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Stoat In Garden

hartleyhare

Warren Scout
A couple of months ago I was walking across the garden. It was a nice day so all the buns were in their runs. As I passed by Aubrey and Smint's run ( real name Peppermint ) I caught a flash of movement by one of the Lavender plants. I almost didn't stop as thought it was a mouse or bird but some sixth sense or whatever did make me stop and turn around. A Stoat popped out of the Lavender and sat looking at me. The Lavender is planted against the run so the buns can nibble it through the wire. Obviously this Stoat was on it's way to kill my rabbits 😱. They were about 8 -10 feet away from it. It ran off when I yelled at it. I promptly got all the buns back indoors and they've not been out since. I'm still shuddering when I think how close they came to being attacked.

A friend has loaned me a humane trap but I've delayed using it ad still have hedgehogs around and don't want them to get stuck in the trap. I haven't seen the Stoat again but that doesn't mean it is gone and I'm inclined to think it will keep coming back to check now it knows there are rabbits here. I have no idea what I am going to do long term about the buns going out into the garden again. I can't keep them indoors permanently, they love going outside in the warm weather and get fed up being confined during the winter - my furniture and other stuff gets a hammering during the winter 😱

Just wondering if anyone has had this problem and what they did about it ? At the moment I'm thinking they will have to take it in turns to go out and I will have to sit next to the run. It will only be a short run as cannot sit around for 8 -12 hours, which is the time they usually spend outside.
 
A couple of months ago I was walking across the garden. It was a nice day so all the buns were in their runs. As I passed by Aubrey and Smint's run ( real name Peppermint ) I caught a flash of movement by one of the Lavender plants. I almost didn't stop as thought it was a mouse or bird but some sixth sense or whatever did make me stop and turn around. A Stoat popped out of the Lavender and sat looking at me. The Lavender is planted against the run so the buns can nibble it through the wire. Obviously this Stoat was on it's way to kill my rabbits 😱. They were about 8 -10 feet away from it. It ran off when I yelled at it. I promptly got all the buns back indoors and they've not been out since. I'm still shuddering when I think how close they came to being attacked.

A friend has loaned me a humane trap but I've delayed using it ad still have hedgehogs around and don't want them to get stuck in the trap. I haven't seen the Stoat again but that doesn't mean it is gone and I'm inclined to think it will keep coming back to check now it knows there are rabbits here. I have no idea what I am going to do long term about the buns going out into the garden again. I can't keep them indoors permanently, they love going outside in the warm weather and get fed up being confined during the winter - my furniture and other stuff gets a hammering during the winter 😱

Just wondering if anyone has had this problem and what they did about it ? At the moment I'm thinking they will have to take it in turns to go out and I will have to sit next to the run. It will only be a short run as cannot sit around for 8 -12 hours, which is the time they usually spend outside.

What type of run do you currently have ? I would imagine that the only safe option would be to have a bespoke type run built that would be impossible for a Stoat or any other predator to get into. Something constructed on a concrete base. Part brickwork sides, double galvanised mesh etc. You might get some inspiration from here :

https://best4bunny.com/housing-ideas/

https://www.manorpethousing.co.uk/design-your-own-bespoke-order
 
The runs are wooden posts and wire measuring 6 m x 4m and 10m x 5m. The wire is high enough so they cannot jump out, approximately 4 1/2 feet. The floor is grass, although one run has the wire buried into the soil, the other one is sitting on bedrock just a couple of inches under the grass. The buns love the runs as lots of space to tear around in and play. It's so lovely to watch them racing about and leaping into the air.

Thanks for the links. I looked at these type of runs when we first moved in 7 years ago. The quote I was given was several thousand pounds. I have emailed manorpet to see what their quote will be.
 
OMG.....

my worst nightmare. So lucky you saw it in time.

tbh i think it will be extremely difficult to stoat-proof things.
 
I would also be concerned. As you're aware Stoats are able to get into very tiny spaces and will predate rabbits. I would want to strengthen or replace the rabbits' accommodation, although I can imagine it will be costly. I'm afraid I would also use the humane traps. If they are checked very regularly then non-target species should be OK, although I would prefer not to use them at all.
 
trouble is, what to do if you do manage to trap it?

it could be released on the island, but likely to come back.
release on the mainland it could attack other people's bunnies.

the more i think about this, the more difficult the problem seems. any rabbit run would need to be solid mesh or bars rather than wire netting, and the base would need to be the same.

i guess trap and release on the mainland somewhere remote from houses is likely the best option.

there is likely to be more than 1 though. i'm not sure how social they are.
 
I did a bit of reading about Stoats and they are generally solitary and have large territories. Amber, one of my wild bunnies was possibly attacked by the same Stoat I saw as the attack happened less than a quarter of a mile from my home. When I saw it I had a very irrational thought that it somehow knew she was here and had come back to finish the job.

I was thinking if I caught it in the trap I could take it to some woodland areas on the island and release it there. Having thought about it I'm not sure that it's such a great idea. Another Stoat will likely move into the territory. We've lived here 7 years and I've never seen a Stoat in the garden. I have seen one on the lane and the beach. Hubby thinks it came here as we feed the birds and there are less wild rabbits in the fields surrounding us at present. The farmers shoot them or they die from diseases ����. They shoot the foxes and the ratties and the pheasants too ����. I don't know if they shoot the Stoats.
 
i can only say my opinion & what i would do, but i would create an open space around the runs. the lavendar could be put in pots and put the odd pot in the run. - or plant it in the run. just give less cover for the stoat.

are the bunnies usually housed outside too? I.E. in outside hutches in the night time?

not sure what it's like on Anglesey, but i have lived in the countryside in Devon for 50+ years, raised on a farm & I have only ever seen 1 wild stoat in all that time.

my bunnies are free roam in the garden all day with fields directly joined. my main fears are stoats & foxes and also buzzards, seagulls, cats, squirrels. I just rely on luck & the fact that there are loads of wild bunnies in the fields & hopefully any fox or stoat would encounter them well before they reached my garden.
i'm sure many here would disagree, but i believe in giving the (rescue) bunnies the most natural life possible. they are locked in a very secure shed at night, but i would much prefer them to roam free as much as possible, & they love it.
the actual main lethal danger is fly-strike.
 
I did a bit of reading about Stoats and they are generally solitary and have large territories. Amber, one of my wild bunnies was possibly attacked by the same Stoat I saw as the attack happened less than a quarter of a mile from my home. When I saw it I had a very irrational thought that it somehow knew she was here and had come back to finish the job.

I was thinking if I caught it in the trap I could take it to some woodland areas on the island and release it there. Having thought about it I'm not sure that it's such a great idea. Another Stoat will likely move into the territory. We've lived here 7 years and I've never seen a Stoat in the garden. I have seen one on the lane and the beach. Hubby thinks it came here as we feed the birds and there are less wild rabbits in the fields surrounding us at present. The farmers shoot them or they die from diseases ����. They shoot the foxes and the ratties and the pheasants too ����. I don't know if they shoot the Stoats.

what does this mean?
 
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