HELP WANTED: Need foxes and coyotes to wid yard of wascawwy wabbits

Rabbits are eating our flora

Where are foxes and coyotes when you need them? We do, sooner than later, before the rabbits destroy our green plants. Backyard hostas are quickly disappearing. Liriope in the front yard is under attack. Queen Anne's Lace was eaten in less than eight hours of planting. Jalapeño seedlings had a tough time developing to fruit bearing plants, though now recovering but slowly.

Damn rabbits! Those fury, four-legged hoppers have invaded our yard in a well developed area of Cary. No matter where, rabbits like to graze on good quality grass and young plants, usually for long periods of time (until we run them away), mainly at dawn and dusk, according to the Royal Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. With all due respect to the RSPCA, these rabbits are trespassing and causing damage to our yard so watch out! Fortunately for the rabbits, I'm not fast enough to catch them. Cruelty would be a misdemeanor in relation to my course of action.

Deer roam our neighborhood and enjoy the roses

We also have deer in our neighborhood. From our bedroom window we saw four deer chowing down on our neighbor's front yard rose bushes, not 10 feet from the street. After a while these beautiful animals, with full stomachs, strolled through the cul-de-sac and disappeared behind someone else's home.

Elmer Fudd

Except for a major undertaking of capturing the rabbits and relocating them, which would not eliminate the rabbits, we must depend on nature to dispose of, as Elmer Fudd would say, the "wascawwy wabbits." He would also exclaim: "Kill the Wabbits! Kill the Wabbits!" According to the Joy of Animals, rabbits are prey animals with a wide range of predators such as snakes, eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, coyotes, and raccoons. FYI: Mamma rabbits stay away from their new borns to distract the snakes, eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, raccoons, and coyotes so the babies will grow up to reproduce and send more off-spring into our yard to eat the hostas and liriope.

Eagle eyes its prey
before swooping
for rabbit lunch

A few weeks ago, a baby rabbit was hopping along in our front yard when an eagle, perched on our sidewalk lantern, took flight, swooped down, grabbed the small rabbit by the neck, and flew away to enjoy dinner. It was a majestic, beautiful thing!

Foxes prey on rabbits and other small livestock such as guinea pigs and chickens and will also eat various fruits but not garden veggies, according to the Humane Society; Coyotes enjoy (eat) rabbits, rodents, deer, insects, livestock and poultry as well as berries and watermelons, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

So we think our best solution to naturally rid us of the rabbits is with foxes and coyotes. Anyone have one or two to lend? To quote Elmer Fudd, "Shhh. Be vewy vewy quite. I'm hunting wabbits."