Defending apples trees from hares

Hi permies. We had a sad discovery last week. I was cleaning up the backyard after having a fire with my friends the night before. While tidying up, I decided to take a look at our apple trees. I was shocked to see a rabbit had gnawed on the bark of all three trees!

The first tree has nearly been girdled. I think there is about one centimeter of unbroken bark still intact...this tree might be a goner :(

However, the other two trees weren't hit as badly. The second tree is still badly wounded, but it could survive. The third tree only has a few scrapes. I'm guessing the rabbit got full after the first two.

Here are some photos. Don't mind my finger in the first photo, it was to help me differentiate the photos for this post. Tree one:


Here is the same tree from another angle.



My solution was to cut some old PVC pipe we had in the garage rafters. Then I sliced it down the centre, so it could hinge open. Then I wrapped it around the tree, forming a sort of armour.


Here is the second tree. Badly hit as well.


However, the other side shows there is more bark left over. Yay!!


I covered it using the same method as the first. The only change was using shorter sections so it was easier to stretch the pipe around the trunk.


Now onto the third tree. It was nearly spared by Mr. or Ms. bunny.


I started by cutting the strips of bark cleanly off with side cutters.


This tree has a bigger trunk, so I couldn't use the same pipe. I found some bigger stuff which I thought would work. Oh, how I was wrong. I cut it, and sliced it down the middle. However, even using all my strength, I could barely open the pipe up. After going at it with a blow dryer and prying for a half hour, my brain whispered "there might be an easier way to do this". So I listened, and looked around the garage for stuff to use.

Aha!


I found this old grill just chillin' in the scrap pile. I thought, why not make it a fence? So I got my sledge out and started doing some blacksmithing (just kidding, I don't want to offend any real blacksmiths here). I had to make a couple relief cuts in the grill so it would straighten out easier. After hammering, and more hammering, I got it semi round. Then I put it around the tree, and zip tied it closed. Is it going to win any beauty contests? Maybe, if their standards are pretty low. What I care about is it deterring that wabbit.



Alright. So the trees are semi-defended, but I have questions.

1) Should the pipes have holes drilled in them to promote ventilation? Or will this just make it easy for those wallowing wabbits to chew through?
2) Should my "fence" be anchored down, or do you think it'll work as is? It is a bit wobbly right now, but I doubt any rabbit would have fun trying to chew around it.
3) These are temporary, emergency measures. What are some better ways to protect the trees long term? Keep in mind the rabbit came for the trees when there was no snow on the ground. We have had a weird winter.

Thanks everyone!

In Australia we have tree guards of all types to protect trees and scrubs when they are small.
That damage may be hares, but I am not familiar with the behavour of rabbits in their native environments.
They wreck havoc all over Australia.

I agree with John, this looks more like hare damage.  They are well known for it.  With the plastic, be aware that you can get mould or decay under it plus it is a haven for burrowing insects.  I would try to wrap a few layers of bird wire around to allow air to circulate.
Rabbits and hares will/can push guards so they can get at the trunk.  Our kangaroos do the same.

My apologies for using the wrong terminology, I'll be sure to change the title. In my head, rabbits, bunnies and hares are all the same

Yes it is definitely hares doing it. I recently saw one hopping on top of the snow. I gave it the angriest glare I could muster up.

I'll go out and get some bird wire, thanks Paul. As for the "cage" I can anchor it down far better with some pegs. Or maybe if the wire isn't too expensive, I'll just do that to the bigger tree as well.

Thanks for the help guys!

This is a great article about the rabbits and hares.  https://bunnylady.com/bunny-rabbit-hare/
Hare pie is well described in English cookery as is ragout of rabbit in french cookery.  Hare is bought as a brace where as rabbits are bought as a pair.
Both are great eating, in case you manage to catch a couple.

those ‘protectors’ will probably get you through the winter. no need to cut holes or anything, just get them off before the growing season goes too far, when there’s more green stuff around for the varmints. a tree can survive with just a little bark-path through a girdled area, but adding a few bridge grafts around the damaged sides can definitely help. those can be done around the time of bud-break, using twigs from higher up in the tree.

Thank you for the article Paul, I'll read that later today!

And Greg...I didn't even know bridge grafting was a thing before now, so thanks for mentioning it! I watched some videos on and damn that is so cool. It's funky how the branch's cells almost switch from a growing 'mode' to a vascular 'mode' instead. I don't know how else to put it but I find it fascinating. Who knew trees were so cool.

i worked with fruit trees in edible parks in town for quite a while, and many of those regularly suffered from weedeater syndrome. i had to learn about bridge grafting pretty quick!

This was recommended to me the other day by two members here. One said they used a single post the other did not. I haven’t made mine yet but I’m sure I’ll use a tpost.

Joe Hallmark wrote:This was recommended to me the other day by two members here. One said they used a single post the other did not. I haven’t made mine yet but I’m sure I’ll use a tpost.

This is good mesh.  I would recommend a 2"X 2" which is available.  with the 4", the little bath plugs may be able to get the heads through and then get stuck.  

General rule for measuring up for guards is the amount of wire is roughly three (3) times the diameter required so if your tree is 1' around (circumference) it is about 4"diameter.  You need your guard say 1' away from the trunk all round, the maths is (1'+ 1' + 4") = (2' 4" X 3) = 7' of wire needed for the cage.

T Posts are what we call star pickets.  I use two per guard and twitch a bit of wire around the top of each post just to hold them in place.

Hey Cam, nasty surprise. But even on the worst hit tree, there is a lot of inner cambium left. I have seen trees recover from this amount of damage. Luck!

Of course, Paul did not mention the Kangaroos we have called Big Reds, they a just pull mature trees out of the ground and eat the juicy tops.
They have been known to destroy orchards overnight containing 500 trees.
Replanting is the only thing to do after a Roo attack.

Maybe Sepp Holzers "Bone Sauce" recipe might be worth trying out?  

https://permies.com/t/1805/Sepp-Holzer-recipe-animals-trees#11336

Cam Haslehurst wrote:
3) These are temporary, emergency measures. What are some better ways to protect the trees long term? Keep in mind the rabbit came for the trees when there was no snow on the ground. We have had a weird winter.

I'm a firm believer that the best defense against rabbits is a good offense. In the past few months, I've trapped over a dozen rabbits at my property, and my trapping routine will continue through spring. I'm not sure what stores are up in your area, but the Rural King 2-pack cage traps work wonderfully for rabbits, and are only $15 per trap (https://www.ruralking.com/catch-and-release-traps-for-raccoons-and-rabbits-2-pack-87-678-0204).

I also do what I can to get rid of the places that rabbits like to call home. This past summer, I cleared out a bunch of brush and stacked it into piles. Rabbits love to live in brush piles, so I've been getting rid of the piles as fast as I can.

Also, if you use tree guards, make sure they go up at least as high as the rabbits can reach when there is a few feet of snow on the ground. That was an expensive lesson I learned one year.

I don’t know how much land you have, but I have a Border Collie and an Australian Shepherd who prefer fresh rabbit to dry food.

John F Dean wrote:I don’t know how much land you have, but I have a Border Collie and an Australian Shepherd who prefer fresh rabbit to dry food.

Shoot, some days I prefer fresh rabbit to my food! :)

I learned something last winter, I think it was.  The varmints that are the bane of my orchard's existence in southern Manitoba are white-tailed jackrabbits.  I'd previously thought they were snowshoe hares as they turn white in the winter.  Eastern cottontails don't turn colour.  As I grew up in central SK and did some winter camping, we did see snowshoe hares (and snared a few), but that was decades ago.

I'd forgotten about bridge grafting...good solution.

Stefan Sobkowiak has done some videos on this - I think his YouTube channel is The Permaculture Orchard (of course, that may be incorrect...it may just be his name).  I like the solution he uses that he got from an old orchardist.  Use 1/4" hardware cloth to wrap the base of the tree.  The ideal is to cut the cloth so that you have a cut edge down to the ground.  This will also deter voles which will girdle a lot of fruit trees as well.  You don't need to peg the cloth, but base it upon the size of a mature trunk.  Of course, that protects the trunk but won't protect branches / twigs from browse higher up (deer and rabbits / kin if the snow drifts enough.

A number of years ago we had a lot more snow - the jackrabbits went after our semi-sweet cherries just nipping the ends of the twigs off - in the spring bloom, you could see exactly how high they could reach as only the tops of the cherries had blossoms and everything lower than that point had been nibbled.

This weekend I added another layer of protection around the apple tree in the city I planted this fall.  I'd been keeping an eye on tracks and now the snow and hunger got to be enough that the cottontails were able to chow down on a low branch.  War was declared, although lethal force would be difficult here in the city as too many would take offence and potentially take some action against me for "cruelty".

Know your "enemy" is a good mantra.

Good luck.

Some years ago I planted many trees with chicken wire cages that I made for them but now I'm having to cut them off since the trees have grown through them, and I'm afraid of eventually girdling the trees.  In some cases the trees had roots through the cages, and removing the cages took a fair bit of time per tree.  They seemed to protect against hares, though.  Does anyone know whether a simple piece of cardstock or cardboard stapled together around the trunk is enough of a deterrent for the hares?  I have seen nursery apple trees sold with a piece of  white cardstock stapled around the trunk, but wasn't sure exactly what this was for.  

I like hardware cloth myself.  It's easy to bend, and not only does it work for the larger critters, but also the small ones, too; you also don't have to worry about ventilation.  I use 3-4 landscape staples to secure each one down, and I put them all out in the fall.  I thought that I had another roll of the stuff in the garage, but I couldn't find it, so I cut the bottoms out of plastic plant containers from the nursery and "stapled" them down.

Corey Schmidt wrote:Some years ago I planted many trees with chicken wire cages that I made for them but now I'm having to cut them off since the trees have grown through them, and I'm afraid of eventually girdling the trees.  In some cases the trees had roots through the cages, and removing the cages took a fair bit of time per tree.  They seemed to protect against hares, though.  Does anyone know whether a simple piece of cardstock or cardboard stapled together around the trunk is enough of a deterrent for the hares?  I have seen nursery apple trees sold with a piece of  white cardstock stapled around the trunk, but wasn't sure exactly what this was for.  

The hardware cloth solution as described is loosely wrapped around and not tied down, so it can expand with the trunk.  The old orchardist who told Stefan about it had installed some about 50 years previously and some were then about 3/4 of the way around the trunk, which is still effective.

I don't see anything paper or cardboard based lasting in my part of the world.  If wind and rain don't take them away, critters will chew through, potentially using some as bedding or nest material.

Oh, Cam, I share your disappointment... and I am going to take a serious look at my trees.
The only thing I have found very effective is to surround the tree with a 1/4" hardware cloth that is as tall as the snow cover... plus a little more. In a couple of years, you may retrieve the hardware cloth and re-install on a young tree. Once the bark gets furrowed, rabbits will not longer be attracted to it.
I did try these perforated plastic guards they sell, but to no avail: moisture got between the plastic and the tree and caused a rot, so no more plastic for my trees.
Then I became more creative and smeared the trunk with Wasabi. [I was fighting a racoon away from my bird feeder then, but it could work for rabbits]. The racoon stayed away... until we had a good rain.
For the ones that can be salvaged, if you are good at grafting, you could try a bridge graft, although I am not sure you can save the one that was badly wounded.
This will give you an idea:

Good luck to you.

A few years back, I put 2" x 4" welded wire cages around my brand new fruit trees, quite proud of myself for getting ahead of the rabbits and deer.  My cages were 6' tall to exclude both rabbits and deer.  Imagine my chagrin when, come spring, a few of my trees STILL had bark chewed off around the bases!  I asked an expert and he said: MICE.  Mice will eat bark if they get hungry enough.  And they can squeeze through tiny openings.  So now, in addition to my cages, I wrap my little tree trunks in the white plastic spiral wrap-around stuff that is available cheaply at garden stores or online.  They are re-usable until they get brittle and crack.  I take them off in summer when critters are less likely to chomp bark, to keep them from hot sun damage as long as possible.  I leave the cages on until the trees are tall enough and have tough enough bark to survive deer and rabbits.  

The 1/4" hardware cloth mentioned by Cecile is also a good choice for mice and rabbits.  And deer too if you make the cage wide and tall enough, but that could get expensive.

Great minds meet, Donna: Against deer, I tried at first to wrap each tree individually in welded tall fence because they were few and far between [the fencing with opening that are 2" X 4"]. Because the trees were branching out a bit low [dwarf & semi-dwarf], I was using almost 10 ft of fence per tree. That wasn't good: it came out cheaper to fence the whole orchard once I had enough trees..
You might think that 6 ft isn't tall enough and a deer could jump it. True.
But one thing about deer: they are lazy. And if they can browse plenty outside, they won't come in. I had one that panicked during hunting season and jumped over it, found itself trapped inside the orchard. It walked around for a while trying to find an escape. so I went outside in my orange suit and screamed and yelled... and panicked it right outside the fence. So yes. They *could* jump it. They opt not to.
Donna is correct: It is mice that can get through small holes and will chew the bark and girdle trees. Rabbits and hares have not given me that much trouble. I should say that there is a forest, so if they need to gnaw on something, they do not need to get at my trees.  Besides, in the orchard, I think they feel a bit exposed, so they don't pass through the fence [the little ones could, actually]. That's why I opted for the 1/4" hardware cloth. I use the 2 ft high. It is more than enough for mice, even with deep snow:  they tend to tunnel on the ground, anyway, between the ground and the snow, so I probably could get away with the 12" high and make it just tight enough that they cannot get between the tree and the hardware cloth. I have also used sections of black ABS pipe, the corrugated stuff they sell in 50 or 100 ft. length for drainage. Sometimes, it is even perforated.
I cut it to length, then split it on one side and wrap it around the tree. It worked well enough, but when came the time to remove it, it was so stiff that I damaged the bark, so now, it is hardware cloth. I must say, I have not had good luck with the white plastic tree wraps they sell for that purpose. The rain and snow got trapped in it and when I watered, too, it didn't dry. I didn't notice it right away but I lost a couple of trees to that.
So welded fence for the deer, hardware cloth for the mice.

I always put up hard plastic tree guards I get at the big box store. I also started using bone sauce from Perma Pastures last summer and that really worked well for keeping the deer from browsing.

In the same vein as bone sauce is a tree paste made from clay and cow manure. We had some similar damage to young trees at our community orchard about ten years ago. Hares very nearly girdled the bases of several saplings and deer chewed off all the growing tips. We slathered everything in our homemade tree paste and there was not so much as a nibble after that. You could substitute just about any herbivore manure, I think. The aversion to eating shit is pretty universal among grazing animals. Reapply as needed.

Phil Stevens wrote:In the same vein as bone sauce is a tree paste made from clay and cow manure. We had some similar damage to young trees at our community orchard about ten years ago. Hares very nearly girdled the bases of several saplings and deer chewed off all the growing tips. We slathered everything in our homemade tree paste and there was not so much as a nibble after that. You could substitute just about any herbivore manure, I think. The aversion to eating shit is pretty universal among grazing animals. Reapply as needed.

An added bonus is that you keep fertilizing the tree when you "reapply". I live in sand and I would have to buy every ounce of clay needed to make this plaster but that sounds like a good idea. (I think the aversion to eating shit is universal amongst other animals too. ;-)

You could just smear manure on the trees if you don't have clay. It will wash off eventually, doing good things for the soil, and then it can be reapplied as necessary.

Feed them, corral them, pen them, let them breed and have some great Sunday dinners!!!

Phil Stevens wrote:You could just smear manure on the trees if you don't have clay. It will wash off eventually, doing good things for the soil, and then it can be reapplied as necessary.

The great thing about using manure and clay is that in particularly hot dry climates, the trees will not get sunburnt. Sunburn causes the bark to crack and insects to get in.
Win-win-win

One quick alternative idea... It seems like snow really pressures the varmints into eating bark because they can't get "better foods." Tree trunk bark seems like their last resort to prevent starvation.

When it snows, we make paths in the snow to make it easier for people to get around. Judging by the rabbit pellets, they use the paths too, so you might be able to direct their traffic away from your trees.

In my yard, I have lots of wild areas with winter foods the varmints like. Also, when I prune my trees, I leave the branches on the ground for the varmints to eat. They seem to like the tender stuff from the tops better than the old tough trunk bark.

I have to prune during snowy times anyways, so pruning also helps prevent trunk damage.

Don't get me wrong, my younger trees all have chicken wire cages, but the older trees are mostly ignored by varmints.

I lost several young fruit trees to girdling by mice or voles during a very bad winter.  Now I use a remedy my father taught me...pee all over the tree.  Seems to work and is good fertilizer as well and free.   I also throw random food scarps into yard...which attracted feral cats...and now I have zero mice and zero rabbit issues.  
Dont do this for peach trees though...it makes the fruit bitter.  

John F Dean wrote:I don’t know how much land you have, but I have a Border Collie and an Australian Shepherd who prefer fresh rabbit to dry food.

We have a dog, but she is closer in size to the rabbits than she is to us She does deter them though when she’s outside!

John Wolfram wrote:I'm a firm believer that the best defense against rabbits is a good offense. In the past few months, I've trapped over a dozen rabbits at my property, and my trapping routine will continue through spring. I'm not sure what stores are up in your area, but the Rural King 2-pack cage traps work wonderfully for rabbits, and are only $15 per trap (https://www.ruralking.com/catch-and-release-traps-for-raccoons-and-rabbits-2-pack-87-678-0204).

I also do what I can to get rid of the places that rabbits like to call home. This past summer, I cleared out a bunch of brush and stacked it into piles. Rabbits love to live in brush piles, so I've been getting rid of the piles as fast as I can.

Also, if you use tree guards, make sure they go up at least as high as the rabbits can reach when there is a few feet of snow on the ground. That was an expensive lesson I learned one year.

You have a couple of great points here John. I don’t think we’ll end up trapping for a couple reasons. However, the point about brush piles is pertinent to us. We love our brush piles, and I didn’t realize they did too!

As for the tree guards – I didn’t think of that. I will need to extend the guards if we do get more snow. So far, with our toasty winter, we barely have a foot on the ground.

Derek Thille wrote:
Stefan Sobkowiak has done some videos on this - I think his YouTube channel is The Permaculture Orchard (of course, that may be incorrect...it may just be his name).  I like the solution he uses that he got from an old orchardist.  Use 1/4" hardware cloth to wrap the base of the tree.  The ideal is to cut the cloth so that you have a cut edge down to the ground.  This will also deter voles which will girdle a lot of fruit trees as well.  You don't need to peg the cloth, but base it upon the size of a mature trunk.  Of course, that protects the trunk but won't protect branches / twigs from browse higher up (deer and rabbits / kin if the snow drifts enough.

I don’t think I have heard of 1/4” hardware cloth before, I’ll need to check it out!

Derek Thille wrote:This weekend I added another layer of protection around the apple tree in the city I planted this fall.  I'd been keeping an eye on tracks and now the snow and hunger got to be enough that the cottontails were able to chow down on a low branch.  War was declared, although lethal force would be difficult here in the city as too many would take offence and potentially take some action against me for "cruelty".

You know, maybe Elmer Fudd just had fruit trees that Bugs Bunny kept on nibbling on.

Donna Lynn wrote:A few years back, I put 2" x 4" welded wire cages around my brand new fruit trees, quite proud of myself for getting ahead of the rabbits and deer.  My cages were 6' tall to exclude both rabbits and deer.  Imagine my chagrin when, come spring, a few of my trees STILL had bark chewed off around the bases!  I asked an expert and he said: MICE.  Mice will eat bark if they get hungry enough.  And they can squeeze through tiny openings.  So now, in addition to my cages, I wrap my little tree trunks in the white plastic spiral wrap-around stuff that is available cheaply at garden stores or online.  They are re-usable until they get brittle and crack.  I take them off in summer when critters are less likely to chomp bark, to keep them from hot sun damage as long as possible.  I leave the cages on until the trees are tall enough and have tough enough bark to survive deer and rabbits.  

The 1/4" hardware cloth mentioned by Cecile is also a good choice for mice and rabbits.  And deer too if you make the cage wide and tall enough, but that could get expensive.

I’m glad I read your experience before doing nearly the same thing Donna! Looks like I can skip the disappointment and go straight to the hardware cloth step.

I can picture the plastic spiral wrap you’re talking about too. Thanks for your help!

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote: Oh, Cam, I share your disappointment... and I am going to take a serious look at my trees.
The only thing I have found very effective is to surround the tree with a 1/4" hardware cloth that is as tall as the snow cover... plus a little more. In a couple of years, you may retrieve the hardware cloth and re-install on a young tree. Once the bark gets furrowed, rabbits will not longer be attracted to it.
I did try these perforated plastic guards they sell, but to no avail: moisture got between the plastic and the tree and caused a rot, so no more plastic for my trees.
Then I became more creative and smeared the trunk with Wasabi. [I was fighting a racoon away from my bird feeder then, but it could work for rabbits]. The racoon stayed away... until we had a good rain.
For the ones that can be salvaged, if you are good at grafting, you could try a bridge graft, although I am not sure you can save the one that was badly wounded.

Thank you for the point about the plastic causing rot – I was concerned about this. I’ll definitely be removing the PVC in the spring, once the creatures have more to munch on besides the tree bark.

Wasabi is an interesting idea! Gotta keep things spicy. Maybe a wasabi manure mixture...okay I am messing around but imagine the smell.

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:You might think that 6 ft isn't tall enough and a deer could jump it. True. But one thing about deer: they are lazy. And if they can browse plenty outside, they won't come in. I had one that panicked during hunting season and jumped over it, found itself trapped inside the orchard. It walked around for a while trying to find an escape. so I went outside in my orange suit and screamed and yelled... and panicked it right outside the fence. So yes. They *could* jump it. They opt not to.

I love this story, that got a couple laughs out of me.

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:Donna is correct: It is mice that can get through small holes and will chew the bark and girdle trees. Rabbits and hares have not given me that much trouble. I should say that there is a forest, so if they need to gnaw on something, they do not need to get at my trees.  Besides, in the orchard, I think they feel a bit exposed, so they don't pass through the fence [the little ones could, actually]. That's why I opted for the 1/4" hardware cloth. I use the 2 ft high. It is more than enough for mice, even with deep snow:  they tend to tunnel on the ground, anyway, between the ground and the snow, so I probably could get away with the 12" high and make it just tight enough that they cannot get between the tree and the hardware cloth. I have also used sections of black ABS pipe, the corrugated stuff they sell in 50 or 100 ft. length for drainage. Sometimes, it is even perforated.
I cut it to length, then split it on one side and wrap it around the tree. It worked well enough, but when came the time to remove it, it was so stiff that I damaged the bark, so now, it is hardware cloth. I must say, I have not had good luck with the white plastic tree wraps they sell for that purpose. The rain and snow got trapped in it and when I watered, too, it didn't dry. I didn't notice it right away but I lost a couple of trees to that.
So welded fence for the deer, hardware cloth for the mice.

Thank you for the tips here. I find the point about the ABS pipe particularly interesting...I definitely won’t be leaving the pipe on the trees any longer than necessary!! They were hard enough as it is to put on the tree, I can’t imagine getting them off when they’re stiff and brittle.

_______________________

Holy there are a lot of replies here. Thanks for putting my thread in the daily-ish! I told my girlfriend she is dating a famous man now. I will reply to general ideas instead of the replies one by one so this isn’t a novel.

Lots of shit ideas being shared above....meaning ideas involving manure I can say for certain I never thought of putting manure on the trunk to deter critters. And pee too? It does make sense, I wouldn’t want to eat anything covered in feces or urine either.

I do like the idea of giving them alternatives to munch on. Once we learn more how to prune fruit trees properly, we can prune branches and twigs and leave them for the critters. This, combined with good defence of the tree trunks and branches should leave the critters happy and our trees in much better shape.

For now, we will learn as much as we can about bridge grafting and attempt that in the spring.

Thanks everyone for your input!