't bother getting into my garden: a big tree, some washing lines across the whole garden and proximity of the house, plus easier pickings elsewhere. I put a load of chicken skin on the lawn the other week (inside the bunny pen: they weren't using it!) and NOTHING came down to eat it: there were seagulls eyeing it up and circling, even a couple of big carrion crows in the oak tree, but they never came down to get it. I presume next door's cats had something to do with it was well: birds will always think about getting out as well as getting in. Blackbirds came down for the apples though...!

Never seen a buzzard close up here though. I'm almost sure I saw a harris hawk the other day but I never heard of one escaping from anywhere nearby in the time period so maybe that was just a buzzard on a mission! :lol:

Birds of Prey advice... disrupt the working of the plasma coils to disable the cloaking shields. That's the way forward.

Can you string some nylon mesh over the garden to make it more bird-proof? Something like this:
http://www.diy.com/departments/green-hdpe-wire-mesh-w4m-l6000mm/315133_BQ.prd

You can tie it to an existing high fence or trees, or put some tall stakes in the ground to make a safer area underneath - it will stop big birds swooping down to take the bunnies, but you may have issues with smaller birds getting stuck unless they can get out of the sides. Use some thin garden wire on a reel to give some support across the span if needed - thread it through like a needle & thread.

happybun said:

Birds of Prey advice... disrupt the working of the plasma coils to disable the cloaking shields. That's the way forward.

Click to expand...

You don't want to know how much I laughed at that and how glad I am I'm alone in the office right now! However, now I want to ask further questions! But I'm thinking probably Klingon, and from TOS, which answers them all ;P

ETA:

Shimmer said:

Can you string some nylon mesh over the garden to make it more bird-proof? Something like this:
http://www.diy.com/departments/green-hdpe-wire-mesh-w4m-l6000mm/315133_BQ.prd

You can tie it to an existing high fence or trees, or put some tall stakes in the ground to make a safer area underneath - it will stop big birds swooping down to take the bunnies, but you may have issues with smaller birds getting stuck unless they can get out of the sides. Use some thin garden wire on a reel to give some support across the span if needed - thread it through like a needle & thread.

Click to expand...

Aha! That's what I've been thinking of doing to help with my cat problem! I was trying to think of a solution to the warping (hmm, that's not going to help with happybun's current train of thought!) but couldn't think of one: wire, of course!

You don't want to know how much I laughed at that and how glad I am I'm alone in the office right now! However, now I want to ask further questions! But I'm thinking probably Klingon, and from TOS, which answers them all ;P
Spot on.