Give Bugs Bunny a yard, and he would strip it bare before even flopping his ears and spouting "What's Up, Doc?" Then there is Peter Cottontail and Peter Rabbit, both irrepressibly cute and cuddly. What can one do but smile.

Maybe you're not smiling if their not-so-kind relatives happen to forage in your yard and garden.

There are few plants that grow that don't seem to be magnets to rabbits. Occasionally, you can happen upon an Acanthus or Echinops that will test their fortitude. But face it; if the plant looks like a thistle, most creatures will bypass it.

In the vegetable garden everything seems to be fair game, not just the carrots and lettuce that Peter Rabbit thoroughly enjoyed.

Fortunately, by summer the nibbling has centered on more tasty things such as clover, dandelion, and a few other wild plants or weeds behind the garage, in the alley, or someplace else. There seems to be enough soft succulent plants to keep their energy and reproducing abilities up. There is even enough material to keep teeth whittled down.

Rabbits have plagued me on and off for 15 years. Without any plants in the yard, the rabbits thumbed their paws at my yard. Over the years, a couple rabbits decided there actually were a couple things worthy of investigation and nibbling. Soon, the word spread.

Then I received new neighbors, and with them came cats.

The indoor/outdoor cats seemed to relish in chasing the rabbits, and especially scoping out the nests. Soon the problem was no more, though the felines preferred to sharpen their hunting and killing abilities, but not their discarding efforts. You never knew where you'd find the furry remains of baby Bugs.

Those neighbors left and took the cats. Now, the rabbits are attempting to repopulate the neighborhood. Fortunately, other neighbors have dogs that chase the rabbits around. Since the rabbit brain is about the size of a pea, they tend to think that all yards are filled with barking and running dogs. Good, so far.

One of the best defenses, besides a predator, is a fence. This might be practical in some cases, and not in others. A good friend has chicken wire cylinders around choice plants, with a couple inches of the fencing buried to prevent the creatures from digging under. The best fencing I've seen is two to three feet high, buried six inches, and bent toward the outside to make it harder to dig around.

There are as many home remedies for control, ranging from those that are definitely illegal in most communities, but put food on the table several centuries ago, to those that have some levels of success.

Things that don't work well include dried blood, bone meal, and mothball crystals. All have some degree of success, but require large quantities, and the lack of rain for an extended period.

Concentrated fox and coyote urine, found in hunting supply catalogs and stores, also work. It's one of those things you can try, but just don't tell other people, sort of like hair coloring.

Few plants repel rabbits. They'd eat anything if they got hungry enough. Most of the tomato and squash family members seem unappealing, but if there is nothing around, they still are susceptible.

And don't forget the dogs and cats. Nature's predators are still some of the best methods for rabbit control.

David Robson is an Extension Educator, Horticulture, at the Springfield Extension Center, University of Illinois Extension, P.O. Box 8] 99, Springfield, IL 62791. Telephone: (217) 782-6515. E-mail: drobson@uiuc.edu

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