Julius Mueller

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since Apr 04, 2019
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Recent posts by Julius Mueller

Dang. I guess it shouldn’t be totally surprising. Wild jack rabbits are sometimes considered a potential pest for this reason but I’ve never actually seen or heard of any examples of it happening.
5 years ago
Thanks for the response. Do you happen to know though if that rabbit was eating just the green growth or if it chewed on the actual wood? Any green growth that they could possibly reach would be fair game and I would actually encourage that. Its the 3 inch diameter woody trunk I am worried about. They wouldn't be getting any nutrition from it but I know some animals (like goats) will do it for the stimulation. Other animals (like sheep) ignore it completely. Sheep can graze in the vineyard during the dormant season but goats not so much. What would be nice about rabbits is that they can't reach the cordon of the vine like the bigger animals and so the important spring growth is safe even after bud break. Any green growth at the ground level actually has to be manually removed anyways so if they eat that its a win win for me. However if they chew on the wood of the trunk then they damage the phloem and could kill the vine.
5 years ago
I don't know if anyone is still following this thread but I have been toying with a similar idea. In my situation the rabbits would be in a vineyard part of the year and I am concerned that they might nibble on the trunk of the vines and girdle them. Is this a valid concern? I am imagining them mostly being in the vineyard before bud break eating some of the legume cover crop. If they happened to be in the vineyard later than that I don't really care if they eat any suckers at the base of the vine, in fact that would be a good thing. It would only be an issue if they chewed on the bark and damaged the trunk. That would likely be the end of my experiment if it happened. Any thoughts?
5 years ago